What are the responsibilities and job description for the Alcohol Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist, Grade 18 position at Montgomery County Government?
Alcohol Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOL BEVERAGE SERVICES (ABS)
The Department of Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is committed to building a talented, skilled, and diverse workforce; enhancing the employee experience; and ensuring excellence customer service for County residents, businesses, and licensees. ABS is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and values diverse perspectives, lived experiences, and cultures. ABS encourages BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), immigrants, women, LGBTQIA , individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply.
Montgomery County Government’s award-winning Alcohol Beverage Services Department generates more than $35 million in net income annually, Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is the alcohol wholesaler of beer, wine and spirits for Montgomery County. With more than 450 employees ABS operates 25 beer, wine, and spirits stores and manages alcohol licensing, enforcement, and education for more than 1,000 businesses.
WHO WE ARE SEEKING :
Montgomery County Government, Alcohol Beverage Services Department (“ABS”) Administrative Services Division Finance Department is seeking an Alcohol Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist that will work to maintain an adequate inventory of liquor/wine or beer items in the warehouse operations. The Alcohol Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist will act as an account representative for a portfolio of licensed establishments to assist them in navigating Montgomery County’s control system, advising them on product characteristics and availability; and working as direct liaison with the numerous corporate accounts, sales representatives, and others to achieve desired results. Contacts include wineries, distillers, rectifiers, wholesalers and distributors to discuss inventory and orders and to resolve problems; trucking and rail company representatives to discuss shipping arrangements; customs broker to resolve problems with imported merchandise.
WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:
As the Account Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist responsibilities include:
- Review product sales, market conditions, inventory on hand, planned promotions, outstanding merchandise, special orders, and price quotations in order to forecast demand and, make a determination concerning the type and amount of liquor, wine or beer items to be ordered.
- Develop, sign, and submit purchase orders to suppliers.
- Research new items upon request from licensees, the public and County retail stores, determining proper source, brand name, manufacturers, legality of sale, price quotations, shipping arrangements, and wholesaler/distributor.
- Proactively manage licensees’ portfolios; advise licensed establishments on product availability, pricing, substitution, and other factors.
- Manage corporate mandates for products.
- Resolve problems that arise from product availability, pricing, etc.
- Provide instructions to logistic carriers concerning points of origin, mode of transportation, point of delivery, etc., while insuring compliance with federal, state, and local regulations; consolidate stock and special order items to ensure the most cost-effective and expeditious delivery of items, some of which have a limited shelf-life.
- Review open purchase orders, special orders, delisted stock, overage, and receiving records in order to adjust product amounts with suppliers, as necessary to control inventory.
- Resolve problems with suppliers in such areas as replacement of merchandise not in conformance with specifications, cancellation of orders, and expedite orders.
- Maintain, revise, and update an automated filing system of alcoholic beverage items, using various computer software packages; enter new items into file; assign product number codes; establish the category of product according to class, type, gallonage, freight and other information; and delete unavailable items from the database file.
- Review receiving records from warehouse for accuracy; instruct warehouse personnel in the correction of errors; approve or disapprove payment for unordered merchandise; and arrange for the manufacturer's pick-up of unordered or unsold merchandise.
- Prepare the notification of new items or beer promotion reports for inclusion in the monthly newsletter.
- Participate on the listing committee and delists products based upon sales metrics.
- May participate on committees by attending meetings and providing requested information. Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE:
To be a successful Alcohol Beverage Purchasing and Account Specialist , you must have:
- Considerable knowledge of alcoholic beverage items, brands, availability, manufacturers and market trends.
- Considerable knowledge of purchasing procedures in a warehouse environment which requires maintenance of controlled inventory levels.
- Knowledge of applicable federal, state, and local laws governing wholesale purchase, distribution, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.
- Knowledge of rail and truck/trailer shipping of alcoholic beverage products.
- Ability to analyze data concerning product sales, market trends, planned promotions or specials, inventory on hand, and shipping arrangements in order to forecast demand of liquor, wine and beer items.
- Ability to make adjustments in the purchase, transfer, sale, promotion, receipt or distribution of alcoholic beverage items in order to assure inventory levels according to budget and time constraints.
- Ability to determine the best and most cost-effective purchasing strategy for special order alcoholic beverage items based upon analysis of information gathered in research.
- Ability to operate the Department's automated data system in order to access and update files and check orders and invoices.
- Ability to establish effective working relationships with licensees, suppliers and other industry contacts, logistics providers, custom clearing houses, County employees, and the general public.
- Possess excellent communication skills that promote positive perceptions about the department and allow the development of positive rapport with customers, suppliers and others.
- Possess time management skills.
- Ability to act patiently with customers who are confused or frustrated navigating the industry and the control system.
- Ability to listen attentively to understand and react quickly to customers’ needs.
- Possession of persuasion skills, tenacity and a willingness to do what needs to be done to satisfy the customer.
- Ability to close with a customer or supplier (being able to end a conversation with confirmed satisfaction).
- Ability to attend meetings or perform other assignments at locations outside the office.
- Have knowledge of standardized bookkeeping processes, accounting terminology and generally accepted accounting procedures and techniques. This includes ability to maintain general and subsidiary ledgers and journals and to help prepare periodic financial statements and reports.
- Have knowledge of personal computer capabilities and the application of computer systems to issues of format and content in County and departmental financial management.
- Have skill in processing procurement documents in the ADPICS software program.
- Have considerable skills in creating and maintaining Excel spreadsheets.
- Demonstrate interpersonal skills to interact effectively with personal contacts in a business-like, customer service-oriented manner.
The ideal candidate will have excellent oral and written communication skills, is savvy with computer skills and be detail oriented. The candidate must be able to meet deadlines and follow through with multiple projects simultaneously and have the ability to work independently to perform a variety of challenging actions.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
To ensure a positive workplace and to comply with federal, state and County laws, the incumbent is responsible for completing mandatory trainings within the first three to six months or within the specified timeframe.
Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice to meet business needs and objectives.
For additional information about our exciting benefit offerings and total reward summary, please click here: Total Rewards page .
Additional Employment Information
OHR reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position/IRC.
Montgomery County Government is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email to OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.
Montgomery County Government also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, please refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .
All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for interview.
If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.
Montgomery County Ethics Law : Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.
Minimum QualificationsMinimum Qualifications
Requires three (3) years of experience purchasing, ordering, managing or merchandising liquor, wine, or beer products or other merchandise within a large-scale operation and/or managing or assisting with customer accounts. Also requires the completion of high school or High School Certificate of completion recognized in the State of Maryland. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.
Preferred Criteria
PREFERRED CRITERIA:
There are no preferred criteria for this position. The applications of those individuals meeting the minimum qualifications will be reviewed to determine the extent, relevancy of training, and experience in the following areas that should be addressed in your resume:
- Experience in Accounts Payable and/or Accounts Receivable analysis, policy and procedures.
- Experience in posting journal entries, processing fiscal actions and experience with word processing and spreadsheet functions.
- Experience with County, State, and Federal rules and regulations and laws pertinent to the activities of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”).
- Experience with computerized government financial systems (Oracle Accounts Payable modules) and of PC software applications to include spreadsheet and database.
If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.
All applicants will be reviewed by OHR for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated "Eligible List - Qualified," placed on the Eligible List, and may be considered for interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are same grade or higher will be placed on Eligible List as a "Transfer" candidate and may be considered for interview.
If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.
Minimum Salary 54583 Maximum Salary 86103 Currency USD
