Purchasing Coordinator

About Bread Los Angeles

Bread Los Angeles is a fast-growing wholesale bakery producing artisan bread, viennoiserie, bagels, pastry, and food prep items for hotels, cafes, and major retailers. The company is investing in new equipment and strengthening its operations team to support continued growth.

Role Summary

We are creating a Purchasing Coordinator role to take over the day-to-day purchasing and inventory work currently handled by our QA Manager, so she can focus fully on quality assurance. This is a hands-on position that moves between the warehouse floor and the office: ordering ingredients, tracking inventory, and leading receiving in the early days, with growing responsibility over time for vendor relationships and price negotiation.

Key Responsibilities

• Place ingredient and packaging orders with vendors twice a week
• Conduct a physical inventory count of products twice a week
• Lead the receiving of incoming ingredient deliveries, checking quantities and quality against purchase orders
• Load outgoing pallet orders when customers come for pickup
• Put away pallets in the freezer and log activity in the container sheet
• Log lot numbers and label incoming ingredients
• Put away incoming ingredients following First In, First Out (FIFO) rotation
• Operate a forklift to receive and stage incoming shipments (training provided)
• Keep purchasing and inventory records accurate and up to date
• Coordinate with production and QA to align orders with actual needs
• Progressively take on analysis of purchasing prices and cost trends by ingredient and vendor
• Grow into being the main point of contact for all vendors
• Push for better pricing and terms as vendor relationships mature

Candidate Profile

• Prior experience in purchasing, inventory, receiving, or warehouse work is a plus, ideally in food or manufacturing
• Comfortable working both on the production floor and in an office setting
• Bilingual English/Spanish ideal, to communicate with both vendors and the production floor team
• Forklift certification is a plus; we provide training if you don't have it yet
• Organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable with basic computer tools (Excel, email, ordering systems)
• Confident communicator who can eventually represent the company with vendors
• Analytical mindset with an interest in growing into cost analysis and negotiation
• Reliable, proactive, and able to manage multiple priorities

Compensation & Benefits

• Starting pay: $19.00/hour, with room to grow based on performance
• 40 hours/week, with overtime pay per California law
• Health insurance, with the company covering 60% of the premium
• Dental and vision coverage available (employee-paid)
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Paid vacation and sick time per company policy
• On-the-job training provided, including forklift certification
• Clear path toward greater ownership of vendor relationships and purchasing strategy

Pay: $19.00 - $20.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person