Buyer Planner

Job Summary

The NPI Buyer/Quality Specialist serves as a critical link between Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, Quality, and Production throughout the New Product Introduction (NPI) lifecycle. This role is responsible for coordinating material planning, procurement, inspection, and scheduling for prototype and pre-production builds. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, ensures timely material availability to support engineering milestones, evaluates supplier readiness, and helps drive quality, cost, and delivery performance from concept through launch.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities (Essential Functions)

• Support new product development activities related to sourcing, procurement, and quality coordination.
• Build and maintain strong cross-functional partnerships, particularly with the Design team in Montreal and the Procurement team in Oceanside.
• Interpret engineering drawings and communicate technical requirements and expectations to supplier partners.
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, and order quantities to support project timelines and cost objectives.
• Issue purchase orders and manage follow-up activities with suppliers and internal stakeholders to ensure on-time delivery.
• Expedite materials when necessary to meet engineering and design deadlines.
• Coordinate prototype shipments to Montreal for inspection in collaboration with the design team.
• Coordinate part transfers and material readiness for PPR and pilot builds in Oceanside.
• Provide suppliers with quality feedback related to conforming and nonconforming materials and support corrective actions as needed.
• Perform inspections using precision tools such as calipers, micrometers, multimeters, and gauges to verify compliance with quality and safety requirements.
• Document inspection results, maintain digital quality records, and prepare reports, including nonconforming material documentation in Microsoft Excel.
• Communicate inspection findings, escalate defect trends or abnormalities, and collaborate with Production and Engineering to resolve issues.
• Validate builds and configurations against engineering documentation to ensure accuracy and readiness for production.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives by recommending process enhancements that strengthen quality, efficiency, and inventory performance.

Skills and Minimum Experience Required

• • Three or more years of experience across core supply chain functions, including sourcing, cost analysis, supplier negotiation, purchasing, and quality coordination.
  • Experience in a manufacturing environment is required.
  • Strong understanding of lean principles, including Kanban, standard work, and continuous improvement practices.
  • Hands-on experience working with a variety of materials and components, including steel, aluminum, plastics, and electrical or electronic parts.
  • Solid knowledge of purchasing, logistics, planning, and material control processes.
  • Ability to read engineering drawings and provide suppliers with actionable feedback regarding conforming and nonconforming materials.

  Knowledge and Skills

  • Strong negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
  • Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize work in a fast-paced environment.
  • Working knowledge of ERP systems and standard business software tools.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience in the electrical, lighting, or related industrial manufacturing industry.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
• Familiarity with Copilot or other AI-enabled productivity tools.