Director of Inventory & Purchasing

CoolSys solves the most complex challenges in refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, engineering, and energy management. With over 3,700 associates nationwide, we deliver tailored solutions to help businesses cut costs, improve equipment performance, and reduce emissions.

Our services include HVAC and refrigeration equipment sourcing, installation, repair, maintenance, monitoring, and optimization. We also offer engineering design, energy resilience and consumption optimization, asset recycling, and seamless multi-site rollouts across states.

Based in Southern California since 2007, CoolSys serves over 45,000 customer locations in industries like retail, food service, commercial, data centers, industrial, and pharmaceuticals.

No wonder Newsweek named CoolSys one of America’s Greatest Workplaces!

We understand that hiring great people is the foundation of everything we do. Our employee benefits packages include:

• Competitive pay: $120-160K depending on experience.
• Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision and Prescription coverage.
• Paid vacation, holidays, and floating holiday.
• 401(K) with Company match.
• Company sponsored life insurance, as well as optional AD&D, short and long-term disability.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Employee discounts on vehicles, hotels, theme parks, select cell phone bills and so much more.
• Pet Insurance.
• Legal Plan, and ID Theft Protection.

JOB SUMMARY

At CoolSys Light Commercial, as a Purchasing Director, you will be responsible for creating process & managing the team to support a division wide inventory procurement program, continuing a strategic replenishment plan for the division, and reducing costs of service via the purchase of commodities, supplies, and services as both inventory and non-inventory items. This role involves directing the team to source materials, equipment, and services for both installation and service sides of the business, actively managing vendors, commodity spend, analysis and pricing. The successful candidate will set inventory pricing levels consistent with our customer specific master service agreements, manage the parts department, and support internal and external customer metrics.

Strategic Sourcing and Procurement

• Establish and implement viable, cost-effective, and strategic sourcing objectives in collaboration with key stakeholders for both inventory parts, consumables, commodities (refrigerant), and non-inventory items.
• Partner with Finance & Planning to acquire tools and assists consistent with GAAP depreciation methods.
• Develop and execute cost savings initiatives and reduction strategies across the division.
• Implement and drive category strategies to identify opportunities for savings, risk management, and market trend analysis.
• Manage and optimize supplier relationships to support business requirements and leverage spend.
• Negotiate contracts that maximize value and leverage company spend.

Inventory Management and Distribution

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive procurement software system, ensuring ongoing updates with technology changes.
• Manage the parts department to ensure optimal inventory levels and availability.
• Implement an existing strategic replenishment plan for the division to minimize stockouts and overstock situations.
• Manage multiple distribution centers and warehouses to support hundreds of technicians parts needs
• Partner with Accounting to reduce shrinkage and manage employee and employer supplied tools.

Vendor Management and Value Creation

• Set inventory pricing levels consistent with customer-specific master service agreements.
• Complete supplier qualification processes and select vendors aligned with corporate objectives.
• Conduct supplier analysis, evaluate purchasing options, and recommend sourcing decisions to management.
• Produce inventory reports and pricing proposals from suppliers to negotiate optimal terms and prices.
• Develop and maintain Managed Service Agreements (MSAs) and Long-Term Agreements (LTAs) to drive deflationary spend.

Team Leadership and Development

• Manage a team of 9-12+ direct reports across 3+ regions.
• Train staff members on HVAC & Refrigeration products, including product substitution guidelines and backorder management.
• Support training efforts both structurally and in the moment to support technician activities in service and installation.
• Leverage team members' skillsets and strengths to maximize value delivery to the business.
• Establish and enforce procurement policies and procedures consistent with financial controls, safety, and Quality Management Systems.
• Ensure Tech Replenishment maintains maximum service level adherence to customer contracts.
• Conduct inventory audits as required from time to time

Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

• Develop supplier performance programs and monitor supplier performance metrics.
• Provide analysis and recommendations for continuous improvement to key stakeholders and departments.
• Ensure customer satisfaction by enabling first-time completion with parts availability.
• Support Customer Service Level Agreements through effective supplier and supply chain management.
• Identify and implement opportunities for process improvement and automation in procurement and inventory management.

Compliance and Quality Assurance

• Ensure responsible procurement practices meet company objectives and compliance requirements.
• Maintain product and service quality standards throughout the procurement process.
• Keep accurate inventory records, including details on price, performance, and delivery.
• Develop spend analysis and spend mapping for assigned areas to optimize budget allocation and cost control.

By fulfilling these responsibilities, the Director of Inventory & Purchasing will play a crucial role in optimizing CLC's procurement processes, generating Value, and ensuring efficient inventory management across the division.

• Education and/or experience equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics Management, or related field and 10+ years of experience in inventory planning/sourcing/supplier management . ( Commercial Refrigeration and HVAC service is a plus)
• 5+ years of experience in a leadership capacity managing others.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.
• Demonstrated the ability to influence without authority of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated strong analytical decision making principles.
• Demonstrated success negotiating contracts and evaluating contract details including strategic supplier management and sourcing
• Posses’ knowledge relative to basic accounting principles and practices related to inventory control theory and methods. (Experience in EBITDA PnL & Balance Sheets Preferred)
• Ability to understand complex problems and to collaborate with suppliers, customers and all levels of management.
• Ability to make formal and informal presentations, inside and/or outside the organization; speaking before groups.
• Ability to understand opposing points of view on highly complex issues and to negotiate and integrate different viewpoints.
• Ability to interact with all levels of management as an advisor on projects, and to act as the company’s principal spokesperson in the Sourcing functional area of expertise.
• Superior interpersonal and written/oral communications skills.
• Excellent computer skills (E-Mail, Word, Excel, Inventory Database, etc.).
  • SQL based enterprise planning software preferred (SamPro experience Highly preferred).

Today, there are 27 different companies that make up the CoolSys family of brands . Our valued employees are at the heart of our continued growth and success. We invite you to be part of that growth!

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CoolSys is an EEO/AA Employer.  All qualified individuals - Including all ages, colors, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics are encouraged to apply.

Pre-employment background screening (criminal and MVR for driving positions) and drug testing are required for all positions. CoolSys will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with federal law, state law, or local ordinance.