Sr Buyer

Job Type Full-time Description

Ashley Sling , a division of American Equipment Holdings, is one of the leading rigging and below-the-hook service providers in the United States.

Over the years, our ability to grow and set ourselves apart from the competition is the result of a tried and true philosophy take care of our customers and take care of our people.

We also believe that our people matter, which is why we are committed to providing our team members with competitive wages, attractive benefit offerings, and abundant training offerings.

As one of the fastest growing companies in our industry, new opportunities are regularly available that enable our team members to develop, grow, and pursue their career passions.

We are looking for a Sr Buyer to work directly with Division Manager, Procurement Director, and Branch Managers in evaluating, improving, and leading company purchasing strategies.

Strategies include effective material flow, supplier evaluation criteria and enforcement, supplier material cost reduction / avoidance, evaluate and interpret commodity price trends and impact to part price.

This position is responsible for building strong partnerships with strategic suppliers, coordinating negotiations of strategic agreements where applicable, and leading Buyer team in company strategies to achieve goals.

This job has no supervisory responsibilities yet has informal leadership responsibilities for Buyer team.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities :

• Negotiates long term and short-term transactions with vendor base
• Source and qualify prospective suppliers for both current and future product and service needs.
• Support intercompany transactions and branch transfers.
• Solicit price and delivery quotations as requested by Sales team.
• Vendor price and payment terms negotiations.
• Understanding of key supplier criteria (contract pricing, supplier lead-time considerations, freight responsibility).
• Assure supplier order acknowledgement procedure is adhered to for Purchase Order / Confirmation match up.
• Place purchase orders with approved suppliers based on approved requests and current inventory levels. Process includes printing and sending of purchase order and is accompanied by necessary drawings, specifications, and specific information when necessary.
• Work closely with Buying team and branch managers regarding purchasing material requirements related to vendor buy opportunities to support all Ashley Sling branches.
• Maintain physical and electronic records for all purchase orders, attachments, quotations in accordance with Ashley Sling standard documentation procedures.
• Collaborate with sales team and branch manager to provide on time delivery of finished goods for customer orders.
• Review min / max levels and utilize ERP system to evaluate material requirements for manufacturing consumption.
• Effective communication with customer service and branch personnel on status of schedule delays, customer expedites and OTD concerns.
• Work with accounting team regarding supplier issues (pricing discrepancies, shipping errors and product returns).
• Assure inventory accuracy and aid in the development of processes to maintain accurate inventory levels reflected in ERP.
• Ensures supplier conformance to all expectations in Supplier Quality Manual and corresponding performance criteria.
• Leads Buyers in supplier management toward monitoring their performance, leading improvement efforts, as well as the development of new suppliers.
• Establishes regular communication with suppliers on their performance and risk mitigation with at least a semi-annual meeting to address acceptable and poor performance as well as a supplier’s CI toward greater efficiencies and cost control.
• Applies value analysis to supplier engineering developments and manufacturing method improvements and confers with management teams regarding impact to American Equipment Inc.
• Coordinates strategies with our Quality Dept. to ensure that supplier quality issues are corrected and that PPM improvement plans are established, and goals are accomplished.
• Works to meet customer requirements, for on time delivery for all orders.
• Partners with Project Mgmt. / Planner / Scheduler in achieving company inventory goals. Collaborate with Senior Buyer for new vendor accounts and Terms.
• Actively participate in the continual improvement of the company, safety compliance and following the Company’s Core Values, Vision, Quality Policy, Goals and Objectives.
• Foster a positive work environment and promote good company morale.
• Works in a safe manner, following all safety policies and procedures while keeping in mind other people’s safety as well.
• Reports any accidents and potentially unsafe conditions or unsafe acts immediately to appropriate supervisor.
• Other tasks or responsibilities that may be assigned by manager.

Required Skills / Abilities

• Action oriented, time management, Customer focus, Integrity & trust, setting priorities, problem solving, verbal and written communication skills, critical thinking skills.
• Ability to remain calm and focused with stressful situations.

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree (B.S.) or equivalent in Purchasing, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or Business-related field;

or five to ten years’ related experience and / or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience; 2-years’ experience with ERP or MRP environment.

• Proficient with MS 365 software, Teams, SharePoint.
• Knowledge of slings, beams and rigging hardware preferred.

Language Skills :

Can read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals; author routine reports and correspondence;

speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of the organization.

Mathematical Skills :

Can add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Computer Skills :

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Microsoft Office software (especially Excel) and be able to quickly acclimate to common ERP system basic functions.

Other Skills and Abilities :

Strong negotiation and analytical skills. Can manage multiple assignments at once and communicate effectively within all levels of the organization.

Work Environment

Must be able to sit at a desk or stand for prolonged periods of time, in office and production area, must be able to traverse the production facility, must be able to lift 50 lbs.

There will be minimal travel involved, less than 10%.

This is a permanent, full-time position.