Purchasing Lead - remote

Nathan James is looking for a Purchasing Lead to join our team and be responsible for the smooth purchasing flow of all of our products.

People-first company, design-first home.

We are a design-first, home furnishing company focusing on the habits of urban dwellers and first time home buyers. We pride ourselves on the best in class customer happiness, providing the highest possible quality products that are affordable for the majority and assembly that isn't dreadful.

As a people-first company, we understood from day one the importance of being fully distributed. We encourage everyone to work in whichever manner that helps them perform their best.

You'll be responsible for identifying what to purchase in what quantities at what times, from desks and bookshelves to extra nuts and bolts. You'll work with the Manager and, eventually, the rest of the Inventory Management division to keep stock levels exactly where we want them to deliver great service to our customers without overinvesting.

Given a forecast and vendor constraint data, you will be data modeling to develop EOQs and safety stock targets for our full portfolio of products.  You will need to think critically about your inputs and the way these values are calculated while striving to make them better.  You’ll also be responsible for keeping our re-order points updated in our system so that other teams have visibility into our inventory plan.

On a weekly basis, you’ll determine exactly what we need to purchase and be deep in documents, reviewing every detail to make sure each purchase order is exactly what we want. You’ll follow the data between our ERP system, database, and documentation to correct any errors you see.

As changes happen along our supply chain, you will spend time reworking open orders to account for any delays that occur or availability in our production allowing for reduced lead times. You’ll review our needs and existing orders to quickly understand how to leverage an opportunity to improve our stock position or to mitigate the downside of unexpected delays/limitations.

During training, you’ll be expected to be proactive in your process and learn quickly. Once fully up-to-speed (2-3 months), you’ll begin to issue 10-20 purchase orders a week and stay on top of the stock position for 100-200 products, ensuring that you can reprioritize orders weekly if needed. 

We have a rhythm to our work and a very low turnover rate — we have yet to have a single team member opt-out. Your voice matters to us. We make change from fresh perspectives and appreciate new viewpoints, so you should feel comfortable speaking up about your values and goals.

We’re ready for the ongoing work that goes into building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best work of your career. Our values, workplace, and our benefits are designed to support a sustainable, healthy relationship with your work. Our operating values provide the framework we use in building a healthy, resilient organization.

You can expect a mindful onboarding process with ramp-up and time to learn. You can expect a team that listens, and to be heard. You can expect to give and provide direct feedback. You can expect to work with good people. You can expect to be counted on. You can expect to do your best work and build a career here. 

We're looking for someone detail-oriented, who gets satisfaction sifting through documentation and spreadsheets for that one number out of place. You’re a critical thinker - about a third of your time will be spent thinking hard about optimizing our purchases and how we do better every single day.  Your goal is getting more of our inventory where we need it, when we need it, without excess.

You work best when you can settle into a clear routine with a predictable workflow, and you love having autonomy over your schedule - in this role, deadlines don't require a 9-5 workday. We're also looking for some flexibility because as our company grows, our purchasing process will evolve and you need to be willing to change with it! Getting new information - meaning you need to update a week's worth of work - doesn't bother you, you know that this is all part of keeping on top of a changing situation.

You will need to be comfortable handling large data sets and working with an ERP system. You know how the EOQ purchasing methodology operates and you understand how to apply it. You know what levers to pull to manage safety stock and you're familiar with working on factory and transportation lead times. You're also interested in expanding your understanding of these topics to drill down even further on the perfect purchasing plan.

We're looking for 3+ years of experience in a role handling purchasing decisions and documentation. You might have a degree or you might not. That's not what we're looking for. We care about what you can do and how you do it.

For this role, we do require that your normal workday has at least 4 hours overlap with the Mountain Standard Time workday (currently UTC-7) without impinging on your personal/family life.

This is a remote role since we are a remote company! You’re free to work where you work best, anywhere in the world: home office, coworking space, coffee shops, or in Montreal. While we currently have an office in Montreal, you should be comfortable working remotely—most of the company does! That hinges on effective writing, self-discipline, and comfort with open communication.

We offer competitive salaries, we measure this as your pay being in the 80th percentile (at minimum) for a similar role in the country you will be working from. 

Our benefits are all aimed at supporting a life well-lived, both at work and away from work.

We’re all about reasonable working hours, sharing, ample vacation time, wellness, education, comfort, and giving back.

Please submit an application here that speaks directly to this position. There are no right answers or cookie-cutter expectations. A cover letter is not required, but those that clearly demonstrate how Nathan James would be a great fit for you and how you would be a great fit for us, will be given full attention and are highly appreciated. 

We’re accepting applications until August 18th, 2020.

We expect to take two weeks to review all applications. You’ll hear from us by August 21st about advancement to a work sample review. You’ll get a chance to see the types of challenges you would be solving in this role. Then on to an interview. Our interviews are one hour, all remote by Whereby video chat (no software needed), with your future colleagues, on your schedule. 

We aim to make an offer by mid-October with a start date in late October to early November.

 

We appreciate your consideration into having Nathan James be part of your career. Our open conversation starts with this post. We look forward to hearing from you.