Buyer

Position Summary:

Purchases MRO supplies, consumables, and services to support production uptime and facility needs, ensuring timely delivery, cost control, and compliance with purchasing procedures.

Essential Functions:

• Create and manage purchase orders for MRO items, consumables, tooling, and services per requirements and lead times.

• Maintain MRO supplier relationships and negotiate pricing/terms within guidelines.

• Track order status, expedite critical items, and communicate shortages/risks to stakeholders.

• Maintain inventory controls for key MRO categories (min/max, reorder points) with Inventory Control.

• Ensure purchasing documentation accuracy (specs, quantities, pricing, approvals) and ERP discipline.

• Coordinate returns, credits, and discrepancies with vendors and Receiving.

• Support vendor onboarding/qualification processes where required.

• Partner with Maintenance and Operations to forecast needs and prevent downtime due to parts shortages.

• Track purchasing KPIs such as OTD, expedite frequency, and spend vs. budget.

• Follow ethical purchasing practices and company policies.

:Additional Skills by Level:

Level I: Executes routine buying and expediting; maintains accurate records and communicates effectively.

Level II: Improves MRO controls and supplier performance; reduces stockouts and costs.

Level III: Leads category strategy for MRO and supports broader procurement optimization efforts.

Job Requirements and Qualifications

Education, Experience, or Formal Training:

• 2+ years purchasing/buying experience; MRO or manufacturing environment preferred.

• Proficiency with ERP purchasing modules and strong organization/communication skills.

• Basic negotiation and vendor management capability; ability to prioritize urgent needs.

Working Environment:

Office/warehouse interface; frequent coordination with Maintenance, Operations, and

vendors; may require flexibility during outages or urgent repairs.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to sit/stand for extended periods; frequent computer/phone use.

• Occasional walking in warehouse and lifting up to 25 lbs (samples/supplies).

KPIs:

• Supplier on-time delivery (MRO)

• Critical part stockout incidents

• Expedite frequency and cost

• PO cycle time (request to release)

• Purchase price variance (PPV) for key categories

• Invoice/receipt match accuracy rate

• Lead time adherence for top suppliers

• Spend vs. budget for MRO

• Return/credit cycle time

• Internal customer satisfaction (Maintenance/Operations feedback)

SMART Goals:

• Improve MRO supplier OTD to ≥95% within 6 months by implementing scorecards and structured follow-up.

• Reduce critical part stockouts by 30% within 120 days through min/max review and cycle count alignment.

• Reduce expedite frequency by 20% within 6 months by improving forecasting and reorder discipline.

• Cut PO cycle time to ≤2 business days within 90 days via standardized templates and approvals.

• Reduce PPV by 5% within 12 months by negotiating agreements and competitive sourcing.

• Achieve ≥98% invoice/receipt match accuracy within 120 days by improving PO/receiving discipline.

• Improve lead time adherence to ≥90% for top 15 suppliers within 6 months through contracted lead times.

• Keep MRO spend within ±5% of budget for the next 12 months via monthly reporting and controls.

• Reduce return/credit cycle time to ≤14 days within 6 months by standardizing documentation and tracking.

• Achieve ≥4.3/5 internal customer satisfaction within 6 months through responsiveness and shortage prevention.