Associate Buyer - Walkersville, MD

Title: Associate Buyer

Job Summary

• The Associate Buyer will support procurement activities for cleaning chemicals used in the sterilization of laboratory and production equipment, as well as potentially janitorial cleaning supplies. The role will primarily work with an existing supplier catalog, with no anticipated responsibility for supplier negotiations.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the monitoring, tracking, and management of supplier performance, including on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness, and compliance.
• Provide regular supplier performance updates and feedback to Site Strategic Buyers.
• Manage and resolve vendor returns.
• Review and process purchase requisitions for Senior Buyer review.
• Create and maintain purchase orders (POs) in the ERP system according to buyer direction.
• Monitor open purchase orders and follow up with suppliers on order acknowledgements and delivery status.
• Expedite critical deliveries and resolve supply-related issues to maintain continuity of supply.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date purchase order and supplier information within ERP systems.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for routine supplier inquiries.
• Assist with supplier onboarding, including documentation collection and approval activities.
• Generate and distribute procurement reports covering open orders, delivery status, shortages, and other purchasing metrics.
• Investigate discrepancies between purchase orders, goods receipts, and invoices.
• Coordinate with Planning, Warehouse, Accounts Payable, and other cross-functional teams to resolve supply chain issues.
• Support buyers with excess and obsolete inventory management initiatives.
• Ensure all procurement activities are performed in accordance with company policies, procedures, and purchasing requirements.
• Manage routine purchases and low-value procurement transactions.
• Coordinate supplier meetings and prepare and track follow-up action items.
• Maintain accurate supplier master data, purchasing databases, and procurement records within ERP systems.
• Act as a backup for buyers during absences to ensure continuity of purchasing and supply operations.
• Support cross-functional teams with supplier and raw material onboarding, including required documentation and approval workflows.