Procurement & Supply Chain Manager (Independent Contractor)

About Us: At Hunt St, we help Australian companies hire top remote talent in the Philippines. For this role, you will be engaged directly by the client as an independent contractor. We are not an outsourcing agency. All of our roles are 100% remote, allowing you to work from home.

The client is an established Australian distribution business working with a portfolio of international and local suppliers and a growing network of retail and commercial partners across the country. The business focuses on building a reliable, well-managed supply operation that supports its customers and partners through consistent product availability, strong supplier relationships, and efficient internal processes.

As the company continues to grow, it is investing in better systems, planning, and operational structure to support the next stage of the business.

The Role

The role of Procurement and Supply Chain Manager involves owning procurement and inventory as a core business function, with a strong focus on maintaining the right level of stock while optimizing working capital.

The responsibilities include managing the end-to-end purchasing and inventory cycle, from demand planning, supplier quotes and negotiations through purchase orders, supplier performance, inbound freight, receiving, and inventory management. Collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Finance, and suppliers is essential to ensure stock availability while avoiding unnecessary inventory build-up.

Additionally, the role includes managing key supplier and service contracts, maintaining clear procurement processes, and supporting the transition to NetSuite from a procurement and inventory perspective.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own purchasing and inventory planning across key suppliers, ensuring adequate stock availability while controlling inventory levels and working capital.
• Manage the full procurement cycle, including forecasting, reorder points, purchase orders, supplier confirmations, lead times, inbound shipments, and goods received.
• Lead demand planning using sales history, seasonality, lead times, minimum order quantities (MOQs), and safety stock requirements to establish clear purchasing plans.
• Monitor and optimize inventory, including dead and slow-moving stock, inventory days, clearance opportunities, and working capital tied up in stock.
• Manage supplier relationships, including pricing, MOQs, delivery performance, claims, supplier scorecards, and contract requirements.
• Manage inbound freight and logistics coordination, including forwarders, customs brokers, shipping documentation, and estimated time of arrival (ETA) tracking.
• Maintain supplier and service contracts, including renewal dates, commercial terms, targets, rebates, and other key obligations, with appropriate renewal alerts.
• Manage local and indirect procurement, including packaging, consumables, and essential business services, with a focus on supplier consolidation and efficient ordering.
• Lead quarterly procurement and forecasting reviews with Sales and Marketing, aligning purchasing plans with expected demand and business requirements.
• Own the procurement and inventory side of the NetSuite implementation, ensuring purchasing, supplier, inbound shipment, receiving, reorder, and landed-cost processes are set up correctly and maintained accurately.
• Provide clear reporting on inventory levels, purchasing activity, supplier performance, inventory days, and working capital to leadership.

Requirements:

• 6+ years in procurement or supply chain for an importer, wholesaler, or distributor, including 3+ years owning the function (sole owner or team lead) — physical goods, container and air freight, overseas suppliers (China and US preferred).
• Hands-on experience with NetSuite, including Purchase Requests and approval workflow, Purchase Orders, Vendor records, Inbound Shipments, Item Receipts, reorder point/min-max, landed cost, and bill matching from the procurement side; experience with a NetSuite implementation on the procurement/inventory side.
• Demand planning experience, including forecasting from sales history, safety stock, lead time and MOQ maths, and seasonality (peak period: April–September).
• Inventory optimization skills, including managing dead and slow stock, clearance plans, and inventory days; ability to own a working-capital number.
• Indirect procurement experience, including packaging, consumables, and services; supplier consolidation and standing orders; contract negotiation and renewal management.
• Freight and import experience, including Incoterms, forwarder and customs broker liaison, shipping documents, ETA management; experience with dangerous goods is a plus.
• Supplier management experience, including quotes, MOQ and price negotiation, performance scorecards, claims, and principal relationships at the execution level.
• Strong proficiency in Excel; Power BI (reading dashboards, maintaining inputs) required, building reports is a plus.
• Fluent written and spoken English; ability to present to a Brisbane leadership team and write to overseas principals and Australian suppliers without supervision.

Nice to Have:

• Experience managing distribution or supply agreements, including purchase targets and commercial obligations.
• Experience working with an Australian SME or remotely supporting an Australian business.
• MYOB experience, particularly during a system transition.
• Experience managing contracts, supplier agreements, or procurement across multiple categories.

What Success Looks Like:

• Key products are consistently available, with purchasing completed within agreed ordering windows.
• Procurement plans are established well ahead of each quarter and aligned with business demand.
• Purchasing is consolidated where appropriate, reducing unnecessary purchase order volume while maintaining strong supplier terms.
• Dead and slow-moving inventory is actively managed, with inventory days and working capital improving against agreed targets.
• Supplier performance is monitored, issues are resolved promptly, and claims are properly managed.
• Supplier and service contracts are fully documented, with appropriate renewal alerts and regular reviews.
• Procurement, inventory, and inbound processes are accurately maintained in NetSuite following implementation.
• Routine purchasing, supplier follow-up, and inbound issues are managed independently, reducing the day-to-day involvement required from the CEO and CFO.

Work Arrangement & Expectations:

This is a remote role set up as an independent contractor engagement. Successful candidates will be expected to:

• Disclose any existing ongoing roles or client work.
• Reflect this engagement on their LinkedIn profile, clearly marked as “Independent Contractor.”