Senior Buyer

Confidential Jobs; Wisconsin; On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs in Wisconsin is seeking a Buyer to manage supplier relations, issue purchase orders, and ensure on-time deliveries. You will coordinate with Production Planning and Materials Management, handle supplier documentation, and monitor performance to prevent production delays.

APICS certification preferred; bachelor’s in Business or Supply Chain required; strong Excel/Office skills in a fast-paced setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, or related field with 3+ years purchasing/production scheduling experience.
• APICS certification strongly preferred.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word).
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills at all levels.
• Detail-oriented with strong follow-up.

Responsibilities

• Issue Purchase Orders and follow up with suppliers until material is received.
• Coordinate material pickups from suppliers.
• Request and maintain required paperwork from suppliers (invoices, certificates).
• Communicate with suppliers to meet delivery dates on POs.
• Issue Change Orders when delivery dates slip and inform affected departments.
• Monitor supplier performance and flag potential failures.
• Resolve shipment quality discrepancies by mediating issues.
• Arrange and participate in supplier-company conferences for inspections/substitutions.
• Negotiate settlements of damages, rejections, and returns.
• Prepare moderately complex reports and provide material information on requests.
• Apply continuous improvement to internal processes to cut costs.
• Understand the Automated Procurement System and related interfaces.
• Maintain procurement databases for prompt and accurate information.
• Review databases daily for reschedules/cancellations and act urgently.
• Assist Production Planning with shortages and schedule changes.
• Process accounting tasks for price/quantity discrepancies.
• Post daily acknowledgements to POs and follow up on unacknowledged orders.
• Review rejected material and disposition with corrective action.
• Review metrics for validity and maintain accuracy.
• Establish quantities and deliveries to meet production schedules using MRPs and related data.
• Monitor raw material forecasts and supplier lead times.
• Keep Schedulers informed of material availability and participate in planning meetings.
• Establish and monitor Kanban, VMI, Pull/Lean, and Consignment programs.

Skills

Excellent communication

Problem solving

Detail oriented

Fast-paced environment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or Supply Chain

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Job description

Under the direction of the Purchasing Director, the Buyer is responsible for contacting suppliers to procure all purchases, ensuring on-time deliveries, and supporting/mediating the resolution of any supplier-related concerns or issues. Responsible for the flow of communication cross-functionally.

JOB DUTIES & ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Issue Purchase Orders and follow up with suppliers until the material is received in the system – including MRO.
• Coordinate material pickups from our suppliers.
• Request and maintain required paperwork from suppliers of raw materials and MRO (such as invoices, TDS, MSDS, COA, packing lists, and certificates)
• Communicate with suppliers to ensure that specified delivery dates are met on purchase orders issued by Purchasing or Supply Chain.
• If the supplier is unable to meet the specified delivery date, issue a Change Order showing the new agreed-upon delivery date and promptly advise the departments involved (i.e., Production Planning, Materials Management, Production, etc.).
• Monitors and evaluates supplier performance. Advises appropriate personnel of an impending supplier failure to fulfill contractual obligations, which may delay production or delivery.
• Resolves shipment quality discrepancies by mediating supplier/manufacturing issues.
• Facilitates inspections, substitutions, and standardization by arranging and participating in conferences between suppliers and company personnel.
• Negotiates and settles damage claims, rejections, losses, return of materials, over-shipments, cancellations, and engineering changes with suppliers.
• Prepares moderately complex reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends. Provides parts, equipment, and materials information by answering questions and requests.
• Applies continuous improvement techniques and methods to internal processes and systems to increase efficiency and customer service and to reduce costs.
• Understand the Automated Procurement System and its relationship to the various interfacing systems.
• Maintain purchasing databases to ensure dependent departments have prompt and accurate
• information. Use generated reports and screens for control and manufacturing decisions.
• Review the various databases of the Automated Procurement System daily for reschedules and cancellations and take appropriate actions urgently.
• Assist Production Planning in reviewing purchased parts shortages to determine if sufficient quantities are available and or in transit to allow a manufacturing schedule change if and when required.
• Process all Accounting tasks for price and quantity discrepancies.
• Post daily acknowledgements to purchase orders. Follow up on un-acknowledged orders and confirm with vendors.
• Review rejected material and complete disposition with corrective action.
• Review metrics for validity and provide daily maintenance to ensure accuracy.
• Determines proper quantities of materials (resins, inserts, packaging etc.) and establishes deliveries to meet the production schedule, using MRP, machine run time, and knowledge of other relevant facts.
• Monitor the forecast for the raw materials, including packaging.
• Keeps Schedulers apprised of material availability problems through daily contact and attending production scheduling meetings. Participation in these meetings should also be to find out the needs of materials and services from the Production team.
• Establishes and monitors inventory processes, including Kanbans, VMI, Pull/Lean and Consignment programs with vendors. Monitors inventory value and continually works to reduce levels without interrupting service to the plant.
• Maintains reasonable level of inventories, economical to supply parameters and production schedules.
• Follow the Purchasing department's increase process as is required.
• Participates in all functions of Physical Inventory.
• Contributes to the development & implementation of planning & acquisition processes as well as purchasing reqs, purchases, & procedures.
• Works closely with appropriate teams in the development and engagement of sourcing strategies.
• Knows and contributes to the objectives and goals of the Supply Chain group. Create scorecards to monitor performance.
• Presents and elaborates on the month PPV report and clarifies any questions.
• Help with audits such as IATF and ISO.
• This list of duties and responsibilities is not all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities, as management may deem necessary from time to time.
• Minimum education requirement is a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Supply Chain, or related coursework from 4-year college or university with at least 3 years of related experience (i.e., purchasing, customer service, or production scheduling). May instead have an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience; additional experience may be substituted for education.
• APICS certification strongly preferred.
• Must work fairly independently receiving a minimum of detailed supervision and guidance.
• Able to work in a fast-paced and at time stressed environment.
• Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Office products required – ie. Outlook, Excel, Word.
• Knowledge of the materials purchased, programs, and procedures that are related to the work of the purchasing department.
• Must be dependable and have an excellent attendance record.
• Detail-oriented accuracy in work and good follow-up skills.
• Effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees and management of the organization.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, at all levels, both internally and externally.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.