Buyer Planner

Job Title: Buyer / Planner

Job Description

The Buyer / Planner role supports procurement, material planning, and production scheduling in a high-tech manufacturing environment. You will manage purchasing activities for direct production materials, MRO items, and services while ensuring accurate financial review of purchasing transactions. This position is ideal for a detail-oriented professional who enjoys working with ERP/MRP systems, collaborating across departments, and ensuring materials and services are available to support on-time production.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day purchasing activities for direct production materials, MRO items, services, recurring charges, and blanket purchase orders.
• Plan and coordinate material requirements to support production schedules, ensuring materials are available to meet manufacturing timelines.
• Create, validate, and maintain purchase orders in the ERP/MRP system, ensuring accuracy in pricing, quantities, terms, and delivery dates.
• Review and validate invoices against purchase orders and contracts, ensuring alignment of pricing, discounts, and service billing.
• Investigate and resolve purchase order, invoice, pricing, discount, and service billing discrepancies before approving or confirming payment.
• Support Accounts Payable by researching and reconciling discrepancies related to purchasing and invoicing transactions.
• Collaborate frequently with Engineering, Planning, Operations, Vendors, and Accounts Payable to clarify requirements and resolve issues.
• Monitor inventory levels and support inventory management activities to balance material availability with cost and storage considerations.
• Utilize ERP/MRP tools to support demand planning, material planning, and coordination with production planning functions.
• Follow up with suppliers to confirm order status, delivery dates, and resolve any supply issues or delays.
• Support technical purchasing requirements in electronics, aerospace, PCB, or manufacturing environments as applicable.
• Apply strong accounting and finance accuracy to ensure purchasing transactions are financially sound and compliant.
• Support service contracts, software licenses, maintenance agreements, and other recurring spend items to ensure continuity of services.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of purchasing, planning, and financial review processes within the supply chain function.
• Use negotiation skills when appropriate to support favorable terms, while prioritizing accuracy, analytical review, and financial integrity.

Essential Skills

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in a Buyer, Buyer/Planner, Procurement, Supply Chain, or Production Planning role.
• Strong knowledge of ERP/MRP systems with the ability to manage purchasing and material planning activities; experience with systems such as QAD, SAP, Oracle, or similar.
• Proven experience in purchasing and planning within a manufacturing environment, including production scheduling and inventory management.
• Demonstrated accounting and finance accuracy, including invoice reconciliation, purchase order validation, and discount verification.
• Experience supporting MRO purchasing, service-based purchasing, and recurring charges.
• Ability to investigate and resolve purchase order, invoice, pricing, discount, and service billing discrepancies.
• Strong analytical skills and financial acumen to review and validate purchasing transactions.
• Experience working closely with Accounts Payable and other finance-related functions.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with Engineering, Planning, Operations, Vendors, and Accounts Payable.
• Proficiency in purchasing and planning processes, including procurement, supply chain coordination, and inventory management.
• Strong attention to detail, follow-through, and organizational skills to manage multiple purchasing and planning activities concurrently.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related discipline is preferred.
• Back ground in Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, or Supply Chain is strongly preferred due to the financial review aspects of the role.
• Experience with QAD or other advanced ERP systems that support material planning and inventory management.
• MRP and planning experience supporting demand planning, inventory requirements, and production schedules.
• Experience within electronics, aerospace, PCB, or broader manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with service contracts, software licenses, maintenance agreements, blanket purchase orders, and recurring spend management.
• Negotiation experience is beneficial, especially in supplier management and contract discussions.
• Interest in broadening supply chain expertise across procurement, planning, ERP/MRP, supplier management, engineering support, and financial operations.

Work Environment

This is a fully onsite role in a high-tech manufacturing environment, working Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You will work closely with cross-functional teams such as Engineering, Planning, Operations, Vendors, and Accounts Payable. The position relies heavily on ERP/MRP systems and standard office productivity tools to manage purchasing, planning, and financial review activities. The environment emphasizes collaboration, accuracy, and continuous learning, offering direct interaction with an experienced leader who is committed to developing talent and expanding your exposure across procurement, planning, and financial operations.

Job Type & Location

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

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $28.84 - $38.00/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 Chatsworth,CA.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 25, 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.