Purchasing Director Jobs in Pennsylvania

Job Title: Purchasing Director Company: Location: Lancaster, PA Description: Ten Thousand Villages Employment Opportunity Ten Thousand Villages P.O. Box 500, 704 Main Street Akron, PA 17501-0500 Register to View ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Assignment Title: Purchasing Director Location: Ten Thousand Villages Offices, Akron, PA Date Required: 9/1/10 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Qualifications: 1. Bachelors degree related to business administration and/or marketing 2. Minimum 3 to 5 years retail experience; retail management, marketing or buying for retail preferred 3. Minimum 7-10 years professional experience; ideally with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership duties. 4. Ability to lead the Purchasing Team in building fair trade relationships while balancing business and mission 5. Experience living in a developing country or working with people of other cultures, religions, education levels and economic positions 6. Understanding of the production of handicrafts with a strong product orientation and visionary approach to working with artisan partners 7. Highly organized, systems oriented, self-starter and reliable 8. Strong communication skills, both verbal and written 9. Commitment to working interdepartmentally for organizational success 10. Strong support of and commitment to Ten Thousand Villages mission and vision for job creation through Ten Thousand Villages purchases and sales Assignment Description: The Purchasing Director provides leadership for developing and maintaining fair trade buying relationships with artisans for dynamic products selected or designed to appeal to the Ten Thousand Villages customer and meet their expectations. The Purchasing Director allocates and manages the budget for spending with artisans in keeping with the mission of Ten Thousand Villages through the purchase of products within the framework of the Merchandising plan. This position is responsible for: Ten Thousand Villages buying relationship with artisans, development and fair trade practices with artisans, successful product development initiatives, new item collection development, product pricing and wholesale margins within the framework set by the Merchandising team, and effective systems for gathering and sharing artisan and product information. The Purchasing Director coordinates departmental activities with Merchandising, Sales and Marketing departments to build sales and increase orders for as many artisans as possible. The Purchasing Director supervises the Buyers (4), Designer, Artisan Development Specialist, and the Product Coordinator. All duties should be carried out to contribute to company-wide sales and profits, increased productivity and increased purchases from artisans while keeping expenses within budget. Responsible To: Chief Executive Officer Working Hours: Full-time, exempt position. Normal office hours are 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. International travel to work with artisan partners will be required (approx. 4 weeks per year). Some domestic travel throughout the store network also will be required. Duties: Leadership (45%) ? Lead and supervise the ongoing operations of the Purchasing Team interacting with staff to ensure smooth functioning of all operations, while managing department expense within budget. ? Responsible for strategic planning to accomplish department goals. ? Coordinate Purchasing activities and expenses with Merchandising, Marketing and Sales to build sales and increase orders for as many artisans as possible while keeping expenses within budget. ? Establish budget allocations for artisan groups with consideration to the marketability of their product, Ten Thousand Villages Purchasing Guidelines, relationship with the group, and Merchandising?s budget requirements for reorders. ? Collaborate with Merchandising in the development of new inventory management systems and expectations that meet both the artisan needs and market demand. ? Provide direction on artisan development initiatives that connect to Ten Thousand Villages core business of marketing handicrafts. ? Work with the Import Manager to identify shipments needing to be expedited to protect Ten Thousand Villages inventory position. ? Participate actively in organizational leadership team meetings Vision and Product Brand Management (30%) ? Supervise product design and selection for new item introductions meeting the product and price point targets of the Merchandising Plan, while balancing purchases between artisan groups. ? Collaborate with Merchandising and Sales to integrate sales trends and the customers needs and wants into product collection planning, product selection, and price point strategy. ? In collaboration with Merchandising, establish retail prices with consideration to market opportunities, artisan groups, and wholesale gross margin. ? Direct Buyers in product development work, informed by market trends and Ten Thousand Villages brand, through the allocation of internal and external development resources. ? Present monthly new item products and plans to Merchandising, Marketing, and Sales. ? Establish product safety testing procedures and supervise execution to ensure Ten Thousand Villages products are compliant with federal regulations. ? Supervise the placement of purchase orders for re-ordered items based on requisitioned counts from Merchandising ? Ensure product ordering cycles for new items and reorders are established with consideration to artisans and are coordinated as appropriate with shipping, inventory and budget considerations. Artisan Fair Trade Relationships (25%) ? Travel internationally to maintain an understanding of all artisan groups, the current relationship of Ten Thousand Villages to them, and the direction of the future relationship. ? Develop a plan for working with existing artisan groups to increase purchases while beginning relationships with new artisan groups in the interest of spreading the benefit of Ten Thousand Villages projected sales growth. ? Interact with artisans to understand their needs in our trading relationship and represent their perspective in Ten Thousand Villages decision making. ? Coordinate the gathering and sharing of artisan/product information with the Marketing department. ? Supervise the Artisan Development Specialist?s management and disbursement of the Artisan Special Needs Fund. ? Determine appropriate actions for addressing concerns with artisan group?s fair trade practices. ? Determine when to begin and end relationships with artisan groups or countries, and make recommendations to the CEO for final approval. ? Network with alternative trade organizations (ATOs) and other organizations to share resources in a manner that benefits artisans. ? Attend World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) conferences. Understand the practice of fair trade and the implications for our trading relationship. Location Description: Ten Thousand Villages offices and warehouses are located in Akron and Brownstown, PA. Both towns are located in Lancaster County. Akron also houses the headquarters of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Bi-National and MCC U.S.

Job Title: Sr. Manager, Purchasing Operations Company: Giant Eagle Location: Pittsburgh, PA Description: Giant Eagle Inc., ranked 40 on Forbes magazine's largest private corporations list and recipient of Grocery Headquarters' 2007 Retailer of the Year Award and the EPA's ENERGY STAR Retail Partner of the Year Award, is one of the nation's largest food retailers and food distributors with approximately $8.2 billion in annual sales. Founded in 1931, Giant Eagle, Inc. has grown to be the number one supermarket retailer in the region with 164 corporate and 58 independently owned and operated supermarkets in addition to 156 fuel and convenience stores throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West Virginia and Maryland. Giant Eagle was previously named America's Second Harvest Regional Retailer of the Year for its support of local food banks, and also actively supports numerous community events, the United Way, Childrens' Hospital, Race For The Cure and other non-profit organizations. The company also has created education initiatives such as Apples For The Students, which has provided millions of dollars in computer equipment, software and other classroom learning tools for local schools and the Be A Smart Shopper school nutrition program. Further information can be found at GiantEagle.com. Position Summary Manage Purchasing Operations department to ensure timely, high-quality delivery of goods and services to functional stakeholders utilizing defined processes and tools. Job Responsibilities Direct the Purchasing Operations dept to ensure all facets of procurement are completed in a timely manner, efficiently and utilizing defined procedures and tools. This includes preparation of RFI/RFP and auctions as well as executing purchase order and fulfillment follow-up. Management of analysts workload and evaluation of their performance are critical in supporting ongoing requests. Actively collaborate with Procurement Reporting Manager to implement systems necessary to establish highly effective purchasing operations and reporting capabilities. As systems are developed this will evolve into collaboration for developing measurements/reporting methodologies. Assist in escalated issue resolution or decision analysis as required by team. Drive the evolution of purchasing process to be best practices including leveraging available tools. Actively participate in on-going education to ensure an up-to-date knowledge of procurement trends and tools. Coach analysts to effectively use tools and develop their skill sets Little or no financial or budgetary responsibility Amount of Budgetary Responsibility: $0 Supervision of team members in one department License Required