Buyer

The Position

We are currently accepting applications for a Buyer to join our collaborative, interdisciplinary team.

The Position: The Finance Department is seeking a Buyer to fill one full time vacancy in the Purchasing and Stores Division. Incumbents in this position purchase and arrange for the purchase of a variety of supplies, equipment and services used by the City of Santa Rosa, as well as provide technical support for procurement related activities.

The Benefits of City Employment

• A competitive total compensation package!
• 12 paid holidays annually, plus 1 to 3 'floating holidays' per year, depending on start date and years of service
• $500 annually for wellness
• Unlimited free bus rides on CityBus and Sonoma County Transit
• The City is a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) Employer

In addition to offering a rewarding work environment, opportunity for career growth, and an excellent salary, the City of Santa Rosa provides a generous suite of benefits, including retirement through CalPERS, a competitive leave accrual package, your choice between health plans, and top of the line employer paid (free to you) vision and dental coverage.

More information regarding benefits associated with this position can be found on our Miscellaneous Employee Benefits page.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a procurement professional who has experience executing a full range of services, supplies, equipment, materials, and minor public work for a government agency comparable to the City of Santa Rosa, or a large private organization with similar purchasing requirements for informal and formal bidding. The ideal candidate will have basic knowledge of ability to develop, negotiate, and administer a wide range of contracts for goods and services.

The ideal candidate will have outstanding written and verbal communication skills; experience writing a wide variety of purchasing related documents; superior customer service skills; and the ability to work cooperatively with internal City departments and external customers. The ideal candidate will also be proactive, possess strong organizational, analytical, and problem solving skills, and be self-motivated to learn City processes from the ground up. The ideal candidate will also be proficient in the use of technology i.e. word, excel, PDF and Adobe Sign.

Examples of Duties and Responsibilities

The following duties are considered essential for this job classification:

• Receive, examine and process departmental requisitions
• Accomplish the purchase of supplies, equipment and services used in City departments
• Solicit bids from vendors; conduct formal bid openings as assigned
• Prepare bid specifications and other necessary documents related to the purchase of services, supplies, equipment and materials
• Prepare written purchase recommendations following the opening of bids
• Compare costs and evaluate the quality and suitability of supplies, materials and equipment
• Analyze bids and quote and select appropriate vendors
• Maintain contact with vendors and evaluate vendor performance
• Administer contracts for purchase of supplies, equipment and materials
• Assist in the development and review of purchasing procedures and methods
• Expedite the delivery of goods
• Confer with departmental representatives to determine purchasing needs, specifications and areas of standardization
• Maintain working relationships with customers on matters relating to substitutions, equivalents, delivery schedules and vendor problems
• Keep informed of new products, market conditions, and current prices

Additional Duties: In addition to the duties listed in the Essential Duties sections, each employee in this classification may perform the following duties. Any single position may not be assigned all duties listed below, nor do the examples cover all duties which may be assigned.

• Coordinate with other agencies in joint purchase arrangements
• Coordinate payments with Accounts Payable staff
• Prepare correspondence and periodic reports
• Perform related duties as assigned

Required Qualifications

Knowledge of: Public agency purchasing methods and procedures and of the techniques of specification writing; methods and techniques utilized in grading and analyzing the quality of supplies, materials and equipment; a variety of materials, supplies and equipment typically used in municipal services and the sources for such products; Federal, State and municipal purchasing laws and procedures. Ability to: Evaluate quality and price of products to judge suitability of goods and alternatives offered; prepare specifications; establish and maintain cooperative relationships with departmental representative and vendors; communicate clearly and concisely, in writing and orally face to face or using a telephone; comprehend and make inferences from written material; produce written documents using proper sentence construction, punctuation and grammar; tactfully and skillfully obtain the right materials and services at the right time for a fair and reasonable price; interpret and explain City purchasing policies; learn and use computer programs used in purchasing; analyze quality and price of supplies, materials and equipment to determine best value; enter and retrieve data from a computer using a keyboard. Experience and Education: Any combination equivalent to experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be: Experience - Sufficient years of experience in the volume purchasing of a variety of general and specialized items, preferably in a public agency to demonstrate possession of the knowledge and abilities listed above; Education -Equivalent to an Associate of Arts Degree in business administration or related field. Certification by a national purchasing organization such as the Universal Public Purchasing Certification Council or the Institute for Supply Management may substitute for the experience and education requirement.

Additional Information

Work is performed indoors involving sitting at a desk for extended periods of time with the ability to change positions. Using a computer keyboard and 10 key calculator involves continuous or repetitive arm-hand movements. Removing bid folders and contracts from file cabinets involves moving objects weighing less than 20 pounds long distances.