Purchasing Specialist

Colorado Mesa University; United States; Presencial; USD 55.000 - 59.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction seeks a Procurement Lead to manage campus requisitions, work within Workday, and lead competitive bidding to maximize cost savings. This exempt, full-time position reports to the Campus Procurement Director, develops policies, trains staff, and ensures timely processing of orders while maintaining strong supplier relationships.

A bachelors degree and minimum 3 years in higher education procurement with Excel proficiency are preferred; Colorado

Formación

• Bachelors degree required.
• Minimum 3 years work experience in procurement or related area.
• Experience with Workday or similar ERP systems preferred.

Responsabilidades

• Review campus requisitions in Workday; verify thresholds, codes, and quotes.
• Lead competitive bidding processes and negotiate best value.
• Process year-end functions and encumbrances; reconcile POs to invoices.
• Develop policies and train campus personnel on procurement methods.
• Maintain relationships with suppliers and internal customers.

Conocimientos

Procurement knowledge

Analytical skills

Negotiation skills

Communication skills

Teamwork

Educación

Bachelors degree

Herramientas

Workday

Excel

Descripción del empleo

ANNOUNCEMENT OF POSITION VACANCY FLSA Status: United States of America (Exempt) Compensation: $55,000-$58,600 Commensurate with education and experience. Excellent health and retirement benefits package:

SECTION I - OUR VALUES

CULTIVATE OUR VISION AND CULTURE At CMU, we believe in acting from a foundation of goodwill. This belief gives us the courage to form meaningful relationships, embark on joint endeavors and take risks in the pursuit of new possibilities. It’s this courage that enables the Mavily to explore new ways of thinking and doing, knowing that there is no perfect solution, no perfect idea. From this place of humility and courage, we’ve built a culture of resilience. We invest in the future by continuously adapting to change, overcoming challenges, and seizing new opportunities. We recognize that change is constant, and our resilience allows us to embrace it with confidence. Endless curiosity drives us to approach the unexpected as if it were expected, seeing opportunities for discovery and renewal in every challenge. In this community rooted in love and dignity, curiosity thrives, leading to endless opportunities for growth and advancement. Inspired by the soul of the West—the spirit that our region embodies—we emerge as a force for positive change, harnessing our collective power to build a Human Scale University that reflects our values and brings to life our shared vision of the world we aspire to create.

Colorado Mesa University Core Values Love - Extending oneself for nurturing the growth of self and others Dignity - Respecting the intrinsic value of each person and believing that others act from a foundation of goodwill Courage - Taking risks in the pursuit of new possibilities Humility - Suspending one’s ego and pride to recognize that no idea is perfect and being open to the input of others Resiliency - Investing in the future by adapting to changes, overcoming challenges and pursuing Opportunity Curiosity - Cultivating awe and exploring the unknown Power - The strength to act collaboratively with individual agency to achieve our goals

SECTION II – THE SEAT

At CMU, we look at every position as a seat. Every seat is vital and the individual in the seat contributes significantly to our mission of providing an affordable and accessible education and forming meaningful and mutually enriching partnerships that support the well-being and vibrancy of our community. As a human centric organization, a priority is to ensure we have the “right seats” in our organization, and that the expectations, ownership and accountabilities are defined and communicated clearly for the success of the individuals holding the seats. This seat is a member of the Purchasing Department and serves as a vital link to campus administrators and their departments, providing them with key information and promoting the department as service to the campus community. Specific responsibilities include processing campus purchase requisitions through the procure to pay cycle by leveraging the University’s Workday platform; providing campus eProcurement training; leading the competitive solicitation process; coordinating fiscal year end procedures; developing policies and procedures; maintaining the department’s website; and assisting with campus international travel. This position reports to the Campus Procurement Director and could provide oversight of students working for the department.

OVERVIEW AND ROLE SCOPE OF TEAM AND/OR TASKS

Procurement Responsibilities – 90%

• Review all campus requisitions on the University’s Workday platform, verify thresholds, account codes, and quotes, determine best procurement method for items or services requested.
• Serve as a procurement lead user on the University’s platform, Workday, providing detailed cross-checks, troubleshooting, and extensive training to the campus community.
• Assist with oversight of the Supplier Onboarding process including initiation, electronic forms, and approvals in Workday Strategic Sourcing, as well as activation in Workday.
• Process documented quotes for goods and services exceeding the discretionary spending threshold as defined in the CMU Purchasing Policies and Procedures.
• Maximize managed spend via market analysis, IFB/RFP/RFQ, supplier negotiation and other activity.
• Assist the Director to track and validate savings.
• Continuously work to secure savings for university projects by way of pricing, contracts, and partnerships.
• Develop and maintain business relationships with suppliers and internal customers, serve as a liaison between the two, all while adhering to department objectives and ethics guidelines.
• Source goods and services, lead competitive bidding processes, negotiate best value pricing, and manage solicitation documentation.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with fleet operations, finance, and procurement peers in order to resolve problems and continuously improve purchasing processes.
• Maintain administrative proficiency on the campus ERP, Workday, to identify issues with eProcurement platform integrations.
• Assist campus in processing purchase orders and understanding campus budgets.
• Monitor open purchase orders to ensure that goods and services are received in a timely manner.
• Reconcile purchase orders to invoicing, resolving all purchase order problems.
• Process fiscal year end functions to ensure encumbrances are properly liquidated, accrued, or moved into a new fiscal year.
• Research purchase orders or encumbrance documents not properly liquidated during the year by contacting vendors and on-campus departments and tracing the invoice entry for errors.
• Work closely and assist Accounts Payable staff to ensure proper payment and encumbrance liquidation.
• Maintain proficient knowledge of State price agreements, national price agreements, and the Department’s Policies and Procedures for all programs managed by the Department.
• Ensure that proper documentation for purchase orders is received including, receipt of insurance certificates verifying correct coverage limits, endorsements.
• Educate and train campus personnel and student groups on appropriate procurement methods.
• Assist in supervising workflow for student employees.

