Commodity Buyer

Commodity Buyer
Lumber procurement, market pricing, trading, and supply chain strategy

The opportunity Our client is seeking an experienced procurement and building-materials professional to lead and strengthen their purchasing, supplier management, inventory planning, and supply-chain practices.
Based at their Langley, British Columbia operation, this role will support the procurement, processing, handling, storage, and movement of softwood lumber, wood panels, engineered wood products, hardware, and related production materials.
The Commodity Buyer will help centralize purchasing, develop strategic supplier programs, improve inventory controls, and ensure dependable material availability across manufacturing, yard, and warehouse operations. The successful candidate will combine strong commercial judgment with practical knowledge of lumber and construction-material supply chains.
This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for someone who can translate market conditions, production requirements, inventory data, and supplier relationships into disciplined purchasing decisions.
What you will do

• Develop and execute procurement strategies aligned with production schedules, customer requirements, inventory targets, working-capital objectives, and supply commitments.
• Manage strategic and day-to-day purchasing across structural lumber, softwood products, wood panels, engineered wood products, hardware, and other manufacturing and construction materials.
• Build and maintain productive, long-term relationships with lumber mills, manufacturers, distributors, freight providers, and other strategic suppliers.
• Negotiate supplier agreements, pricing structures, volume programs, freight terms, lead times, and service commitments that balance cost, quality, availability, and delivery performance.
• Monitor lumber and building-material markets, including pricing, availability, lead times, freight conditions, and supply risks, and advise leadership on purchasing timing and sourcing opportunities.
• Coordinate replenishment, special orders, and production-specific purchases to support manufacturing schedules and customer commitments.
• Identify cost-reduction, supplier-consolidation, and alternative-sourcing opportunities while maintaining product quality and supply continuity.
• Centralize purchasing activities and establish consistent practices for approvals, purchase orders, item data, receiving, workflows, and reporting.
• Use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and other internal systems to improve purchasing discipline, demand forecasting, inventory visibility, and management reporting.
• Maintain reliable inventory information covering quantity, location, age, value, allocation, replenishment requirements, and intended use across a broad SKU catalog.
• Identify aging, excess, slow-moving, and obsolete inventory and develop practical plans to consume, repurpose, transfer, return, or sell it.
• Partner with production, design, operations, finance, logistics, sales, and customer-service teams to align material supply with operational and customer requirements.
• Coordinate purchasing and inventory priorities with employees responsible for receiving, yard movement, warehousing, shipping, and finished-product logistics.
• Establish and track relevant performance measures, including supplier performance, purchasing savings, inventory accuracy, material availability, lead times, inventory turns, working capital, and excess stock.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that increase efficiency, strengthen controls, and improve the flow of materials through the operation.
• Carry out all responsibilities in accordance with our client's quality, safety, and operational standards.

What you bring

• Progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, inventory management, supply-chain coordination, or construction-material sourcing.
• Experience in lumber, engineered wood products, building-material distribution, wood-products manufacturing, construction supply, or a closely related industry.
• Strong knowledge of lumber and building products, supplier pricing structures, freight considerations, market dynamics, and procurement practices.
• Demonstrated success negotiating supplier contracts, pricing, freight, and purchasing programs while balancing cost, quality, availability, lead time, and inventory requirements.
• A proven ability to build credible, long-term relationships with mills, manufacturers, distributors, and other vendor partners.
• Experience working with purchasing, inventory, or ERP systems. Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is considered an asset.
• Strong analytical and commercial skills, including cost analysis, demand forecasting, replenishment planning, and evaluation of sourcing opportunities.
• Experience managing a broad SKU catalog and inventory distributed across manufacturing, warehouse, and yard locations.
• Strong judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to make practical decisions in a fast-moving operational environment.
• Effective negotiation, communication, supplier-management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• The ability to work comfortably across office, manufacturing, warehouse, and outdoor yard environments.

Additional assets

• Experience working for a lumber producer, wood-products manufacturer, building-material distributor, construction-supply company, or contractor-supply business.
• Experience purchasing directly from lumber mills or manufacturers.
• Knowledge of structural lumber, panel products, engineered wood products, hardware, and related construction or production materials.
• Experience with strategic sourcing, supplier-program development, special-order procurement, production planning, or customer-specific material requirements.
• Experience improving purchasing processes or helping establish a centralized procurement function.
• Experience managing inventory across a significant physical footprint.
• Familiarity with Canadian and cross-border freight, import, or export considerations.

What success looks like

• Supplier relationships and purchasing programs deliver measurable improvements in pricing, service, quality, supply stability, and purchasing leverage.
• Materials are available when required to support production schedules and customer commitments.
• Purchasing decision

Compensation

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $80,000 to $110,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications.
The total compensation package includes:

• Extended health and dental benefits.
• RRSP contributions and an employer-matching program.
• Vacation starting at two weeks, negotiable based on experience.
• Flexible working hours, with a core on-site presence required.

Work location This role is based at our client's operation in Langley, British Columbia. Regular on-site presence is required to work closely with production, warehouse, yard, logistics, and administrative teams.