Sr. Buyer

Job Summary:

The Senior Buyer will be responsible for the purchase of assigned instrumentation materials with expiration dates / shelf-life limitations from cradle to grave (e.g., new product development, sustaining and obsolescence). This individual will also serve as a Lead/Mentor to more junior Buyer personnel and interact on a daily basis with the Field Inventory, Distribution and Logistics, and Customer Service teams.

Contributes to the definition of the teams objectives, and strategies. Accepts team decisions and works toward their implementation. Establishes and supports the norms and conditions for a work environment that supports team productivity. Draws on the strengths of each team member, seeks input of team members, and works cross-functionally to resolve issues. Provides strategic input to and monitors the progress of cross-disciplinary project teams.

Proactively analyzes and interprets information and determine if processes are in control, accurate and meeting customer demands with respect to inventory and supply management. Makes day-to-day decisions that demonstrate a basic understanding of financial business drivers including balancing minimum order quantities against the impact to excess and obsolete inventory, expediting inventory and deliveries, negotiating low risk price discrepancies directly with suppliers, pushing out delivery dates if the forecast changes, and knowing when to escalate issues to manager or higher when deliveries look like they will be delayed (e.g. due to supplier constraints) impacting overall customer service level satisfaction. To be successful in this role, one must have a solid understanding of the end-to-end Supply Chain process (i.e. how demand planning impacts supply planning, how inventory in the right place at the right time drives order fulfillment and service levels etc.), be able to diagnoses the root cause of problems to minimize interruptions to production and solve low to medium complexity challenges with minimal supervision

Works closely with the Supply Team Manager, and other leaders, to develop and implement department procedures and guidelines, processes, and processes improvements. Integral in the development and enhancement of the ERP system (e.g., SAP).

As an integral part of the Supply Team, this person will work directly with Suppliers, Marketing, Sales, Accounting, Operations, Logistics and Engineering to ensure an equitable balance between excellent customer service levels and inventory on hand.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Managing instrumentation inventory against the provided forecast (i.e., converting purchase requisitions to purchase orders and managing delivery dates for issued purchase orders with suppliers)
• Works cross-functionally to proactively managing expiring instrumentation, missing instrumentation inventory, and loose inventory against the subsequent forecast and purchasing needs.
• Provide product availability commitments and forecasts to suppliers so they can plan capacity.
• Negotiates with suppliers' medium risk materials to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership for the organization.
• Escalates issues or challenges to appropriate functions when price discrepancies, supplier capacity constraints, inventory discrepancies and/or quality issues arise requiring resolution.
• Effectively utilize company recourses.
• Accountability for the accuracy and impact of supply decisions
• Owning the material master data for the materials that you own in the ERP system to ensure appropriate MRP signals and integrity of the data
• Coordinating Forecasts for assigned products and materials with the supplier, Sourcing, Demand Team and Marketing, Sales, Field Operations etc. Work with New Product teams to develop effective product launch plans.
• Effectively manage product with a shelf life or expiration date to minimize obsolescence from expired product.
• Creates, disseminates, and communicates supplier performance reporting to relevant stakeholders.
• Comply with Government, Regulatory and Highridge Medical Policies and Procedures.
• Implement and maintain the effectiveness of the quality system as it pertains to Purchasing.
• Develop and implement Purchasing metrics and various ad hoc reports as requested.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties or functions and may not necessarily comprise all of the "essential functions" for purposes of the ADA.

Expected Areas of Competence (i.e., knowledge, skills, and abilities)

• Ability to quickly and accurately generate action requirements based on MRP outputs, supplier information etc.
• Excellent Spreadsheet skills and proficient use of Microsoft Office products (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) and ERP systems experience required. Understanding of MRP and master data, principles and concepts required.
• Excellent communication skills required with the ability to communicate appropriately with all levels (able to communicate equally well with all employees including the Company President).
• Must be a self-starter, self-managed, an effective team player and possess excellent analytical / problem solving skills.
• Must have the ability to handle complex problems, make sound decisions and work independently under the pressure of a heavy workload with significant time restrictions.
• Good understanding of the manufacturing process (from raw materials to finished product), sound accounting principles, inventory control and paperwork flow necessary to be able to function responsibly in this position
• Must be able to operate with minimal to no supervision.
• An intermediate understanding of a quality management system and how it impacts the manufacturing environment, requirements, documentation etc. is needed to ensure regulatory compliance.

Education/Experience Requirements

• Bachelors degree in a technical, accounting, or other business discipline.
• MBA and APICS certification preferred.
• 5-7 years supplier collaboration/purchasing experience required.
• 5 years experience in material requirements planning and inventory control in a manufacturing environment preferred.
• Experience in Medical Device Manufacturing preferred.
• Work experience with Lean Manufacturing and Six-sigma preferred.

Travel Requirements

Up to 10%