Expeditor

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

The Expeditor serves as the organization’s primary post-purchase-order rapid-response resource for commercial and outsourced material disruptions that threaten schedule execution. The role begins after the Buyer issues the purchase order and is defined by urgency, persistence, and ownership—actively chasing, tracking, and resolving vendor acknowledgments, missing, short, incorrect, held, or late material.

Expeditors work across departments and with external partners to remove material obstacles in real time. They coordinate priorities with Planners, route Engineering material changes through Project Coordinators, and escalate any required change to price, quantity, freight, authorization, or other purchase-order terms to the Buyer. 

Issue Identification & Resolution

· Actively respond to material shortages, discrepancies, delays, and vendor-held inventory identified through purchase orders, receiving information, or Planner shortage reports.

· Track missing, incorrect, short, held, or late material across vendors, outsource partners, carriers, receiving, and internal handoff points.

· Drive assigned vendor and material issues to closure with urgency, persistence, and documented follow-up.

Internal Coordination & Escalation

· Coordinate with the Project Coordinator when Engineering clarification, substitution approval, or a material-demand change is required; the Project Coordinator remains the primary Engineering interface.

· Coordinate priorities and recovery timing with the Planner, and escalate to the Buyer whenever recovery requires a change to price, quantity, freight, authorization, or other purchase-order terms.

· May assist with internal expediting when requested, but does not own Engineering releases, Project Management decisions, or production-release authorization.

Post-PO Vendor & External Coordination

· Obtain vendor acknowledgments, validate promise dates, track overdue, short, incorrect, and at-risk material, and secure documented recovery plans.

· Release vendor-held or blanket-order inventory when authorized and within approved purchase-order quantity and terms; escalate any commercial exception to the Buyer.

· Maintain persistent follow-up through shipment, delivery, or confirmed recovery, and document vendor commitments in the designated system or tracker.

Cross-Functional Communication

· Provide real-time vendor status, recovery commitments, and exception updates to Planners and Material Coordinators; the Planner owns consolidated readiness and schedule-impact reporting to Project Management and Master Scheduling.

· Escalate critical risks to the Planner and Buyer, and route Engineering-related changes to the Project Coordinator.

Schedule Protection

· Prioritize vendor issues that directly affect material readiness, schedule milestones, and production continuity, including shortages discovered after a job enters production.

· Execute rapid vendor recovery actions based on Planner priorities and provide confirmed dates, actions, and risks back to the Planner.

Role Boundaries - Commercial Material

· Does not issue, change, or cancel purchase orders or independently negotiate price, quantity, freight, payment, or other commercial terms.

· Does not approve Engineering substitutions or material-demand changes; those are coordinated through the Project Coordinator.

· May release vendor-held inventory only within existing authorization; the Planner authorizes release of commercial material to the production floor.

Key Traits & Expectations

• Relentless sense of urgency and ownership
• Highly persistent and resourceful problem-solving approach
• Comfortable operating in a dynamic, fast-paced, and sometimes disruptive environment
• Strong interpersonal skills to navigate across departments and external partners
• Ability to prioritize high-impact issues quickly
• Willingness to move continuously throughout the facility and engage directly with teams