Indirect Procurement Manager

Reports To: President

Department: Operations

Location: Lehigh Valley Area, PA

FLSA Status: Exempt (Salaried)

Position Summary

The Indirect Procurement Manager is a senior function-building role responsible for creating, implementing, and operating the company's indirect procurement function from the ground up. This person will design every process, policy, vendor relationship, and performance system that governs how the company spends its $5.5M+ indirect budget — and will be fully accountable for the results.

This manager will have a direct report from Day 1 — an existing MRO Specialist who handles transactional purchasing. One of the manager's earliest priorities is to assess that teammember's capabilities, set clear performance expectations, and make a well-informed decision about development planning and organizational alignment decisions. The ability to manage performance constructively and decisively is as important as procurement expertise in this role.

This is not a role for someone who has managed procurement within an established system.The right candidate has been the first dedicated procurement professional at a prior employer, has built the function from near-zero, and has the documented results to prove it. A 4-year degree is required; an engineering degree is strongly preferred for the technical credibility it provides with maintenance engineers, vendors, and service contract scopes of work.

This is a highly visible, hands-on leadership role within a fast-paced manufacturing environment. The successful candidate must be comfortable operating with a high level of autonomy navigating ambiguity and building structure where little currently exists. This position requires a practical, floor-oriented leader who is willing to spend significant time partnering directly with Maintenance, Engineering, Operations, Warehouse, and Finance teams to understand operational challenges and implement sustainable procurement solutions. Success in this role requires strong relationship-building skills, sound business judgment, accountability, and theability to drive change in a collaborative but decisive manner.

Core Responsibilities

• Build & Own the Indirect Procurement Function
• Design and implement the company's indirect procurement policy, process, and governance structure across all spend categories.
• Establish approval thresholds, preferred vendor requirements, emergency buying protocols, and spend authorization controls.
• Create SOPs for each procurement category; document everything so the function is transferable and scalable.
• Implement and maintain a procurement management system; own vendor master data, contracts repository, and parts catalog.
• Define and report monthly procurement KPIs to leadership: spend vs. budget, savings, contract compliance, vendor performance, and inventory health.

MRO Parts & Inventory Management

• Own the full MRO procurement lifecycle — sourcing, purchasing, receiving, and inventory management for all maintenance parts and consumables.
• Conduct a full storeroom audit; design and implement an inventory program with criticality tiers, min/max reorder points, cycle counts, and obsolescence controls.
• Build and maintain a clean, complete parts catalog in the CMMS — standardized descriptions, cross-references, specs, and vendor data.
• Research and qualify alternative parts; eliminate single-source dependency and create pricing competition.
• Analyze emergency purchase history; systematically convert recurring rush orders into stocked items or committed supply programs.

Contract & Service Agreement Management

• Audit all existing maintenance contracts and service agreements, document current terms, pricing, and performance requirements.
• Establish a contract management calendar — track renewal dates, initiate renegotiation
• at least 90 days in advance, ensure no agreement auto-renews without review.
• Develop standard service agreement templates with defined scopes of work, SLAs,
• performance penalties, and termination provisions.
• Negotiate new and renewed service agreements with measurable improvements in
• pricing, scope clarity, and service-level requirements.
• Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Development
• Conduct a category-by-category spend analysis across all indirect categories; build a
• multi-year savings roadmap.
• Build a preferred vendor program from scratch: qualification criteria, onboarding,
• performance scorecards, and annual reviews.
• Develop and issue RFQs for major spend categories; evaluate bids on total cost of
• ownership, not unit price alone.
• Negotiate and execute annual supply agreements and blanket POs that lock in pricing,
• lead times, and service commitments.

Team Management & Development

• Assess the existing MRO Specialist within the first 30-60 days: evaluate capabilities, quality of work, and alignment with the new procurement standards being built.
• Establish Coach, develop, and hold the MRO Specialist accountable to defined standards —
• purchasing discipline, catalog accuracy, vendor communication, and adherence to new procurement policies.
• Make and own personnel decisions based on documented performance: if the team
• member meets expectations with development, invest in them; if not, manage the transition professionally and recruit a replacement.
• If a replacement is necessary, own the hiring process — define the role, screen
• candidates, and select someone who fits the function being built.
• Build processes and documentation with the team in mind — systems must be operable
• by a trained buyer, not just the manager.
• Partner cross-functionally with maintenance, operations, finance, and warehouse teams
• to ensure procurement decisions reflect operational reality.
• Partner with Finance to validate savings methodologies, budgeting assumptions, and procurement reporting.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required — in any field. An engineering degree (Mechanical,
• Industrial, or Electrical) is strongly preferred and will be weighted heavily in evaluation. Candidates with a business, supply chain, or operations management degree are competitive if they bring exceptional depth of indirect procurement and MRO experience that compensates for the technical background.
• 5+ years of hands-on indirect procurement, MRO purchasing, or maintenance parts management experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment. Non-engineering
• candidates must demonstrate this experience at greater depth and breadth to be considered equally.
• Demonstrated prior experience building or pioneering a procurement function — not inheriting one. Candidates must describe: (1) what the procurement state looked like
• when they arrived, (2) what they personally designed and implemented, and (3) the measurable results.
• Proven track record of quantifiable cost savings — specific dollar amounts or
• percentages required.
• Experience managing or negotiating service contracts, maintenance agreements, or
• vendor SLAs.
• Process design experience: has written procurement SOPs, designed approval
• workflows, or implemented purchasing controls from scratch.
• People management experience — has set expectations, managed performance, and
• made personnel decisions with direct reports.
• Strong proficiency with CMMS and ERP purchasing modules (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, JD Edwards, Maximo, Fiix, etc.).
• Ability to independently build a clean, usable parts catalog and vendor master.

 Strongly Preferred Qualifications

• Engineering degree (Mechanical, Industrial, or Electrical) — enables direct engagement with parts specifications, service contract scopes, and maintenance professionals without reliance on technical intermediaries.
• Experience managing a performance issue or a difficult team transition.
• Familiarity with contract law fundamentals, indemnification clauses, and service
• agreement risk terms.
• Working knowledge of reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) principles.
• Experience with vendor-managed inventory (VMI), consignment programs, or blanket
• order management.
• APICS CPIM, ISM CPSM, or similar professional certification.

30 / 60 / 90 Day Priorities

Day 30

Begin building core systems. Initiate vendor negotiations on top MRO spend categories. Draft indirect procurement policy. Begin renegotiating contracts renewing within 90 days. Build CMMS catalog for highest-criticality parts. Deliverable: procurement policy draft approved; first vendor negotiations underway; contract renewal calendar live.

Day 60

Demonstrate traction. First supply agreement or blanket PO executed. Rush order frequency trending down. At least one service contract renegotiated. First monthly KPI report delivered. Team assessment documented with clear development or transition plan. Deliverable: $50K-$100K annualized savings identified; 12-month savings roadmap presented to leadership.

Day 90

Demonstrate traction. First supply agreement or blanket PO executed. Rush order frequency trending down. At least one service contract renegotiated. First monthly KPI report delivered. Team assessment documented with clear development or transition plan. Deliverable: $50K-$100K annualized savings identified; 12-month savings roadmap presented to leadership.