Senior Buyer

Aston Carter; Kentucky; On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Aston Carter is seeking a Senior Buyer for a leading distribution company in Kentucky to drive strategic procurement and vendor relationships. You will manage high-value resale materials across multiple locations, analyze performance data, support negotiations, and align purchasing with sales goals.

This role requires strong analytical skills, Excel expertise, and the ability to communicate clearly with leadership.

Qualifications

• Experience creating and managing purchase orders for resale or bulk materials.
• Proven ability to manage vendor relationships and negotiate favorable terms.
• Experience with vendor scorecards and performance analysis.
• Background in a distribution environment handling high-value materials.
• Strong data analysis and Excel skills; macros a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic vendor relationships to achieve quality, service, and cost objectives that align with organizational goals.
• Continuously evaluate the vendor portfolio to identify growth opportunities, risks, and performance gaps, and recommend improvements.
• Coordinate and communicate vendor pricing updates, product changes, performance results, and related strategies across the organization to ensure alignment and clarity.
• Establish, monitor, and report monthly vendor performance metrics, using data analysis to evaluate operational results and trends.
• Support negotiations on pricing, service levels, and contract terms with vendors to drive cost savings and overall value.
• Create and manage timely, accurate purchase orders for resale materials, ensuring emergency stock levels are maintained while optimizing inventory levels.
• Collaborate with internal teams to provide complete and accurate information for customers during the quotation process, including price, quality, lead time, technical information, documentation, and samples as needed.
• Lead the preparation and compilation of materials for key leadership forums, including quarterly reporting and strategic planning sessions.
• Support the leadership team by participating in sales meetings, trade shows, end-user events, and special projects as needed.
• Assist with emergency response efforts, including coordinating storm-related shipments, alternate products, and expedited delivery with vendors.
• Work additional hours when necessary to support urgent needs, such as weather-related emergencies.
• Manage a high-volume workload, prioritize tasks effectively under deadline pressure, and ensure accurate and timely completion of purchasing and vendor-related activities.
• Use data analysis tools to collect, track, and present vendor performance metrics, and leverage these insights to drive improvements in response times, lead times, and pricing.
• Work within CRM and ERP systems to manage purchasing activities, vendor information, and performance reporting.
• Provide strategic recommendations to leadership based on procurement and vendor performance data, and communicate insights clearly in business-focused presentations and reports.

Skills

Purchasing & procurement

Vendor relations & negotiations

Vendor scorecards

High-value materials

Advanced Excel

CRM & ERP

Inventory management

Tools

CRM & ERP systems

Job description

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: Senior Buyer Job Description

The Senior Buyer plays a key role in developing and executing procurement strategies that support organizational goals and objectives. This position leads strategic vendor relationship management, oversees the purchasing of high-value resale materials across multiple warehouse and consignment locations, and supports both procurement and sales teams with vendor quoting activities. The role is responsible for developing, tracking, and analyzing vendor performance metrics, supporting contract negotiations and risk mitigation efforts, and contributing to strategic planning sessions, trade shows, and special projects in collaboration with the leadership team.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage strategic vendor relationships to achieve quality, service, and cost objectives that align with organizational goals.
• Continuously evaluate the vendor portfolio to identify growth opportunities, risks, and performance gaps, and recommend improvements.
• Coordinate and communicate vendor pricing updates, product changes, performance results, and related strategies across the organization to ensure alignment and clarity.
• Establish, monitor, and report monthly vendor performance metrics, using data analysis to evaluate operational results and trends.
• Support negotiations on pricing, service levels, and contract terms with vendors to drive cost savings and overall value.
• Create and manage timely, accurate purchase orders for resale materials, ensuring emergency stock levels are maintained while optimizing inventory levels.
• Collaborate with internal teams to provide complete and accurate information for customers during the quotation process, including price, quality, lead time, technical information, documentation, and samples as needed.
• Lead the preparation and compilation of materials for key leadership forums, including quarterly reporting and strategic planning sessions.
• Support the leadership team by participating in sales meetings, trade shows, end-user events, and special projects as needed.
• Assist with emergency response efforts, including coordinating storm-related shipments, alternate products, and expedited delivery with vendors.
• Work additional hours when necessary to support urgent needs, such as weather-related emergencies.
• Manage a high-volume workload, prioritize tasks effectively under deadline pressure, and ensure accurate and timely completion of purchasing and vendor-related activities.
• Use data analysis tools to collect, track, and present vendor performance metrics, and leverage these insights to drive improvements in response times, lead times, and pricing.
• Work within CRM and ERP systems to manage purchasing activities, vendor information, and performance reporting.
• Provide strategic recommendations to leadership based on procurement and vendor performance data, and communicate insights clearly in business-focused presentations and reports.

Essential Skills

• Proven experience in purchasing and procurement, including creating and managing purchase orders for resale or bulk materials.
• Strong background in vendor relations and contract negotiations, with direct experience participating in discussions and driving favorable pricing, service levels, and terms.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and use vendor scorecards to track and improve vendor performance.
• Experience working for a distribution company, preferably handling high-value or high-volume materials.
• Advanced Excel skills, including the ability to create reports and use macros for data analysis and performance tracking.
• Proficiency with CRM and ERP systems and comfort working within enterprise resource management platforms.
• Experience buying in bulk and managing inventory levels to balance emergency stock requirements with optimization goals.
• Ability to manage a significant daily workload, work under pressure of deadlines, and prioritize tasks effectively.
• Strong analytical skills with experience collecting, analyzing, and presenting data to define vendor performance and support strategic decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to provide strategic business communications and recommendations to leadership based on data and operational insights.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience creating and maintaining vendor scorecards that incorporate metrics such as response time, lead time, and pricing.
• Prior experience in a warehouse-based distribution environment, ideally within the electrical or industrial sector.
• Comfort presenting data and recommendations to leadership teams in quarterly reporting and strategic planning forums.
• Ability to tra