Purchasing Specialist

Position Title: Purchasing Specialist
Location: Administration - Business Office
Reports to: Coordinator of Purchasing and Accounts Payable

Purpose of Position

This position is responsible to support and process the District-Wide purchasing of items from the general fund, capital project, and student activity funds. This will be accomplished by following accounting/purchasing policies, practices, and procedures required by State Law and the Harrisburg School District.

Primary Job Function:
Purchase supplies, materials, equipment, and services that are necessary for the operation of the Harrisburg School District.


Essential Functions

• Act as a liaison between Harrisburg School District and vendors.
• Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price as requested by school employees and approved by school administrators.
• Enter requisitions into accounting software for goods and services as requested and approved by school administrators.
• Research and evaluate suppliers based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, reputation, and history.
• Responds to inquiries from a variety of internal and external sources for the purpose of providing information, direction and/or appropriate responses to receive information to make purchases for district.
• Research vendor options and secure optimal pricing and quality for products and services requested from staff within the district.
• Organize and follow to conclusion all purchases. This includes the monitoring of invoices to determine the correctness of information, prices, coding, etc.
• Review all open purchase orders and make follow-up contact with employees, administrators, or vendors to determine the status of the purchase.
• Work with Accounts Payable to ensure timely payments of invoices, accuracy of payments and to close any purchase orders that are no longer needed.
• Review and enter new vendor information into accounting software. Enter W-9 information into accounting software for all new vendors and update W-9 information for existing vendors.
• Establish store accounts, as needed, and provide reports to district administration regarding the purchases being made using these store accounts. The store accounts need to follow the District’s Purchasing Policies and Procedures.
• Confer with district administration to determine purchasing needs and specifications.
• Work with District Administration to establish purchasing timetables, procedures, and forms.
• Ensure that all purchases comply with PA School Code
• Disseminate information to suppliers District’s purchasing policies and procedures.
• Review the District’s Purchasing Policy and Procedures Manual for updates to be discussed with Administration.
• Work with District Administration to administer and coordinate bids, quotes, and requests for proposals for the Harrisburg School District.
• Responsible for monitoring the consortium websites for purchasing for the district.
• Ensured the accuracy of vendor specifics/file maintenance/account codes and verifies the availability of budget dollars for the purchase.
• Distribute purchase orders to the vendors.
• Assists in closing purchase orders, tracking and following up with vendors.
• Assist in the Fixed Assets process for the district.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Minimum Training and Experience Required to Perform Essential Job Functions

• Bachelor' Degree in Business or Education related field
• 2-3 years of related experience within purchasing and vendors
• This position does come with an opportunity for a hybrid work environment.

Salary/Benefits - In accordance with the Act 93 Contract Agreement - Salary based upon relevant experience and education starting at $47,863