What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Purchasing Agent position at Caltech?
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Job Summary
Under general supervision from the Purchasing Supervisor, the Associate Purchasing Agent supports the facilities material management program through purchase of non-stock materials in compliance with Caltech’s purchasing processes.
Responsibilities include processing non-stock material requests, sourcing parts, preparing purchase orders, processing returns and investigating purchasing errors from cradle to grave.
Duties include, working with the integrated work management computer system (AiM), the campus material and service request system (Techmart) and the institute’s financial data base (Oracle). Tracking deliverables and problem-solving on receipt discrepancies and process returns on time.
The position regularly interacts with vendors / suppliers, internal customers, and functional peer groups such as Procurement, Stockroom, Facilities Finance, and Accounts Payable.
Essential Job Duties
- Responsible for following all safety procedures and maintaining a safe and secure work environment.
- Establish and maintain professional vendor relationships.
- Review material requests, vendor quotes and place orders with the best provider that can meet quantity and delivery requirements of field / shop requestors. Continually communicate delivery variances back to requestor.
- Prepare competitive and non-competitive procurement justifications.
- Prioritize and expedite materials purchases as required.
- Follow up and partner with field staff to ensure ordered goods meet end-user needs and quality specifications; research, as needed, supplier cross-referenced part numbers and secure alternate suppliers / manufacturers that can provide equivalent substitutes that meet or exceed part specifications.
- Verify receipt of materials and reconcile material requests, purchase orders, invoices, and packing slips.
- Coordinate returns with the shops and vendors. Obtain return authorization and ship item and forward credit memo to AP.
- Reconcile Pcard in Concur Solution and submit Expense Report for approval.
- Maintain fluency in all software systems including eProcurement (Jaggaer), integrated work management (AiM), and enterprise resource planning (Oracle).
- Review and develop working knowledgeable on purchasing-related trends and best practices.
- Perform financial analyses. Demonstrated math proficiency sufficient to calculate billing totals, ratios, and percentages.
- Ability to work on computer applications, including Microsoft Suite sufficient to generate standard and ad-hoc reports from available data, and ability to apply this knowledge to other databases.
- Ability to collaborate and communicate professionally and effectively with Accounts Payable to resolve problems as quickly as possible.
- Adhere to all Caltech purchasing policies and procedures.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Basic Qualifications
Preferred Qualifications
Required Documents
Hiring Range
24.25 - $27.25 Per Hour
The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, specialty and training.
As one of the largest employers in Pasadena, CA, Caltech is committed to providing comprehensive benefits to eligible employees and their eligible dependents. Our benefits package includes competitive compensation, health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans, generous paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick time, parental leave, bereavement, etc.), tuition reimbursement, and more. Non-benefit eligible employees will have access to some benefits such as onsite counseling and sick time. Learn more about our and .
EEO Statement
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Caltech is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
To read more Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) go to .
Disability Accommodations
If you would like to request an accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to Caltech Recruiting at .
Salary : $24 - $27
