Senior Buyer

## Senior Buyer

**Job Purpose**

The Senior Buyer is responsible for executing purchasing activities for direct materials and selected indirect spend to ensure uninterrupted supply to manufacturing operations. The role brings strong ownership of day-to-day supplier performance, supports cost control efforts, and serves as a key escalation point for supply issues.

**Key Responsibilities**

Purchasing & Execution

• Create, manage, and maintain purchase orders in ERP/MRP systems
• Ensure pricing, lead times, and terms are accurate and aligned with agreements
• Expedite orders and proactively resolve delivery, quantity, or quality issues
• Manage spot buys and short-term sourcing under guidance of procurement leadership

Supplier Coordination

• Serve as primary operational contact for assigned suppliers
• Communicate forecasts, schedule changes, and delivery requirements
• Monitor supplier on-time delivery and responsiveness
• Escalate risks related to shortages, capacity, or quality

Cost & Inventory Support

• Support cost control by identifying price discrepancies and variances
• Assist with inventory management and working capital targets
• Support cost reduction initiatives led by category or procurement managers

Category Support

• Support the development and execution of category sourcing strategies for assigned categories (e.g. pallets, corrugate, labels, etc.)
• Analyze market trends, supplier pricing, and cost drivers to support informed decision-making
• Assist with RFQs, sourcing events, cost modeling, and price variance analysis
• Support supplier negotiations, contract documentation, and pricing updates under senior leadership guidance
• Track savings, support cost reduction initiatives, and contribute to continuous value improvement efforts

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Planning, Manufacturing, Receiving, and Quality teams
• Support engineering changes and material transitions
• Participate in problem-solving related to production interruptions

Process & Compliance

• Ensure purchasing activity complies with procurement policies and approval limits
• Maintain accurate supplier and material data in ERP systems
• Support audits, reporting, and continuous improvement efforts

## Qualifications

• Minimum 4 year degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering or related field
• 5 years of procurement experience in a manufacturing setting. Plastics or packaging preferred.
• Demonstrated strong negotiation skills
• Strong working knowledge of MRP systems
• Experience leading strategic sourcing process; RFI, RFP, & RFQ processes.
• Electronic sourcing and Procurement Tools – Ariba, Zycus, Auctions, E-event

**Skills & Competencies**

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate across multiple levels of the organization and with suppliers
• Strong analytical and financial rigor
• Proven project management skills with effective use of resources and completion and measuring of project success
• Ability to work collaboratively across functions

Broad understanding of contracts, commercial terms and laws