Garden City
Based in St. Louis, Core & Main is a leader in advancing reliable infrastructure with local service, nationwide. As a specialty distributor with a focus on water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products and related services, Core & Main provides solutions to municipalities, private water companies and professional contractors across municipal, non-residential and residential end markets, nationwide. With over 370 locations across the U.S., the company provides its customers local expertise backed by a national supply chain. Core & Main's 5,700 associates are committed to helping their communities thrive with safe and reliable infrastructure. Visit ___ to learn more. Senior Buyer - Fire Protection Garden City, NY (will consider remote for candidates with the precise experience required) Position Summary Core & Main is seeking an experienced Senior Buyer to support our growing Fire Protection business. This role is responsible for overseeing approximately $45M in annual purchases across multiple Fire Protection branches. The Senior Buyer partners closely with Branch Managers and Operations Managers as internal customers, ensuring product availability, healthy inventory turns, and disciplined replenishment in a business characterized by projectdriven demand, steel price volatility, and short lead times. This role is ideal for a buyer who is highly analytical, systemsoriented, and focused on inventory optimization rather than heavy price negotiation, as the majority of pricing is systemgenerated and vendorlocked. Key Responsibilities Purchasing & Inventory Management • Manage replenishment purchasing across assigned Fire Protection branches, primarily for stock inventory with typical 1-2 week lead times, • Oversee approximately $45M in annual spend, balancing availability with inventory efficiency, • Execute purchasing decisions using systemgenerated buying recommendations, established vendor programs, and historical branch buying patterns, • Monitor and manage slowmoving and dead stock, ensuring inventory aligns with actual project velocity and demand cycles, • Serve as a primary purchasing partner to Branch Managers and Operations Managers, who manage direct vendor and contractor relationships, • Support Inside Sales teams when price discrepancies or system exceptions arise, • Utilize purchasing and inventory platforms including Smart Distributor, Mincron, and tools transitioning into Microsoft 365 / D365 environments, • Analyze inventory performance through metrics such as:, • Inventory turns, • Stock availability / outages, • Dead and slowmoving inventory, • Operate within a Fire Protection market driven by:, • Remodeling and new construction cycles, • Data center expansion (notably in the Northeast), • Governmentfunded projects (airports, military facilities) and contractorled private projects, • Success in this role is measured by:, • Strong inventory turns, • Minimal stock outages, • Reduction of dead and slowmoving inventory Required • 3-5+ years of experience in buying, purchasing, or inventory management within:, • Distribution, wholesale, or industrial supply environments, • Strong analytical and logical decisionmaking skills, • Experience working in ERPdriven purchasing environments, • Fire Protection, construction materials, or projectbased distribution experience, • Experience with D365 or similar modern ERP platforms, • Familiarity with steelbased product categories Core & Main is a leading national distributor of Fire Protection products, ranked among the top 2-3 providers in the industry. Our Fire Protection business serves missioncritical infrastructure, data centers, and public safety projects across the country-work that directly protects lives and property. We offer: • Scale with regional decisionmaking, • Stable demand driven by essential infrastructure, • A collaborative culture focused on operational excellence Core & Main is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Employment at Core & Main is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. Core & Main does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, disability, veteran status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, citizenship, or any other basis protected by law. None of the questions in this application are intended to elicit information regarding any protected characteristics, nor imply any limitation, illegal preferences or discrimination based upon non-job-related information or protected characteristics. For more information, please ___ or visit