Senior Buyer

Position Summary

J. J. Keller is seeking a Senior Buyer to lead supplier relationships, category management initiatives, and contract negotiations that drive business results. In this role, you will purchase materials, goods, and services that meet J. J. Keller’s quality, cost, and delivery requirements while managing key supplier partnerships to ensure a consistent supply of goods and services.

This position focuses on high-impact purchasing activities involving significant spend, key product lines, strategic suppliers, and complex contracts. You'll develop sourcing strategies, negotiate supplier agreements, and identify opportunities to improve cost, quality, service, and overall value. We're looking for someone with strong negotiation and category management experience who enjoys solving problems and challenging the status quo.

Job Responsibilities

• Partners with Product Development, Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing and other internal teams as needed on purchasing strategies and sourcing, to include internally produced and externally purchased products. 
• Confers with requesting departments to obtain information about specifications, potential sources, costs, etc. 
• Sources and purchases goods and services in line with quality, quantity, specifications and other factors to have a positive impact on margin from a total cost of ownership perspective. Negotiates prices, terms and delivery methods. 
• Calculates suggested selling prices based on mark-up schedules. 
• Researches new vendors for future sources that fit with J. J. Keller's stock or custom products. 
• Monitors vendor performance and expedites delivery of purchased goods or services to ensure product or project is on time, is within cost estimates, meets specifications as outlined in Supplier Compliance Manual and meets customer expectations. Resolves vendor related issues to the mutual satisfaction of the customer and vendor. 
• Reviews assigned products on an annual basis to identify new sources and develops purchasing strategies, targeting key suppliers for margin improvement initiatives. 
• Manages and resolves invoice discrepancies with suppliers and internal Accounting team.
• As assigned, prepares custom quotes for internally produced products and externally brokered products. This includes:
  • Working with internal team on bid requests.
  • Developing estimated costs for internally produced products based on materials, time, equipment, etc. Assists with determining most efficient/cost-effective production methods.
  • Processing internal quotes through HP-A system and external brokerage quotes via QuickBase application.
• Works with the Sr. Strategic Buyer to provide best practices and skills based training to the team. Training to be conducted at least once per month.
• Partners with business units to negotiate contracts.  

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Supply Chain, or related field
  • In lieu of a Bachelor's degree, an Associate's degree in a related field plus two additional years of directly related experience may be considered.
• CPM or related certificate preferred.

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in a purchasing role.
• Experience in a Materials Management ERP system environment preferred.
• Demonstrate competence in handling vendor contract negotiations for large dollar or complex purchases.

Other Skills/Qualifications

• Must be proficient in the use of a PC and MS Office Suite. 
• Advanced negotiation skills.
• Advanced problem solving skills.
• Collaborative verbal and written communication skills.
• Business acumen and strong understanding of total cost of ownership.

Physical Requirements

Work is performed primarily in a standard office environment. Work involves operation of personal computer equipment for extended periods of time. Occasional travel to offsite offices, customer sites and/or industry and training events may also be required, depending on assignment.