The posting
Purchasing & Inventory Coordinator
Department: Facilities Reports To: Director of Facilities and Infrastructure FLSA Status: Non-Exempt Employment Status: Full-Time
THIS POSITION IS ON SITE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS
Position Summary
The Purchasing & Inventory Coordinator is responsible for coordinating organizational purchasing activities, developing and maintaining an effective inventory management system, and supporting Santa Maria Hostel’s Request for Proposal (RFP) and competitive procurement processes.
This position will help ensure departments have the supplies, equipment, materials, and services needed to operate effectively while strengthening organizational controls around purchasing, inventory, vendor selection, storage, distribution, competitive procurement, documentation, and cost management.
A key initial responsibility will be assessing Santa Maria’s current purchasing and inventory practices and helping establish consistent organization-wide systems for ordering, receiving, tracking, storing, and distributing supplies.
The Coordinator will also help manage the organization’s RFP process from initial planning and development through solicitation, proposal tracking, evaluation support, selection documentation, and closeout. This position will maintain an organization-wide RFP calendar and help ensure competitive procurement processes are timely, organized, well documented, and consistent with organizational, grant, and funding requirements.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Purchasing and Procurement
- Coordinate routine purchasing of organizational supplies, equipment, materials, and services.
- Receive and process approved purchase requests from departments.
- Obtain pricing, bids, and quotes from vendors when appropriate.
- Prepare and submit purchase orders and other purchasing documentation in accordance with Santa Maria procedures.
- Maintain relationships with approved vendors and identify opportunities for improved pricing, service, and purchasing efficiencies.
- Track orders from purchase through delivery and resolve discrepancies, backorders, damaged items, and other issues.
- Maintain organized purchasing records, receipts, purchase orders, quotes, bids, and related documentation.
- Work with Accounting to ensure purchasing documentation is complete, expenses are appropriately coded and supported, and purchases comply with applicable funding and grant requirements.
- Assist leadership in identifying opportunities to consolidate purchases, negotiate pricing, improve vendor relationships, and reduce unnecessary spending.
RFP and Competitive Procurement Management
- Coordinate and support the organization’s Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quote (RFQ), and other competitive procurement processes.
- Work with department leaders to identify upcoming purchasing, service, and contracting needs that may require an RFP or competitive procurement process.
- Maintain an organization-wide calendar of RFPs, renewals, competitive bids, and procurement deadlines.
- Assist departments in developing RFPs, including scopes of work, specifications, requirements, timelines, submission instructions, and evaluation criteria.
- Coordinate the preparation, internal review, approval, issuance, and distribution of RFP documents.
- Maintain templates and standardized documentation for RFPs and other competitive procurement activities.
- Track RFP timelines and milestones to ensure required steps are completed on schedule.
- Coordinate vendor communications during the RFP process, including distribution of RFPs, bidder questions, responses, clarifications, addenda, and submission deadlines.
- Receive, organize, and track vendor proposals and maintain appropriate confidentiality throughout the evaluation process.
- Develop evaluation tools, comparison worksheets, scoring matrices, and other materials to assist leadership and evaluation teams in reviewing proposals.
- Coordinate evaluation meetings, interviews, presentations, or other selection activities as needed.
- Maintain documentation supporting vendor selection and procurement decisions.
- Assist with award notifications, non-selection notifications, and transition of selected vendors to the appropriate department for contracting and implementation.
- Maintain complete and organized RFP and procurement files for organizational, grant, audit, and compliance purposes.
- Monitor RFP processes for consistency with Santa Maria policies and applicable funding requirements.
- Identify opportunities to improve, standardize, and streamline Santa Maria’s competitive procurement processes.
Inventory Management
- Develop and implement a practical inventory tracking system for Santa Maria.
- Conduct an initial assessment and inventory of organizational supplies and commonly purchased items.
- Establish standardized processes for receiving, labeling, storing, issuing, and tracking inventory.
- Establish appropriate minimum and maximum inventory levels and reorder points for frequently used supplies.
- Conduct routine physical inventory counts and reconcile discrepancies.
- Maintain accurate inventory records and provide regular inventory reports to leadership.
- Monitor inventory usage and identify unusual consumption, shortages, overstocking, duplication, or waste.
- Coordinate with departments to anticipate supply needs and avoid unnecessary emergency purchases.
- Help organize and maintain storage areas so supplies are accessible, secure, and properly accounted for.
Systems and Process Improvement
- Evaluate current purchasing, inventory, RFP, and procurement practices and recommend improvements.
- Develop and maintain written procedures, workflows, templates, and tools for purchasing, receiving, inventory control, competitive procurement, RFP management, and distribution.
- Help establish clear accountability for who may request, approve, purchase, receive, evaluate, and distribute organizational goods and services.
- Map existing processes and identify inefficiencies, gaps, duplication, control weaknesses, and opportunities for standardization.
- Identify technology or software solutions that may improve purchasing, inventory, vendor, and RFP management.
- Create reports and dashboards that allow leadership to monitor purchasing activity, inventory levels, RFP status, procurement deadlines, vendor activity, and spending trends.
- Establish systems for monitoring key deadlines and ensuring appropriate follow-through on purchasing and procurement activities.
- Support implementation, communication, and staff training as new processes and systems are introduced.
- Promote continuous improvement by periodically reviewing established processes and recommending modifications as organizational needs change.
General Responsibilities
- Work collaboratively with Operations, Facilities, Programs, Accounting, Development, and other departments.
- Maintain accurate and confidential organizational records.
- Follow Santa Maria purchasing, financial, safety, grant-compliance, and internal-control policies.
- Demonstrate strong follow-through and communicate proactively regarding deadlines, outstanding items, and potential concerns.
- Participate in meetings and organizational initiatives as requested.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Required
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- Two or more years of experience in purchasing, procurement, inventory management, RFP coordination, project/process coordination, warehouse operations, supply management, or a related administrative role.
- Demonstrated ability to organize and manage processes involving multiple steps, stakeholders, documents, and deadlines.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Strong written communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear, professional documents and instructions.
- Comfortable working with spreadsheets, databases, inventory tracking systems, and other business technology.
- Ability to manage multiple requests, projects, and competing priorities.
- Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with employees across multiple departments.
Preferred
- Associate’s or bachelor’s degree in business, business process management, operations management, supply chain management, project management, accounting, public administration, or a related field.
- Experience coordinating RFPs, RFQs, competitive bids, or other formal procurement processes.
- Experience developing, documenting, implementing, or improving business processes and workflows.
- Experience developing or improving an inventory management system.
- Experience with purchase orders, vendor management, procurement procedures, and contract or vendor documentation.
- Experience working in a nonprofit, healthcare, government-funded, or grant-funded environment.
- Intermediate or advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
- Familiarity with project management, process mapping, workflow management, or continuous-improvement tools and methodologies.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
The successful candidate will be someone who enjoys bringing organization and structure to environments where processes may still be developing. The individual should be comfortable evaluating how work is currently performed, identifying inefficiencies or gaps, developing practical solutions, documenting processes, establishing timelines and accountability, and following through on details.
This position requires a person who can move comfortably between hands-on administrative work and process improvement. The Coordinator must be able to manage detailed purchasing and inventory activities while also coordinating larger processes involving multiple departments, vendors, deadlines, and documentation requirements.
The ideal candidate is highly organized, process-oriented, resourceful, and comfortable taking ownership of a project from beginning to completion. This position requires someone who can both do the work and improve the way the work is done.
To be consider, please submit your application and complete the survey.
