Buyer

Buyer

Reports To: Purchasing Manager

Summary

The Buyer is responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and purchasing direct materials,

components, and MRO/indirect supplies to support production schedules, quality

standards, and cost targets. This role partners closely with Operations, Planning,

Engineering, and Quality to ensure on-time availability of parts while optimizing inventory and working capital. The Buyer manages day-to-day supplier performance, mitigates risk across the supply base, and drives continuous improvement in cost, delivery, and service. Success in this role is measured by material availability (OTIF), PPV/cost savings, inventory turns, and supplier scorecards.

Core Responsibilities

• Analyze and convert MRP/ERP demand and approved requisitions into purchase
  
  

orders; maintain accurate dates, quantities, and pricing to meet production

requirements.

• Execute sourcing events (RFQ/RFI/RFP), analyze total cost of ownership, and
  
  

negotiate pricing, lead time, and terms for assigned commodities (direct materials

and MRO).

• Manage supplier performance—track OTIF, lead times, quality issues, and
  
  

responsiveness; drive corrective actions and maintain supplier scorecards.

• Collaborate with Production Planning and Operations to resolve shortages,
  
  

expedite/de-expedite orders, and balance service levels with inventory targets.

• Partner with Engineering and Quality on part qualifications, ECNs, PPAP/FAI needs,
  
  

and alternates; ensure suppliers meet specifications and compliance

requirements.

• Proactively identify and mitigate supply risks (capacity constraints, EOL parts,
  
  

single-source exposure, logistics disruptions); develop and maintain dual-source

strategies where practical.

• Maintain clean ERP data (lead times, MOQ, pricing, safety stock) and support
  
  

cycle-count/inventory accuracy; monitor and reduce slow-moving/obsolete

inventory.

• Support annual cost-reduction and value-engineering initiatives; track PPV and
  
  

realized savings with Finance.

Qualifications — Experience & Education

Experience: 3–5 years in a manufacturing purchasing role (buyer, associate buyer, or

materials specialist) with hands-on responsibility for direct materials and/or MRO;

demonstrated experience with MRP/ERP (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Epicor, Infor).

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related field or equivalent purchasing experience. APICS/ASCM (CPIM/CSCP) or ISM (CPSM) certifications a plus.

Microsoft Office Experience

Familiarity with quality tools and manufacturing workflows (BOMs, routings,

drawings/specs, PPAP/FAI, ECNs).

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