Junior Buyer

Build Your Career in Global Purchasing and International Supplier Development

Tengco Inc. supplies custom-manufactured industrial components to customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to growing businesses. Our product groups include fasteners, castings, forgings, stampings, machined parts, injection-molded products, and assemblies.

We are seeking a Junior Buyer who is analytical, organized, and interested in developing a career in global sourcing and supply chain management. In this position, you will work directly with suppliers, overseas offices, and Tengco departments to support quotations, cost analysis, purchasing documentation, and supplier follow-up.

You will gain practical experience with customized industrial products, landed-cost analysis, supplier negotiations, international sourcing, supplier visits, and cross-functional project coordination. This position offers opportunities for domestic and international travel while supporting global sourcing initiatives.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL OPPORTUNITY

International travel is an important part of this role’s development path. Candidates must be comfortable with overseas travel, multi-day trips, supplier facility visits, and working directly with international business partners.

What You Will Do

• Send requests for quotation and organize supplier responses.

• Gather supplier information concerning pricing, materials, tooling, production, packaging, lead times, and freight.

• Calculate landed costs and prepare side-by-side supplier comparisons.

• Review quotation details for accuracy and completeness.

• Prepare purchasing documentation and supplier communications.

• Follow up on quotations, order confirmations, revisions, samples, signatures, and delivery schedules.

• Maintain electronic quotation, purchase-order, supplier, freight, material-cost, and project files.

• Update purchasing trackers and business systems.

• Support negotiations involving price, lead time, tooling, and other commercial terms.

• Assist in identifying reliable and competitive sources of supply.

• Support cost-reduction, resourcing, and supplier-development projects.

• Coordinate with Sales, Engineering, Quality, Logistics, Accounting, overseas offices, and suppliers.

• Assist with quality, quantity, documentation, and delivery discrepancies.

• Prepare reports using Microsoft 365 and Tengco’s ERP system.

• Communicate open issues, risks, and delays to Purchasing leadership.

• Support supplier visits, facility audits, sourcing projects, and business meetings through domestic and international travel.

Why This Role Is Different

• Exposure to international suppliers and global manufacturing operations.

• Opportunity to travel and participate in supplier visits, sourcing projects, and business meetings.

• Direct interaction with overseas offices and international business partners.

• Hands-on experience with international trade, freight, customs, and global supply-chain management.

• Career development toward Buyer and advanced purchasing responsibilities.

What You Will Learn

• How to evaluate total landed cost rather than purchase price alone.

• How to compare global suppliers using cost, quality, capacity, lead time, and risk.

• How customized industrial components move from quotation through production and delivery.

• How to communicate and negotiate professionally with suppliers.

• How Purchasing works with Sales, Engineering, Quality, Logistics, and Accounting.

• How to maintain accurate purchasing records and support sourcing decisions with data.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, International Business, Engineering, Finance, Economics, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• Strong attention to detail and numerical accuracy.

• Working proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft 365 applications.

• Ability to communicate clearly and professionally.

• Ability to organize multiple assignments and meet deadlines.

• Willingness to learn technical products, specifications, purchasing systems, and global sourcing processes.

• Ability to work effectively with different departments, overseas offices, and suppliers.

• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally, including overseas and multi-day trips, as an ongoing responsibility of the position.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant internship or professional experience.

• Exposure to purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, finance, engineering, or cost analysis.

• Experience working with Excel-based cost comparisons or business reports.

• Familiarity with technical drawings or specifications.

• Experience using an ERP, purchasing, or inventory system.

• Exposure to international business or global sourcing.

The Candidate We Are Looking For

• Enjoy working with numbers and detailed information.

• Ask questions when information is incomplete.

• Follow through consistently on open items.

• Can balance multiple priorities without losing accuracy.

• Communicate professionally with both internal teams and external suppliers.

• Want to develop your negotiation, sourcing, and supplier-management skills.

• Take ownership of your work and look for ways to improve processes.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Tengco, Inc. is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race; religion; color; sex (including breast feeding and related medical conditions); national origin; citizenship status; uniform service member status; pregnancy; age; disability; or any other protected status in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws.