Senior Buyer

Role Purpose

The Senior Buyer is responsible for leading end-to-end procurement across assigned direct material and indirect spend categories. The role owns category strategy, supplier development, cost management, compliance, and operational procurement disciplines that collectively ensure supply continuity, cost competitiveness, quality performance, and margin improvement across the companys full product and operational portfolio.

Position Overview

This highly cross-functional role partners with Engineering, Product Development, Quality, Operations, Finance, Facilities, IT, and HR to:

- Translate product and operational requirements into cohesive sourcing strategies

- Drive design-to-cost and value engineering initiatives across direct materials

- Develop resilient, dual-sourced supply networks with qualified, audited partners

- Improve contribution margins through disciplined direct and indirect procurement

- Prevent production downtime through operational supply and MRO management

- Enforce procurement compliance, PO discipline, and audit-ready controls

- Manage indirect cost structures and eliminate maverick spend

- Align supply chain readiness with product roadmap and new product launches

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Strategy & Cost Ownership

- Develop multi-year sourcing strategies for assigned direct material and indirect categories.

- Build should-cost and cost breakdown models covering key material inputs, components, and conversion processes.

- Drive annual cost reductions and value engineering initiatives across assigned spend categories.

- Monitor global supply markets, commodity pricing trends, and tariff exposure relevant to assigned categories.

- Source and manage MRO, consumables, tools, PPE, hardware, and office supplies to support operational continuity.

- Consolidate the vendor base and implement preferred supplier programs for indirect categories.

- Negotiate pricing and service agreements across facilities services, corporate services, and general hardware.

- Support budget tracking and accrual accuracy across indirect spend categories.

2. Supplier Development & Quality Alignment

- Identify, qualify, and develop suppliers, contract manufacturers, and indirect vendors across assigned categories.

- Lead supplier audits, capability reviews, and capacity assessments.

- Implement supplier performance scorecards tracking OTD, PPM, responsiveness, and quality metrics.

- Develop and maintain dual sourcing and risk mitigation strategies to protect supply continuity.

- Ensure supplier alignment with relevant regulatory and compliance requirements.

- Lead technology and capability roadmap discussions with key suppliers to align with product evolution.

3. NPI & Project Sourcing

- Support RFQs and new product introduction (NPI) from design release through start of production (SOP).

- Manage tooling strategies and amortization, sample approvals, and material validation activities.

- Manage tooling, validation builds, and pilot production in coordination with Engineering and Quality teams.

- Align supply chain readiness with product launch timelines across all active NPI programs.

- Ensure BOM integrity and revision control discipline across direct material categories.

4. Commercial Negotiation & Contract Governance

- Negotiate pricing, Long-Term Agreements (LTAs), rebates, MOQs, and stocking agreements with suppliers.

- Negotiate development agreements, IP protections, and conversion cost structures with contract manufacturing partners.

- Develop and maintain total cost of ownership (TCO) models for all major spend categories.

- Maintain the contract repository; ensure contractual compliance and risk mitigation across the supply base.

- Align procurement terms with warranty obligations, quality standards, and performance requirements.

5. Procurement Controls & Compliance

- Enforce PO discipline and three-way match compliance across all procurement transactions.

- Maintain audit-ready documentation and contract repository for all categories including indirect.

- Support internal audit preparation, budget variance tracking, and accrual accuracy.

- Reduce maverick spend through preferred vendor programs and procurement policy enforcement.

6. Inventory & Operational Support

- Establish min/max parameters and reorder points for indirect and MRO inventory to prevent production downtime.

- Develop Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs where appropriate to reduce internal carrying costs.

- Coordinate with Maintenance and Operations teams on supply readiness and downtime risk prevention.

- Support direct material inventory strategies aligned with BOM and production scheduling requirements.

7. Reporting & Continuous Improvement

- Develop spend visibility dashboards covering both direct and indirect categories.

- Identify and execute cost savings, automation opportunities, and process improvements.

- Support ERP workflow optimization and procurement system enhancements.

- Provide regular reporting on supplier performance, savings delivery, and category risk to the Director of Procurement.

Qualifications

Key Qualifications

Education

- Bachelors degree in supply chain, Engineering, Business, or a related field preferred.

Experience

- 3–5+ years of procurement experience spanning direct materials and/or indirect/MRO categories.

- Demonstrated experience sourcing engineered components, manufactured goods, contract manufacturing or OEM relationships, and/or indirect/MRO categories.

- Experience managing annual spend in the range of $1M–$30M+ across combined direct and indirect categories.

- Proven track record of cost reduction, supplier development, and supply risk mitigation.

Skills & Competencies

- Strong commercial negotiation skills across pricing, LTAs, and contract structures.

- Ability to build and interpret should-cost and total cost of ownership models.

- Cross-functional influence skills; ability to partner effectively with Engineering, Operations, Quality, Finance, and HR.

- Analytical mindset with proficiency in data analysis, spend reporting, and KPI tracking.

- ERP/MRP experience required; experience with procurement or supply chain modules preferred.

- Understanding of manufacturing environments, BOM structures, and production scheduling processes.

- Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to the companys products is a plus.