Purchasing Specialist

Purchasing Specialist

This position serves as purchasing specialist and directly contributes to the acquisition of Information Technology and the management of contracts and agreements related to hardware and software for employees located in the Americas. Initial focus would be on commodity based purchases and maintenance renewals under $25K.

Duties:

• Works with IS department and business unit personnel to identify appropriate levels of support and maintenance for Information Technology platforms.
• Performs diligence on purchases and maintenance agreements that typically range in scope from $5K - $20K.
• Works with vendors to secure competitive pricing on technology commodity orders that typically involve large volume purchases of servers, PCs, and printers.
• Supports IS and business units in efforts to identify, source, and acquire information technology assets, supplies, and services that meet specified needs and conform to IT architecture standards.
• Tracks expenses and assets relative to IS budgeted equipment, supplies, contracts and services. Works with IS department and business unit personnel to provide information relative to IT expenditures for budgeting purposes.

Education:

• Associates degree preferred or high school diploma with equivalent business experience required.

Technical:

• Has a good understanding of business contracts; is very familiar with information technology hardware/software support and maintenance agreements and terminology.
• Has basic familiarity with hardware and software technology.
• Possesses negotiating skills; possesses a strong mathematical aptitude to work with numbers in order to assess purchase discount levels, depreciation, and total cost of ownership calculations.
• Experienced in the use of Microsoft Excel for tracking and analyzing financial information.

Soft Skills:

• Demonstrates ability to work independently or on a team.
• Possesses fundamental written and verbal communications skills and is able to communicate effectively and professionally with business users and internal departments.

Problem Solving and Judgment:

• Resolves issues with vendors related to pricing and delivery of goods and services. An example of this would be working with the vendors to provide the closest sourcing of the goods to avoid delivery delays. Also researches and monitors pricing, and works with the vendors to resolve pricing discrepancies.
• Solves problems related to the post-acquisition of IT equipment, supplies, contracts, and services. This includes working with outside vendors and internal staff such as Accounts Payable and corporate Purchasing to research/resolve invoice issues.
• Requires the use of judgment in the analysis of facts and circumstances surrounding support and service agreements and/or leases and purchase agreements. This would involve review of agreements prior to purchase, and making recommendations to optimize Company position in the deal.

Decision Making:

• Determines if support/service contracts relative to IT components, both hardware and software, meet company requirements.
• Decides which vendor to use for a purchase based on price and service negotiations, keeping in mind the value that the partner can provide. This position must be aware of the key players in the various fields of IT software and hardware and be able to solicit the correct information that will be used in the decision to purchase.
• Determines when vendor problems/issues need to be escalated to management. This includes situations where product quality/delivery is continually unsatisfactory, or terms of an agreement are not being honored by the vendor.