Senior Buyer: Strategic Sourcing & Supply Chain Lead

Vertiv Corporation; Pelzer (SC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertiv Corporation is seeking a Senior Buyer at our Pelzer campus to lead procurement for key manufacturing materials. You will manage supplier performance, ERP/MRP data integrity, and PO execution to support production plans while balancing inventory and working capital.

In this hands-on role, you will collaborate with Planning, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Operations to mitigate supply risks and drive on-time delivery in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, or related discipline preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• 5+ years of purchasing, procurement, materials, supply chain, or manufacturing experience preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing suppliers and purchase orders within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of MRP, purchasing, inventory management, and production planning principles.
• ERP experience required; Oracle experience strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage procurement activities for assigned commodities, suppliers, and material categories supporting Pelzer production.
• Review MRP requirements and convert demand into appropriate purchasing actions.
• Create, release, maintain, and manage purchase orders within Oracle in accordance with production requirements and established procurement policies.
• Maintain accurate PO quantities, pricing, required dates, promise-by dates, lead times, and supplier commitments within the ERP system.
• Ensure purchase orders provide appropriate coverage against current and future production demand.
• Identify parts without sufficient PO coverage and take corrective action before requirements become production constraints.
• Review changes in demand and appropriately expedite, defer, increase, decrease, or cancel purchase orders.
• Prevent unnecessary inventory exposure by balancing material availability with inventory and working-capital objectives.
• Maintain clear ownership of open purchase orders from placement through receipt and closure.
• Review MRP exception messages and material requirements daily and take appropriate purchasing actions.
• Maintain purchasing data integrity required to support accurate MRP and shortage reporting.
• Ensure supplier promise dates accurately represent the latest supplier commitment.
• Investigate demand and supply misalignment and partner with Planning and other functions to resolve system or material discrepancies.
• Support the continued development and stabilization of MRP processes across the Pelzer operation.
• Escalate inaccurate or incomplete demand signals, BOM issues, Sales Order alignment concerns, or other system conditions affecting procurement execution.
• Partner with Planning to ensure purchased material aligns with the Master Production Schedule and current manufacturing priorities.
• Serve as the primary operational contact for assigned suppliers.
• Establish clear expectations with suppliers regarding delivery, communication, quality, capacity, and responsiveness.
• Obtain and maintain supplier confirmations against open purchase orders.
• Conduct regular reviews of supplier performance, open orders, past-due material, future requirements, and capacity constraints.
• Identify supplier risks early and establish recovery plans before production is impacted.
• Drive suppliers to provide realistic recovery dates and documented commitments for constrained material.
• Escalate supplier performance concerns through Procurement and Materials leadership when appropriate.
• Work with strategic procurement teams on sourcing decisions, supplier transitions, capacity requirements, and commercial escalations.
• Develop strong supplier relationships while maintaining appropriate commercial and operational accountability.
• Proactively identify material shortages and potential production constraints.
• Maintain clear status and recovery plans for critical shortages.
• Work directly with suppliers to expedite material required to protect production schedules and customer commitments.
• Participate in daily and weekly shortage reviews, production meetings, Tier meetings, and material escalation discussions as required.
• Communicate material risk clearly, including part number, requirement date, current supply position, supplier commitment, recovery plan, and potential production impact.
• Partner with Planning, Warehouse Operations, Quality, and Production to verify material availability and resolve discrepancies.
• Support urgent requirements while maintaining appropriate procurement controls and avoiding unnecessary premium freight or uncontrolled purchasing activity.
• Escalate risks early rather than waiting until material becomes a production stoppage.
• Partner closely with Materials Planning to maintain alignment between production requirements and material supply.
• Work with Engineering and Change Management teams to understand BOM revisions, engineering changes, new part introductions, and material transitions.
• Partner with Quality to manage supplier quality issues, receiving inspection constraints, and rejected material affecting supply.
• Work with Accounts Payable and Finance to resolve invoice, pricing, receipt, and purchase-order discrepancies.
• Coordinate with Warehouse and Logistics teams regarding inbound material priorities and critical shipments.
• Support Project Management and Operations with accurate material status for major customer programs.
• Participate in new product introduction and production-ramp activities to ensure appropriate supplier and material readiness.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Supplier management

Negotiation

Communication

Problem solving

Multi-tasking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain/Business/Engineering

Tools

Oracle ERP

Excel

Job description

Vertiv Corporation is seeking a Senior Buyer at our Pelzer campus to lead procurement for key manufacturing materials. You will manage supplier performance, ERP/MRP data integrity, and PO execution to support production plans while balancing inventory and working capital.

In this hands-on role, you will collaborate with Planning, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Operations to mitigate supply risks and drive on-time delivery in a fast-paced environment.