Buyer III

Job Title: Buyer III

Job Description

The Buyer III supports a procurement team responsible for purchasing hardware commodities across multiple aerospace and defense programs. This role focuses on high-volume, transactional procurement with an emphasis on cycle time, accuracy, and compliance. The Buyer III reviews purchase requisitions, creates and processes purchase orders, manages supplier communications, tracks deliveries, maintains procurement documentation, and ensures all transactions adhere to established procurement procedures and applicable regulations.

Responsibilities

• Review purchase requisitions for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with procurement policies and procedures.
• Create, process, and manage purchase orders, ensuring timely conversion of PR-to-PO transactions, particularly for micro-purchases under $15K.
• Communicate regularly with suppliers to confirm pricing, lead times, order status, and delivery schedules.
• Track deliveries and follow up with suppliers and internal stakeholders to resolve delays, discrepancies, or issues.
• Maintain accurate and complete procurement documentation in accordance with internal processes and applicable regulations.
• Ensure all procurement activities comply with established procedures, including FAR/DFAR and government procurement requirements where applicable.
• Support a high volume of transactional purchasing activity in a metrics-driven environment with a strong focus on cycle time and accuracy.
• Collaborate closely with procurement compliance, program teams, internal customers, and management to meet program and business requirements.
• Perform basic cost and price validation and support negotiation activities as needed for hardware commodities.
• Manage multiple purchasing priorities simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and documentation quality.
• Utilize SAP or other ERP systems to process purchase orders and maintain accurate system records.
• Support commodity management activities for hardware items such as nuts, bolts, screws, gaskets, cables, connectors, COTS parts, mechanical components, and other high-volume manufacturing materials.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of procurement processes and support standard work within a process-driven environment.

Essential Skills

• 3–7+ years of purchasing, procurement, or supply chain experience.
• Strong understanding of the full procurement cycle, including PR review, PO creation, supplier interaction, price validation, documentation, and compliance requirements.
• Hands-on experience processing purchase orders within SAP or similar ERP systems.
• Experience purchasing hardware commodities such as nuts, bolts, screws, gaskets, cables, connectors, COTS parts, mechanical components, or other high-volume manufacturing materials.
• Knowledge of FAR/DFAR and government procurement regulations.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a high-volume, transactional procurement environment.
• High attention to detail and strong documentation skills.
• Comfort working in a metrics-driven, process-focused environment.
• Strong communication skills for effective interaction with internal and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in purchasing, procurement, or buying within a manufacturing or similar operational setting.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent procurement experience may substitute for formal education.
• Manufacturing experience preferred.
• Defense or aerospace industry experience preferred but not required.
• Experience with SAP is highly preferred and can significantly reduce onboarding time.
• Experience with other ERP systems is valued for candidates with strong procurement fundamentals.
• Experience in negotiation, cost analysis, and commodity management.
• Familiarity with Ariba or similar procurement tools.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.
• Comfort working under defined processes and procedures while meeting cycle-time and accuracy targets.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of San Diego, CA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $38.00 - $58.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in San Diego,CA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 21, 2026.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.