Senior Buyer
HUXWRX Safety Co.
In Office Role: Millcreek, UT
Department: Supply Chain
Reports To: VP of Supply Chain
HUXWRX Safety Co. focuses on mitigating human exposure to high velocity events. We accomplish this by building systems that ensure a balance of safety and performance. Our highly committed team is passionate about bringing the best possible products to our end users while providing top-notch customer support.
Our patented Flow-Through® technology eliminates the need for weapon modifications and was engineered to deliver superior sound suppression without adversely affecting the weapon system. Adopted by military units, law enforcement, tactical professionals, and recreational enthusiasts the world over, our technology has thoroughly disrupted the suppressor industry while also solidifying its position as the gold standard in suppression systems.
American manufacturing will always be a pillar of our brand, and we proudly transform all our suppressors in Millcreek, Utah. Our team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable professionals is looking for a Senior Buyer to become an integral part of our operations.
Position Summary
The Senior Buyer turns sales demand, forecasts, and production requirements into executable purchasing plans that keep HUXWRX manufacturing supplied while maintaining appropriate inventory levels. This role works closely with Sales Operations, internal production teams, and suppliers to manage machined and fabricated metal components from demand planning through supplier production and delivery. The Senior Buyer owns day-to-day purchasing execution, supplier follow-through, clear-to-build material visibility, and inventory health, partnering with the VP of Supply Chain, who leads overall supply chain and sourcing strategy.
Compensation: Competitive starting salary of $100,000+, commensurate with experience
Key Responsibilities
- Translate sales demand, forecasts, production requirements, inventory positions, and supplier capabilities into executable purchasing plans for assigned materials and components.
- Partner closely with Sales Operations, Planning, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality to understand changing demand, production priorities, material constraints, and customer requirements.
- Manage purchase requirements from demand signal through supplier production and delivery, maintaining clear visibility to quantities, timing, constraints, risks, and changes.
- Work directly with suppliers to understand and influence their production plans, capacity, lead times, material availability, and delivery commitments rather than relying solely on quoted lead times.
- Maintain strong working relationships with suppliers while holding them accountable for delivery, quality, responsiveness, and commitments.
- Develop and maintain clear-to-build material positions using the best available demand, inventory, BOM, open-order, supplier, and production information.
- Identify material shortages and potential supply disruptions early, determine root causes, and drive practical recovery plans with suppliers and internal teams.
- Evaluate inventory requirements using demand variability, supplier lead time and reliability, production constraints, order policies, consumption patterns, and business risk to establish appropriate stocking strategies and inventory targets.
- Monitor demand and inventory positions to distinguish material expected to consume against future requirements from inventory at risk of becoming excess, slow-moving, or obsolete.
- Manage purchasing for machined, fabricated, metal, and other production components, including working knowledge of supplier manufacturing processes, capacity constraints, production queues, and realistic lead times.
- Support supplier selection, development, negotiation, and performance management in partnership with the VP of Supply Chain.
- Negotiate pricing, lead times, order quantities, delivery schedules, and commercial terms within assigned supplier relationships and purchasing responsibilities.
- Monitor supplier performance and work directly with suppliers to resolve delivery, quality, capacity, and production issues.
- Identify opportunities for cost improvement, lead-time reduction, improved order policies, supplier development, and more effective inventory deployment without compromising continuity of supply.
- Maintain accurate purchasing parameters, supplier information, purchase orders, commitments, and related procurement data within the ERP system.
- Provide clear, fact-based communication regarding material availability, supplier commitments, shortages, inventory exposure, and risks to the business.
Qualifications
Education
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field preferred.
- Equivalent combinations of relevant education, technical knowledge, and significant hands-on purchasing or supply chain experience will be considered.
Certifications
- APICS certifications such as CPIM, CSCP, or CLTD are preferred but not required.
- Procurement certifications such as CPSM or CPM are a plus.
Experience
- 7–10+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, supply chain, materials management, or related manufacturing environments.
- Required experience purchasing and managing machined or fabricated metal components in machining, metalworking, or precision manufacturing environments.
- Experience working directly with manufacturing suppliers to understand production capacity, lead times, constraints, scheduling, and delivery performance.
- Experience translating forecasts, sales demand, production requirements, and inventory positions into actionable purchasing and supplier production plans.
- Experience managing suppliers beyond purchase-order placement, including tracking material through supplier production, identifying risks, expediting when appropriate, and resolving delivery constraints.
- Working knowledge of inventory planning concepts including lead-time demand, demand variability, order policies, stocking strategies, excess and obsolete inventory, and material availability.
- Experience participating in SIOP, S&OP, IBP, or similar cross-functional demand and supply planning processes is preferred.
- Experience using ERP/MRP systems to manage purchasing, inventory, material requirements, supplier commitments, and production-related information.
- Experience in firearms, suppressors, defense, or related industries is preferred but not required.
Skills & Competencies
- Strong understanding of purchasing and material planning within a manufacturing environment.
- Ability to translate imperfect or changing demand signals into practical purchasing decisions and supplier requirements.
- Working knowledge of machining and metalworking processes, manufacturing lead times, supplier capacity, and production constraints.
- Strong supplier management and negotiation skills with the ability to maintain productive relationships while driving accountability.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly around material shortages, inventory, demand, lead times, and supplier performance.
- Ability to balance material availability, inventory investment, supplier constraints, and business risk rather than relying on one-size-fits-all inventory targets.
- Experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent; SAP experience is a plus.
- Strong Microsoft Excel and data analysis skills.
- Ability to work effectively across Sales Operations, Planning, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Supply Chain.
- Comfortable working close to manufacturing operations and communicating equally effectively with production teams, technical personnel, suppliers, and leadership.
- Strong sense of ownership and follow-through, with the ability to identify problems early and drive them through resolution.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Material availability and clear-to-build performance against production requirements.
- Supplier on-time delivery and commitment performance.
- Material shortage identification, recovery, and recurrence reduction.
- Inventory health, including appropriate stocking levels, inventory turns, and excess/obsolete exposure.
- Supplier lead-time, capacity, and delivery performance improvement.
- Purchase order and supplier commitment accuracy.
- Supplier quality performance in partnership with Quality and Engineering.
- Cost improvement and cost avoidance within assigned commodities and suppliers.
- Accuracy and effectiveness of purchasing plans relative to actual demand and consumption.
- Supply continuity and proactive identification of material risk.
Working Conditions
- Office-based environment with periodic travel to supplier sites, manufacturing facilities, and industry events.
- May require domestic and international travel for supplier development, negotiations, and audits.
Employee benefits*
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- 8 paid Holidays
- Up to 4 weeks of accrued PTO
- 401k Plan
Note: The Company may, at any time, with or without notice, alter or change job responsibilities, reassign, or transfer job positions, or assign additional job responsibilities. From time to time, you may be asked to work on special projects or to assist with other work necessary or important to the operation of your department or the Company. Your cooperation and assistance in performing such additional work is expected.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
*The Company reserves the right to eliminate or modify any of its benefits at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without notice.