What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Buyer position at Zildjian?
Description
Company Description
The Zildjian Company has been synonymous with setting the standard for the development and manufacture of high-performance musical instruments since 1623. As the world’s leading maker of cymbals, drumsticks and percussion mallets, Zildjian products are sold across the globe, under the Zildjian, Vic Firth and Balter Mallet brands, and are the standard to which all other cymbals, drumsticks and mallets are measured. From the beginner to the world’s greatest rock stars, jazz performers and concert percussionists, amateurs and pros alike chose Zildjian, Vic Firth, and Balter Mallets products to allow them to experience and share the joy of music.
Headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts with offices in Los Angeles, CA and London, UK, Zildjian products are sold globally through distributors and via a network of dealers. All Zildjian products are made in the USA at our cymbal factory in Norwell, MA and drumstick/mallet factory in Newport, ME.
The Culture: Our team is at the heart of our Culture. We value family, innovation, and accountability. We strive to hire and develop the best and foster a culture of collaboration, communication, and transparency. We are a driven and hardworking group of individuals that have a lot of fun growing these brands!
Key Responsibilities: Senior Buyer for Vic Firth Division
Located in our Newport Maine facility, the Senior Buyer for Vic Firth Division will be responsible for managing, communicating, and ensuring material supply needs are met with a focus on continuous process improvement to facilitate the efficient production of drumsticks, mallets, and drum accessories consistent with established standards, customer specifications and production goals.
We are seeking a candidate with the proven ability to lead and work with external vendors and across organizational boundaries to drive continuous improvement through our supply chain in support of production needs and company strategies. The Senior Buyer will collaborate closely with the Operations, Finance, Marketing, R&D and Engineering teams to source new materials and find alternative sources for existing materials, ensuring engineering specifications are met at the highest quality and lowest possible cost.
The ideal candidate will have experience with procurement systems, materials management strategies, and working in dynamic, high speed manufacturing environments. This position is well suited for an experienced hands-on individual that is capable of driving change and can thrive in an evolving, fast-paced work environment.
This is a full-time position that will report directly to the Director of Supply Chain.
Management Responsibilities
- Lead negotiations and implementation of long-term cost-effective purchasing agreements with key vendors focused on continuity of supply while generating annual cost savings opportunities.
- Focus on continuous improvement methodologies to drive improvements to purchasing processes.
- Create close relationships with our supplier base that is focused on results tracking, confidence in supply continuity and optimized supply chain design.
- Manage the Syteline database for key purchasing fields such as stocking levels, lead times, minimum order quantities and safety stocking levels.
- Attend daily production meetings ready to provide updates on purchasing/delivery of any requested parts as well as to receive any new requests.
Purchasing Responsibilities
- Utilize Syteline’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) to analyze and review daily the re-order point reports for items below or close to re-order and provide proactive updates on the current status and risk areas.
- Solicit quotes from suppliers for potential new products working closely with Engineering, R&D and Commercial teams to obtain the right specifications.
- Analyze and review daily the open PO’s to assure on time deliveries and proactively share risks.
- Review vendor performance periodically to assure that vendor performance complies with contracts/agreements.
- Create PO’s and communicate the authorized PO’s to the vendors.
- Strive to minimize shipping costs where possible.
- Hold vendors accountable for the PO’s content, quality and ultimate delivery times.
- Resolve any invoice price discrepancies with Accounts Payable.
Procurement Authority
- Issue authorized purchase orders, change orders and supply agreements.
- Continuous development of vendors and contractors.
- Cost control, PO change control and scheduling.
- Expediting orders, quotations, backorders, etc.
Requirements
- College degree in a related field preferred.
- Experience as a Senior Buyer a plus.
- Must be able to work effectively across organizations.
- Excellent Microsoft Office Suite skills
- Syteline ERP/APS system experience a plus
- Ability to read AutoCAD drawings a plus
- Able to work under pressure in a schedule driven environment
- Excellent communication skills required
- Experience in working with multiple projects simultaneously
- Some travel is required; 10% within North America
