Purchasing Manager

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Purchasing Manager to lead our Purchasing and Estimating Department within the residential homebuilding industry.

Reporting to the Vice President of Production, this role will oversee Purchasing Estimators and Purchasing Assistants, ensuring homes are accurately estimated, materials and labor are purchased at competitive prices, and purchase orders are released on schedule and within approved budgets.

The Purchasing Manager will play a key role in cost control, vendor relationship management, estimating accuracy, and coordination across Production, Sales, Accounting, and Construction. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience in residential construction purchasing or estimating, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to lead a team while maintaining efficient purchasing processes.

Key Responsibilities:

Purchasing & Estimating

• Lead daily purchasing meetings and coordinate estimating and purchase-order release activities.
• Review estimates, purchase orders, and supporting documentation for accuracy and completeness.
• Develop and maintain master budgets for home models, floor plans, and customer options.
• Manage trade and material pricing within the company's estimating system.
• Review customer selections and CAD revisions to ensure accurate pricing and buildable specifications.
• Maintain accurate material takeoffs for concrete slabs, flatwork, framing, roofing, finishes, and other construction components.
• Price change orders and ensure quantities and costs are verified before purchase orders are released.

Vendor & Trade Partner Management

• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, delivery schedules, quality standards, warranties, and long-term pricing agreements with suppliers and trade partners.
• Develop, review, and maintain scopes of work, vendor agreements, and preferred-vendor relationships.
• Manage trade partner onboarding, including W-9 forms, insurance certificates, lien waivers, and safety requirements.
• Maintain qualified alternate suppliers for critical construction materials.
• Monitor material availability, lead times, allocations, and substitutions to minimize construction delays.
• Ensure all material substitutions receive written approval before delivery.
• Evaluate vendor performance and conduct regular cost and agreement reviews.

Cost Control & Purchase Order Management

• Oversee purchase orders, requisitions, variance purchase orders, and release approvals.
• Monitor purchasing costs against approved budgets and investigate significant price variances.
• Coordinate purchasing releases and package milestones using BuilderMT or an equivalent system.
• Schedule material deliveries and manage surplus returns, restocking, and disposal.
• Coordinate with Accounting and Production to ensure completed job documentation is submitted on time.
• Support warranty material returns and vendor or trade partner back-charges when necessary.
• Prepare vendor cost analyses, market-condition reports, and merchandise-cost updates.

Team Leadership & Department Operations

• Lead, coach, and develop Purchasing Estimators and Purchasing Assistants.
• Assign workloads, review performance, resolve operational issues, and maintain accountability for department processes.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, quarterly performance check-ins, and annual evaluations.
• Develop department budgets and incentive plans for management approval.
• Evaluate selection center merchandise and ensure discontinued samples are removed and displays remain organized.
• Review preferred-vendor agreements and purchasing procedures regularly.

South Texas Construction Requirements

• Manage purchasing considerations for post-tension slabs, concrete flatwork, windstorm roofing and bracing, and high-efficiency HVAC systems.
• Account for concrete delivery constraints, hot-weather placement, supplier locations, and regional material lead times.
• Maintain current sales-tax exemption documentation for applicable material purchases.
• Coordinate effectively with English- and Spanish-speaking trade partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience approved by the Vice President of Production.
• At least 5 years of experience in residential construction purchasing, estimating, or production control .
• Experience with a production homebuilder is preferred.
• Working knowledge of AutoCAD (2018 or newer) and BuilderMT or an equivalent construction purchasing or estimating system.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
• Strong negotiation, cost analysis, budgeting, and vendor management skills.
• Ability to develop clear, enforceable scopes of work and review construction specifications.
• Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish , with the ability to lead trade meetings and communicate scopes of work effectively.
• Valid driver's license and willingness to travel occasionally between communities and divisions.