Purchasing Specialist

Description

We are looking for a Purchasing Specialist to support material flow for a manufacturing operation in Plymouth, Minnesota. This Long-term Contract position focuses on securing timely delivery of purchased materials, maintaining strong supplier coordination, and helping internal teams stay aligned with production priorities. The role works closely with planning, manufacturing, quality, and sourcing partners to reduce supply risk, improve visibility to open orders, and keep critical materials available for business needs.

Responsibilities:

• Issue and maintain purchase orders while confirming pricing, terms, required documents, and delivery details before release.

• Track supplier acknowledgements and follow up to secure timely confirmation on open orders and committed ship dates.

• Accelerate urgent material orders when needed to protect production schedules and customer demand.

• Investigate and resolve shortages, delayed shipments, and order discrepancies through direct supplier communication and internal coordination.

• Review open purchase orders regularly to identify overdue deliveries and obtain updated commitments or recovery plans from suppliers.

• Communicate supply risks, schedule changes, and priority shifts to stakeholders across planning, manufacturing, quality, and sourcing teams.

• Update purchasing records, delivery dates, and related master data in SAP to maintain accurate material status information.

• Prepare and share reports on backlog, late orders, critical shortages, supplier responsiveness, and on-time delivery performance.

• Participate in shortage reviews and escalation discussions to support fast resolution of material constraints and production issues.

Requirements • Experience supporting purchasing operations, procurement administration, or material availability activities in a manufacturing environment.

• Strong working knowledge of purchase order processing, supplier follow-up, and order status management.

• Proficiency with SAP or a comparable ERP system used for purchasing and material tracking.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, respond quickly to supply issues, and maintain accuracy in a fast-paced setting.

• Effective communication skills for coordinating with suppliers and cross-functional internal teams.

• Strong attention to detail when reviewing pricing, delivery commitments, terms, and purchasing records.

• Comfort using reporting tools and data to monitor backlog, past-due orders, and supplier performance metrics.

Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized talent solutions firm that connects highly qualified job seekers to opportunities at great companies. We offer contract, temporary and permanent placement solutions for finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, and administrative and customer support roles.

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All applicants applying for U.S. job openings must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Benefits are available to contract/temporary professionals, including medical, vision, dental, and life and disability insurance. Hired contract/temporary professionals are also eligible to enroll in our company 401(k) plan. Visit roberthalf.gobenefits.net for more information.

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