Buyer/Planner III-US

Lancesoft; Hicksville (NY); On-site; USD 58,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

Buyer/Planner III at Lancesoft is responsible for sourcing and managing gas construction and LNG-related categories across multiple sites, including NY and MA locations. The role focuses on delivering safe, cost-effective infrastructure solutions and owning supplier relationships.

You will drive category strategies, engage suppliers, analyze data to identify opportunities, and support end-to-end procurement processes to minimize risk and total cost of ownership while meeting business goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain or business management; masters preferred.
• 5+ years experience in a procurement role.
• Experience with $10–20M spend, contracts, and multi-year agreements.
• Strong sourcing, negotiation, vendor management, and ERP knowledge (SAP/ARIBA).
• Proven ability to communicate across a matrixed organization and mentor others.

Responsibilities

• Develop category strategies with stakeholders and set supplier performance criteria.
• Engage suppliers regularly to discuss improvements and maintain alignment with company objectives.
• Utilize analytics to identify gaps and opportunities to drive savings across contracts.
• Conduct market research to support category strategy and bidding initiatives.

Skills

SAP

ARIBA

Power BI

Education

Bachelor's degree in supply chain or business management

Master's degree

Job description

Job Title: Buyer/Planner III Location: Waltham MA, Hicksville NY, Brooklyn NY, Syracuse, NY, Albany NY Duration: 12+ Months Pay range – 42.00 –$50.00 / hr.

Job Purpose

The Senior Category Buyer plays a key role in sourcing and managing gas construction and LNG-related categories, working with suppliers and stakeholders to deliver safe, compliant, and cost-effective infrastructure solutions. They develop and own key supplier and stakeholder relationships, able to evaluate supplier risks and develop mitigation plans. As a key member of our procurement group, they deliver innovative thinking supported by detailed analytics, data science, market research, and subject matter expertise, to help our category teams and stakeholders make effective sourcing decisions. Through business partnering the procurement group enhances the relationship and from collaborative efforts bridges the gap of applying critical thinking, helping drive the goals of the company forward, providing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and risk mitigation efforts, while further evaluating our supplier base.

Key Accountabilities

The following competencies are core to the Senior Buyer role:

Category Management

• Experience with Developing Category Strategies - With support of the Category Manager/Lead, work with Stakeholders to evaluate and establish business needs, apply forward thinking skills establishing flexible long-term category strategies with value options & clear supplier performance criteria, while thinking “out of the box”longer term to minimize and mitigate risks
• Supplier Engagement - Regularly engage with suppliers to seek feedback, discuss improvement opportunities, and resolve issues, while ensuring continuous enhancement of supplier performance and alignment with National Grid's objectives
• Analytics - Utilize varied and complex data sets to identify gaps and new opportunities to drive benefits through the contracts End to End lifecycle, while implementing analytics as part of the Category Strategy
• Market Research - Conduct industry analysis and evaluate supplier performance, incorporating the research into the Category Strategy and associated contract initiatives/bidding events

Procurement/Strategic Sourcing Process (SSP)

• Source Events (RFx, Sole Source, Direct Negotiate) –Leads the execution of multiple sourcing initiatives using tailored procurement strategies to optimize value, mitigate risk, and support business objectives
• Stakeholder Coordination - Develops and maintains relationships with business units and suppliers, while further understanding the needs and issues that each side faces. At times acting as the interface/bridge between both parties
• Bid Analysis - Analyzes responses to complex bid requests, points out commercial differences, and makes succinct recommendations in selecting appropriate suppliers for contract awards
• Process Management and Improvement - Drive continuous improvement to identify and eliminate waste in the extended E2E Supply Chain. Identify innovative procurement solutions that provide savings benefits and process efficiencies for the organization. Ability to take those ideas and clearly articulate the change solution/improvements to various stakeholders and change board
• Total Cost of Ownership - Evaluate and apply the concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) and supplier/ contract switching costs to support decision making options
• Commercial Negotiation - Capable of preparing negotiation strategies with clarity of desired outcomes and conducting complex negotiations successfully under aggressive time demands
• Understanding Counterparty - Has comprehensive understanding of supplier's position, desired outcomes, and leverage points with the ability to maximize the benefits to the company while maintaining a good working relationship with suppliers
• Build KPI –Work with contract management to evaluate and build appropriate supplier performance measurements (KPls) into contractual frameworks

Supplier Relationship Management

• Foundation Criteria - Identifies critical suppliers and creates appropriate engagement plans to ensure our Supply Chain risk profile and inputs to continuous improvement are proactively managed
• Drive Value - Demonstrates a collaborative approach with supply base and develops integrated plans to drive appropriate value for business and customer requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (B.A or B.S) required;in supply chain or business management degree preferred, masters degree
• 5+ Years experience in a procurement role
• Experience in the $10 –20M spend range with contract and framework/multiyear agreements
• Strategic sourcing, contract negotiations and vendor management, as is a strong working knowledge of ERP systems such as SAP and ARIBA. Also, working knowledge of Power Bi, etc.
• The candidate must have strong interpersonal skills, specifically in communications across a matrixed organization.
• Candidate should be proficient in planning, project management, stakeholder engagement, and business analysis
• Ability to clearly articulate one’s position and be able to influence others
• Act as a mentor to other buyers in the organization
• An equivalent combination of education and extensive subject matter expertise along with procurement process experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education requirements listed above

Additional Qualifications

• In some cases, experience with bidding construction projects is a plus (EPC, EPCM;GMP, Design/Bid/Build, etc.) which includes full depth of knowledge of several models that can be articulated to the business that will help with the understanding of the pros & cons of each further acting as a trusted advisor for the proposed selection of the most appropriate model
• Professional Certification in Supply Chain or Contract Management (I.E. CPSM and APICS)