Purchasing Assistant

Summary: Provides administrative support for order entry and invoice processing along with general support for the purchasing department.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

• Verifies bills from suppliers with bids and purchase orders and approves bills for payment.
• Enters purchase orders for services and spare parts as directed by manager.
• General administrative support to purchasing department.
• Regular attendance, ability to arrive at work punctually, ability to work on–site.
• Ability to work cooperatively with others, ability to deal respectfully with the public, customers, vendors, other employees, managers, and executive management.
• Ability to perform multiple tasks concurrently, ability to work in a fast-paced environment, ability to interchange with others in the department.
• Performs analytical, operational, and administrative tasks in support of Managers and Buyers involved in the purchase of acquisition of goods, assets, processes, patents, copyrights, or possession of other services.
• Sits in on meeting with vendors, takes meeting notes, and provides supplemental comments as the Buyer leads the negotiation process.
• Verifies specifications of purchase requests, prepares purchase orders, places orders to vendors, and completes the corresponding paperwork.
• Prepares and maintains purchasing and payment records, keeps receipts for future reference, and provides accurate spending figures to the Finance Department.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

COMPUTER SKILLS

Personal computer skills including electronic mail, record keeping, routine database activity, word processing, spreadsheet, graphics, etc.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

High school diploma or general education degree (GED); or one-year related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.