Overview
Purchasing and Sourcing Manager, Full-time Jobs in Cedar Falls, IA at D. La Porte North America
D. La Porte N.A. LLC, the North American subsidiary of D. La Porte Söhne GmbH, is a manufacturer of cabin door systems for the agriculture, construction, and specialty equipment markets. We are seeking a full-time Purchasing & Sourcing Manager to assume responsibility for purchasing activities and support the continued development of our supply base.
This position combines day-to-day purchasing with supplier identification, evaluation, development, and sourcing activities. The successful candidate will work closely with our colleagues in the United States and Germany, as well as Engineering, Quality, Operations, and suppliers.
The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and organizational skills with technical curiosity and sound commercial judgment. This position is well suited for someone who enjoys understanding how products are manufactured, evaluating supplier capabilities, analyzing alternatives, building relationships with colleagues and suppliers, and taking ownership of projects from initial research through implementation.
D. La Porte is a 160+ year-old global company committed to providing a clean, safe, and professional working environment. We believe a better workplace supports better work and continue to invest in both our employees and our facility. These investments include natural lighting, a temperature-controlled warehouse, modern equipment, and on-site solar energy supporting both our sustainability efforts and complimentary electric vehicle charging for employees.
The company offers competitive employee benefits, opportunities to learn and take on additional responsibilities, and significant independence for individuals who demonstrate sound judgment, initiative, and accountability.
D. La Porte N.A. LLC is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified, reflecting our ongoing commitment to quality, environmental responsibility, and continuous improvement.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
· Manage day-to-day purchasing activities, including purchase orders, supplier communication, order confirmations, pricing, delivery schedules, and follow-up.
· Maintain appropriate purchasing and inventory levels while considering customer demand, forecasts, lead times, working capital, and supply requirements.
· Communicate regularly and professionally with D. La Porte colleagues in USA and Germany regarding purchasing requirements, availability, pricing, technical information, and supply-chain matters.
· Monitor open purchase orders and proactively address late deliveries, shortages, pricing discrepancies, and other supplier issues.
· Maintain accurate purchasing, supplier, pricing, and lead-time information within the company’s ERP and supporting systems.
· Perform regular purchasing price reviews in SAP, identify changes or discrepancies, and ensure supplier pricing and purchasing data remain accurate and current.
· Analyze supplier price changes and purchasing history to identify cost trends, significant variances, and opportunities requiring further review or negotiation.
· Analyze purchasing history, inventory requirements, forecasts, lead times, supplier performance, and other data to support purchasing and sourcing decisions.
· Identify, evaluate, and develop qualified suppliers that support the company’s long-term quality, cost, delivery, and supply-chain objectives.
· Research prospective suppliers and evaluate manufacturing capabilities, technical expertise, quality systems, capacity, responsiveness, and overall business fit.
· Work with Engineering and Quality to develop technical RFQs, communicate requirements, evaluate supplier proposals, and support supplier qualification.
· Solicit and manage quotations and ensure proposals contain sufficient information for effective technical and commercial comparison.
· Analyze quotations using total-cost considerations, including pricing, tooling, transportation, lead time, inventory requirements, quality, and supply risk.
· Prepare supplier comparisons and sourcing recommendations for management review.
· Participate in supplier discussions and negotiations regarding pricing, lead times, commercial terms, quality expectations, and other purchasing requirements.
· Coordinate with Engineering, Quality, and Operations during supplier evaluation, product qualification, and implementation.
· Support resolution of supplier quality, delivery, and commercial issues.
· Develop and monitor supplier performance measures related to quality, delivery, cost, responsiveness, and other key requirements.
· Build productive, long-term relationships with key suppliers.
· Identify opportunities for cost improvement, lead-time reduction, supply-chain improvement, and risk reduction.
· Maintain appropriate confidentiality and control of company, customer, supplier, technical, pricing, and other proprietary information.
· Support ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 purchasing and supplier-management requirements.
· Assist with other supply chain and operational priorities as business needs require.
Requirements and Qualifications
· Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, engineering technology, manufacturing, operations, or a related field or equivalent relevant purchasing, sourcing, technical, or manufacturing experience.
· Previous purchasing, sourcing, supply-chain, manufacturing, supplier-management, or related experience.
· Strong analytical skills with the ability to compare suppliers, quotations, costs, lead times, and other sourcing variables.
· Strong Microsoft Excel skills and the ability to organize, analyze, and clearly present purchasing and supplier data.
· Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate professionally with domestic and international suppliers and colleagues.
· Demonstrated ability to independently research alternatives, evaluate information, develop recommendations, and follow projects through to completion.
· Ability to understand engineering drawings, specifications, bills of material, and technical purchasing requirements, or demonstrated technical aptitude and ability to develop these skills.
· Ability to evaluate total cost, supplier capability, quality, delivery, and supply risk rather than purchase price alone.
· Strong organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage routine purchasing responsibilities while advancing longer-term sourcing projects.
· Ability to professionally solicit quotations, clarify supplier proposals, and negotiate commercial terms.
· Ability to work effectively across Engineering, Quality, Operations, Finance, and international teams.
· Ability to take ownership of supplier issues and drive them toward resolution.
· Sound judgment and ability to recognize when technical, commercial, quality, or supply-chain issues require escalation.
· Ability to appropriately handle confidential pricing, technical, customer, supplier, and company information.
· Consistent and reliable attendance, organization, and follow-through.
· Willingness to visit suppliers and travel as business needs require. International travel may be required.
Desired Knowledge and Skills
· Experience sourcing manufactured components, tooling, assemblies, or other engineered products from global supply base.
· Experience evaluating manufacturing processes and supplier capabilities.
· Familiarity with common manufacturing processes such as machining, stamping, forming, casting, injection molding, heat treatment, coatings, or tooling.
· Experience reading engineering drawings, tolerances, specifications, and bills of material.
· Experience preparing and managing technical RFQs.
· Experience with supplier qualification, production approval, and new product or supplier launches.
· Familiarity with ISO 9001 or another structured quality-management system.
· Ability to identify opportunities to improve or automate purchasing analysis, reporting, supplier performance tracking, and other routine processes using SAP, Excel, or related tools.
· Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, lookups, data analysis, and comparison models.
· Experience analyzing total cost, including freight, duties, inventory requirements, tooling, and other sourcing considerations.
· Experience negotiating supplier pricing, lead times, payment terms, and commercial agreements.
· Understanding of supply-chain risk management and supplier-development strategies.
· Mechanical aptitude and curiosity about how products and manufacturing processes work.
· Ability to build strong supplier relationships while maintaining appropriate commercial expectations and accountability.
Growth and Development Opportunity
This position provides significant opportunity to take ownership of purchasing, sourcing, and supplier development activities for D. La Porte N.A.
As knowledge of our products, suppliers, and global operations develops, the Purchasing & Sourcing Manager will have increasing independence in purchasing decisions, supplier negotiations, sourcing recommendations, supplier development, and supply-chain improvement initiatives.
Employees who demonstrate strong analytical ability, sound judgment, technical aptitude, initiative, and accountability will have opportunities to take on broader responsibility and directly contribute to the company’s long-term operational and supply-chain strategy.
Final Thoughts
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Pay: $65,000.00 – $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Which ERP software are you most proficient in?
- Do you have a Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, or a related field OR equivalent professional experience in a purchasing? Please type YES or NO. If yes, briefly state your degree or years and area of experience.
Education:
- Bachelor’s (Preferred)
Experience:
- relevant purchasing, sourcing, technical or manufacturing: 3 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
Title: Purchasing and Sourcing Manager, Full-time
Company: D. La Porte North America
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Category:
