Buyer

Vulcan Elements; North Carolina; On-site; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Vulcan Elements, a manufacturer of American rare-earth permanent magnets, seeks a Purchases/Procurement professional to manage direct materials and manufacturing supplies. You will create and track purchase orders, negotiate terms, and coordinate with Planning, Engineering, and Finance to ensure timely delivery and cost control.

The role requires 2+ years in purchasing, strong Excel skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 2+ years in purchasing or procurement.
• Experience purchasing direct materials and production-related goods.
• Proficiency with Excel or similar analytics tools and data analysis of purchasing/supplier data.

Responsibilities

• Execute purchasing activities for direct materials, components, production supplies, and manufacturing requirements.
• Create, issue, maintain, and close purchase orders with accurate pricing, quantities, and delivery terms.
• Proactively track open purchase orders and supplier commitments to ensure on-time material delivery.

Skills

Negotiation

Attention to detail

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, engineering, operations, or finance

Tools

Microsoft Excel

ERP systems

Job description

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets to enable a secure and resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resilience, we serve critical industries including defense, aerospace, and automotive-powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence, and Transparency.

Responsibilities

• Execute purchasing activities for direct materials, components, production supplies, and other manufacturing requirements in accordance with production plans and business needs.
• Create, issue, maintain, and close purchase orders (POs) while ensuring pricing, quantities, delivery dates, payment terms, and other commercial requirements are accurate.
• Proactively track open purchase orders and supplier commitments to ensure materials arrive on time and production requirements are met.
• Identify potential late deliveries, material shortages, and supply disruptions and elevate risks before they impact manufacturing operations.
• Lead and administer RFQs/RFPs, including preparing bid packages, soliciting supplier proposals, coordinating technical and commercial responses, and developing bid comparisons.
• Negotiate pricing, minimum order quantities, lead times, payment terms, freight arrangements, and other commercial conditions within established sourcing strategies.
• Work closely with Planning and Manufacturing to translate production requirements and MRP demand into purchasing actions.
• Coordinate with Engineering and Quality to ensure purchased materials meet drawings, specifications, quality requirements, and approved supplier requirements.
• Coordinate with Logistics and Operations to resolve shipping, receiving, customs, packaging, and delivery issues.
• Work with Finance and Accounts Payable to resolve invoice discrepancies, pricing differences, receiving issues, and payment holds.
• Support supplier corrective actions and recovery plans when delivery or performance issues arise.
• Identify opportunities for cost reduction, lead-time improvement, order consolidation, inventory optimization, and process improvement.
• Assist with supplier onboarding, documentation, compliance requirements, and maintenance of approved supplier information.
• Maintain organized procurement records, including quotations, purchase orders, supplier correspondence, contracts, and sourcing documentation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Operations, Finance, or a related field preferred.
• 2+ years of experience in purchasing, procurement, supply chain, materials management, or a related role, preferably within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience purchasing direct materials, components, or production-related goods and services.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel or similar analytical tools, including the ability to organize and analyze purchasing and supplier data.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with changing priorities and aggressive production ramp schedules.

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

As set forth in Vulcan Elements’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.