Purchasing Agent

Job Description:

The Purchasing Agent reports to the Purchasing Lead under the sourcing organization. The primary responsibilities are managing purchase orders from creation to delivery for raw materials utilizing SAP. Additionally, responsibilities include assisting in monitoring inventory levels and communicating with appropriate departments and suppliers to ensure availability of on-hand supply.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage and procure new and existing raw materials for scale-up and production use, monitoring inventory levels while considering shelf life and communicating with appropriate departments to ensure availability of on-hand supply. This also includes customer supplied materials, which are handled directly between the buyer and the customer.
• Generate purchase orders and manage them through receipt to meet delivery dates according to manufacturing needs set by Production Planners.
• Manage delivery and logistics updates of bulk raw materials into tanks at plants to ensure timely deliveries and coordination with the manufacturing team for efficient unloading.
• Analyze and control purchasing activities to assure continuous supply of materials at lowest inventory level possible to meet customer demand. Generate purchase orders and set delivery dates according to need for manufacturing customer orders. Requires in-depth knowledge of Purchasing, with experience utilizing SAP preferred.
• Work with cross-functional departments including supply chain, operations, and sourcing.
• Maintain good working relationships with suppliers to keep informed of market supply trends. Keep management apprised of business conditions affecting the department.
• Reconcile PO purchases to statements and invoices.
• Perform expediting duties as needed and process claims that may arise due to materials received in damaged condition or similar. This includes processing returns.
• Promptly escalate key issues to Purchasing Lead or Sourcing Manager to achieve a quick and satisfactory solution.
• Create warehouse transfers for products from other H.B. Fuller facilities.
• Travel up to 15% of time to manufacturing sites.

Minimum Requirements

• 1 year purchasing experience
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Effective communication and teamwork skills for collaboration with various stakeholders
• High attention to detail and accuracy in managing purchase orders and procurement records
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or a related field preferred

Preferred Qualifications

• Problem Solving: Identify supply issues and collaborate to resolve
• Communication and Collaboration: Effective teamwork skills for collaborating with various stakeholders
• Technical Proficiency: Experienced with procurement software and ERP systems
• Attention to Detail: Successful level of accuracy in managing purchase orders and procurement records