Purchasing manager resume examples from 2025
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How to write a purchasing manager resume
Craft a resume summary statement
A resume summary is your opening statement that highlights your strongest skills and top accomplishments. It is your chance to quickly let recruiters know who you are professionally - and why they should hire you for the purchasing manager role.
Step 1: Start with your professional title, or the one you aspire to.
Step 2: Detail your years of experience in purchasing manager-related roles and your industry experience.
Step 3: What are your biggest professional wins? Here is your opportunity to highlight your strongest accomplishments by placing them at the start of your resume.
Step 4: Don't forget, your goal is to summarize your experience. Keep it short and sweet, so it's easy for recruiters to quickly understand why you're a great hire.
Hiring managers spend under a minute reviewing resumes on average. This means your summary needs to demonstrate your value quickly and show why you are the perfect fit for the purchasing manager position.Please upload your resume so Zippia’s job hunt AI can draft a summary statement for you.
List the right project manager skills
Your Skills section is an easy way to let recruiters know you have the skills to do the job. Just as importantly, it can help your resume not get filtered out by hiring software. Here is how to make the most of your skills section and make sure you have the right keywords:
- You often need to include the exact keywords from the job description in your resume. Look at the job listing and consider which of the listed skills you have experience with, along with related skills.
- Include as many relevant hard skills and soft skills as possible from the listing.
- Use the most up to date and accurate terms. Don't forget to be specific.
Here are example skills to include in your “Area of Expertise” on a purchasing manager resume:
- Supply Chain
- Strategic Sourcing
- Project Management
- Supplier Performance
- Continuous Improvement
- Purchase Orders
- Logistics
- Supplier Management
- Customer Service
- Cost Reduction
- Supplier Relationships
- RFP
- Supplier Selection
- Commodities
- Product Development
- Global Sourcing
- RFQ
- Strong Analytical
- Vendor Relations
- Excellent Interpersonal
- Contract Negotiations
- Market Trends
- ERP
- Contract Terms
- Process Improvement
- MRO
- Sigma
- HR
- Procurement Process
- On-Time Delivery
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How to structure your work experience
Next you should include your work experience. Structure your work experience section by listing your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order.
Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
Include only recent, relevant jobs. Avoid including work experience over 20 years to avoid ageism.
Beneath each job, you should have bullet points to emphasize why you're the perfect fit for the purchasing manager.
How to write purchasing manager experience bullet points
Remember, your resume is not a list of responsibilities or a job description. This is your chance to show why you're good at your job and what you accomplished.
Use the XYZ formula for your work experience bullet points. Here's how it works:
- Use strong action verbs like Led, Built, or Optimized.
- Follow up with numbers when possible to support your results. How much did performance improve? How much revenue did you drive?
- Wrap it up by explaining the actions you took to achieve the result and how you made an impact.
This creates bullet points that read Achieved X, measured by Y, by doing Z.
Here are examples from great purchasing manager resumes:
Work history example #1
Purchasing Manager
Siemens
- Conducted risk mitigation through research on market swings in commodities.
- Received the European Logistics Award for vendor relationship management model (1997).
- Represented department during ISO certification drive and subsequent audits.
- Participated in all Project Management meetings for ERP system implementation, upgrades and maintenance.
- Directed Materials Procurement and Strategic Procurement for $68 Million purchase volume supporting $162 million in sales revenue.
Work history example #2
Contracts Administrator
Univ of Virginia Med Cent
- Trained pricing associates on procedures and applications.
- Facilitated contractual negotiations among field sales personnel, the customer, and internal legal counsel.
- Prepared RFQ/RFI/RFP s and review bid proposals consistent with purchasing policies and procedures.
- Assisted in developing policies and procedures to monitor MCOs.
- Executed contract documents and maintained SAP and SFDC databases, establishing guidelines for proper reporting procedures.
Work history example #3
Manager
Family Dollar
- Served as a liaison between Transportation and Family Dollar internal functions and external entities.
- Worked alongside store manager with ordering merchandise, payroll, scheduling and cash deposits.
- Completed quarterly payroll budgets for each store in district.
- Assisted with guiding Family Dollar Logistics to completing a record fiscal year in Cost Per Case.
- Maintained constant communication with the District Manager in order to insure my store was meeting or exceeding our sales goals.
Work history example #4
Production Planner
General Electric
- Created standard work processes utilizing Lean 6 Sigma Methodology to enhance working capital by driving change in the locomotive build process.
- Monitored hardware quantities using MRP and Lotus software.
- Developed material requirements from BOM's, monitored inventory levels, and coordinated the timely delivery of critically needed hardware.
- Led integration of GE standard inventory process into acquisition of new company.
- Worked in collaboration with cross-functional staff to implement Oracle ERP throughout two plants.
Zippia’s AI can customize your resume for you.
Add an education section to your resume
The education section should display your highest degree first.
Place your education section appropriately on your resume. If you graduated over 5 years ago, this section should be at the bottom of your resume. If you just graduated and lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education. If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.
Here are some examples of good education entries from purchasing manager resumes:
Bachelor's Degree in business
Strayer University, Washington, DC
1998 - 2001
Highlight your purchasing manager certifications on your resume
If you have any additional certifications or education-like achievements, add them to the education section.
Include the full name of the certification, along with the name of the issuing organization and date of obtainment.
If you have any of these certifications, be sure to include them on your purchasing manager resume:
- Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM)
- Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP)
- Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM)
- Six Sigma Green Belt
- Certified Practice Manager (CPM)
- Certified Manager Certification (CM)
- Certified Product Safety Manager (CPSM)
- Certified Purchasing Professional (CPP)
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
- Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM)