Purchasing Assistant

The Purchasing Assistant will support a high-volume manufacturing purchasing team that is working through a backlog of open orders and vendor follow-up activities. In this role, you will focus on maintaining existing purchase orders, managing daily vendor communications, tracking deliveries, and ensuring accurate data management within the ERP system. This position offers an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on procurement experience, work in a fast-paced environment, and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams in manufacturing operations. Responsibilities

- Maintain and update existing purchase orders within the ERP system to ensure accuracy and completeness.
- Monitor past-due and open purchase orders to help ensure timely delivery of materials needed for production.
- Communicate daily with local and national vendors regarding order status, shipping timelines, and delivery expectations.
- Proactively follow up with vendors to resolve delays, shortages, and order discrepancies.
- Track deliveries and provide clear, timely updates to internal stakeholders across operations, production, and finance.
- Gather, organize, and maintain purchasing data generated from day-to-day ERP activities.
- Ensure accuracy of purchasing records and order documentation for audit and reporting purposes.
- Assist with purchase order tracking, invoice reconciliation, and purchasing-related reporting activities.
- Partner with operations, production, and finance teams to support material availability and overall manufacturing needs.
- Support the purchasing team with backlog reduction efforts and ongoing process maintenance.

Essential Skills

- Experience utilizing an ERP system to manage purchase orders and related data (Acumatica preferred but not required).
- Previous experience working directly with vendors in a purchasing, customer service, logistics, supply chain, or administrative capacity.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to confidently follow up and hold vendors accountable to commitments.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment while maintaining accuracy.
- High level of attention to detail and strong organizational skills when handling orders and documentation.
- Strong computer literacy and data entry skills for efficient use of ERP and related systems.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

- Prior purchasing or procurement support experience in a business or manufacturing setting.
- Experience in manufacturing, operations, or supply chain environments.
- Back ground managing purchase order updates, vendor follow-ups, or order maintenance activities.
- Familiarity with purchasing, purchase order management, vendor management, supply chain, procurement, and order entry processes.
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract position based out of Saint Michael, MN.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $24.00 - $25.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

Medical, dental & vision
Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
Short and long-term disability
Health Spending Account (HSA)
Transportation benefits
Employee Assistance Program
Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)
Workplace Type
This is a fully onsite position in Saint Michael,MN.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Oct 9, 2026.

About Aston Carter

Aston Carter provides world-class corporate talent solutions to thousands of clients across the globe. Specialized in accounting, finance, human resources, talent acquisition, procurement, supply chain and select administrative professions, we extend the capabilities of industry-leading companies. We draw on our deep recruiting expertise and expansive network to meet the evolving needs of our clients and talent community with agility and excellence. With offices across the U.S., Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe, Aston Carter serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® Platinum Award winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.