Indirect Purchasing Specialist

Summary:  Successfully manage the day-to-day Indirect Purchasing functions to support the ongoing needs of the business; including procurement of materials, services, maintenance, etc. (MRO, Office, IT, Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Travel, etc.).  Maintain system integrity, timely execution of requests/requisitions and accuracy of purchase order delivery dates from suppliers.  Assess opportunities for savings and efficiencies, develop and maintain relationships with internal customers and suppliers, and establish effective communication practices with the aim of establishing long-term partnerships and providing the best organizational support possible. 

Time Utilization:  Travel is less than 10%.  Normal business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Schedule needs to be flexible to accommodate internal and external customer schedules. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following.  Other duties may be assigned:

1. Negotiate pricing and terms and conditions with suppliers with the assistance of the Indirect Materials Manager and the Strategic Sourcing Team.
   
   
2. Monitor purchase requisitions and create timely purchase orders for requisitioned items in SAP and Onventis.
   
   
3. Communicate with requisitioners to clarify their needs.
   
   
4. Develop strong and trusting relationships with suppliers and vendors and assist in supplier/vendor relationship management and performance evaluation.
   
   
5. Maintain and update delivery dates to purchase orders in SAP to increase delivery date accuracy.
   
   
6. Track estimated and actual delivery times for purchase orders and update the organization accordingly.
   
   
7. Track past due purchase orders and follow up with supplier for clarification (involve manager of Strategic Sourcing if applicable).
   
   
8. Evaluate risks and opportunities and take the necessary actions to mitigate risk and improve Multivac’s opportunity for success.
   
   
9. Use supplier qualification guidelines when choosing a new supplier.
   
   
10. Maintain a continuous process improvement mindset.

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.

Education/Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in business, purchasing, supply chain management, or related discipline and five years’ experience in purchasing; or equivalent combination of education and experience.  Experience in manufacturing environment and SAP experience preferred.  Experience with Onventis or other automated procurement platform.

Language Ability:
Ability to read, analyze, and comprehend general business documents and technical procedures.  Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.  Ability to effectively present information in verbal, graphical, and written form.  Excellent cross functional teamwork skills a must.

Math Ability:
Ability to apply standard mathematical principles to calculate totals, percentages, and statistical probability.   

Reasoning Ability:
Highly analytical with the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions from several abstract and concrete variables. Proactively identify problems and propose solutions to maximize internal customer fulfilment.

Computer Skills:
To perform this job successfully, an individual should be proficient in Microsoft Office, with strong working knowledge of Word and excellent Excel skills.  Knowledge of SAP preferred.

Certificates and Licenses:
APICS certification helpful.

Current valid driver’s license and the ability to obtain a passport for travel as required by position. 

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.

While performing the duties of this job, the associate is occasionally exposed to work near moving mechanical parts.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Physical activities & requirements, visual acuity, and working conditions of the position:

The associate will be required to be able to engage in:

• Talking, i.e. expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word, activities in which they must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• Hearing, i.e. perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, the ability to receive detailed information through oral communication, and to make the discriminations in sound.
• Repetitive motion, i.e. substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers, as in typing and using a computer mouse.

The physical requirements of this position are for sedentary work. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body.

The associate is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading. While colorblindness is not disqualifying, the position will be required to create visualizations, dashboards, and graphics for customer consumption, tasks for which color blindness may present a significant obstacle.

The associate is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.