Senior Buyer

The Senior Buyer is responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and procuring technical goods and services essential to engineering, manufacturing, and sustaining production operations. This position requires strong technical knowledge of product specifications, engineering requirements, supplier capabilities, and market trends. The Sr. Buyer works closely with engineering, project management, production, quality, and other cross-functional teams to translate project requirements into effective sourcing strategies and supplier agreements while achieving cost, quality, delivery, and compliance objectives.

Senior Buyer Responsibilities:

• Source, negotiate, and procure technical goods and services for engineering, manufacturing, and sustaining production projects.
• Work closely with engineering and project teams to understand technical requirements and translate specifications, drawings, and project needs into clear procurement criteria for suppliers.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, delivery schedules, and other commercial requirements to achieve cost savings, efficiencies, and competitive outcomes while maintaining strong supplier relationships.
• Manage multiple procurement projects simultaneously, establish priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Identify and resolve supply chain, quality, supplier performance, and project-related issues.
• Build effective relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders across engineering, quality, design, production, planning, and other departments.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives and identify opportunities to improve cost, quality, delivery, efficiency, and supply chain performance.
• Monitor market trends, supplier capabilities, and technological developments to identify opportunities for cost savings, risk mitigation, and innovation.
• Collaborate with other buyers and planners and provide mentoring and training to junior buyers as needed.
• Support or oversee supplier audits and performance evaluations to ensure compliance with company standards for custom and project-based production.
• Ensure procurement activities comply with applicable regulatory requirements, company policies, contractual obligations, and ethical sourcing standards.
• Track and report key procurement and supplier performance indicators, including cost savings, delivery performance, quality, and other applicable KPIs.
• Understand and communicate key concepts of the Quality Policy and Quality Goals and fulfill applicable requirements of the ISO 9001 Quality Management System.
• Complete required Quality Management System training.
• Travel to supplier locations and other business locations as required.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive purchasing or procurement experience, with demonstrated experience in a technical or manufacturing environment.
• Strong technical aptitude with the ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, bills of materials, and other technical documentation.
• Strong negotiation, communication, analytical, organizational, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Knowledge of supply chain optimization and procurement technology.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to evaluate supplier capabilities and performance related to cost, quality, delivery, and supply chain risk.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Professional procurement certification, such as CPM or CPSM, preferred.
• Experience with custom, make-to-print, and/or project-based manufacturing operations preferred.