Website Development and Maintenance Responsibilities – 5%

• Maintain the Department website to accurately inform the campus, vendors, and public about the purchasing department including policies and procedures, shipping and receiving, and campus mailroom.
• Analyze and develop webpage content utilizing input from the Purchasing staff.
• Research other higher education websites for relevancy of content and format.
• Work with the campus webmaster to implement changes and ensure continuity with university websites.
• Develop the site to become a technological portal for information available to the campus community and outside customers and vendors.

Campus Travel Responsibilities – 5%

• Assist with the issuance of international travel spend authorizations to campus travelers.
• Assist with training the campus community on the University’s travel policies and procedures.
• Assist with development and management of the travel program to ensure compliance with University Fiscal Rules, travel policies, and procedures.

Other duties as assigned.

ROLES Procurement Lead Supplier Onboarding Campus Requisition Review ACCOUNTABILITY TO RESULTS Quarterly Rock (Goal) Achievement – 80% Team Collaboration and Process Handoff Thoroughness Quality Assurance Cost Avoidance Monitoring CORE PROCESSES Owned: Cost Avoidance – Tracking & Monitoring Oversight of Solicitations CMU Stakeholder Training Contributor: Requisition to Purchase Orders Supplier Onboarding

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

DISCLAIMER - This position description is only a summary of the typical functions of this seat, and not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and areas of accountability.

SECTION III – OUR DESIRES FOR RIGHT FIT

For the success of our mission and our teams, we desire to have individuals who are a “Right Fit” in our seats. We define “Right Fit” as those who embrace our culture, demonstrate our values, understand the seat and what is required. We seek individuals who want this seat, desire to be a part of a bigger vision and have the capacity to be a successful member of our CMU team.

CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS Demonstrated ability to work independently and implement solutions effectively. Demonstrated ability to multi-task in busy, deadline-oriented department. Demonstrated ability to collaborate with a team, identify opportunities, and contribute as needed to ensure success of the process. Demonstrated ability to communicate with diverse committee members to effectively yield results and ensure members feel included and heard.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE FOR RIGHT FIT

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution required.
• Minimum of 3 years’ work-related experience in similar areas of duties and responsibilities.
• Experience in State of Colorado or Higher Education procurement and solicitations.
• Demonstrated experience working in higher education or other large, complex organization.
• Experience with Workday or other complex ERP systems.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and Excel.
• Demonstrated excellent customer service, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated analytical and negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills.
• Bring a collaborative mindset and a strong team-player attitude to the Purchasing Department.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• The language skills include: Ability to read, analyze and interpret general written materials, professional journals, technical procedures, or government regulations.
• Ability to write reports and prepare and conduct verbal and visual presentation of materials.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from top management, public groups, and board of directors.

REASONING ABILITY

• Strategic and analytical reasoning skills are necessary.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the individual is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, and talk or hear. The individual must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those the individual in this position will encounter while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The individual typically performs the duties of the job in an open office setting. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to loud at times, with several disruptions throughout the day.

A comprehensive university in Grand Junction, Colorado Mesa University provides exceptional educational opportunities on a state-of-the-art campus. As western Colorado’s largest university, CMU serves students on its main campus in Grand Junction, its satellite campus in Montrose, its technical college, CMU Tech, and via online offerings. Colorado Mesa University serves as the primary intellectual and cultural center of western Colorado and promotes the exchange of ideas that are of regional, national, and international importance. Founded in 1925, it is a dynamic university enrolling 10,000 students at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels. At the heart of the CMU experience is an integrative and experiential approach to higher education that encourages students to think differently and empowers them to challenge assumptions. CMU brings students together with expert scholars and thinkers from different disciplines to make connections between ideas and gain the skills to solve the unstructured, complex problems they will encounter in life. Our focus is on providing quality academic programs, built on a strong liberal arts core that supports students' interests and regional employment needs, as well as technical programs that respond to vocational workforce demands. The Grand Valley is home to some of the best outdoor recreation in the state of Colorado and you will not have to fight traffic and crowds to enjoy it. CMU is surrounded by the Grand Mesa, Book Cliffs, and the Colorado National Monument. We have world-class mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, rafting, and a mountain resort that’s less than 45 minutes from campus for skiing, snowboarding, and cross‑country skiing. Living and working in Grand Junction, you will be able to explore one of Colorado’s best kept secrets.