Procurement Coordinator

• Title:
• Employment Type: Full Time 40 hours
• Location: Seattle WA
• Reporting:

• Direct report to Ops Manager
• Works with sales, engineering, operations, management, and production crew for problem solving and production improvements

Primary Purpose of Position

To support client's operations with an uninterrupted flow of materials and services. The purchasing function is responsible for determining the organization's requirements, selecting an optimal source of supply, ensuring a fair and reasonable price and establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with the most desirable suppliers; i.e. the right materials, services, and technology from the right source, at the right time, in the right quantity. The Materials Planner interfaces with management, sales, operations, engineering and other staff toward efficient production and on-time delivery to facilitate the client's growth and profitability.

Essential Functions

• Coordinate purchasing needs with user departments and purchase competitively and efficiently, ensuring that sufficient supplies have been planned to cover requirements.
• Monitors for material shortages and solve any issues on time while communicating accordingly.
• Develops and maintains SOP documentation for key procurement processes.
• Drives the proficient use of the ERP/MRP system through standardized workflows.
• Researches and evaluates suppliers based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.
• Develops reliable and effective supply sources and fosters close working relationships with suppliers, developing long-term strategic relationships toward mutual goals.
• Analyze and report on long-range availability and costs of major purchased items.
• Search for new and alternative ideas, products, and materials to improve efficiency & profitability, including, but not limited to, stocking programs, blanket purchase orders, forecasting and Kanban.
• Prepare purchase orders by verifying specifications & price.
• Confers with staff, users, and vendors to discuss defective/unacceptable goods or services and determine corrective action.
• Create and maintain fulfillment dashboards and shortage reports.
• Apply strong negotiation skills with capacity to be firm and flexible as conditions require.
• Work closely with sales, engineering, operations, and other supply chain teams to ensure mitigation of shortages to meet delivery dates.

Required Knowledge, Skill and Ability to:

• Working knowledge of manufacturing routing, BOM, planning/scheduling, purchasing, logistics and ERP protocols
• Perform well in customer focused environment and exercise strong relationship-building skills
• Possess understanding of the industry's technical concepts and manufacturing methods
• Exhibit strong organizational skills
• Possess excellent communication and listening skills, in person, via telephone and e-mail
• Function independently as well as part of a team
• Experience with SQL databases and queries
• Perform proficiently in MS Word, e-mail with advanced skills in MS Excel; ability to create pivot tables or macros and analyze data
• Communicate effectively in English, both orally and in writing

Required Education/Experience

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, science, engineering, or technical discipline
• 2 years' experience in material planning, production planning, operations management, supply chain management, material cost control or master production scheduling
• 2 years of experience with MRP or ERP systems and management of bills of materials and work orders
• APICS certification preferred
• Six Sigma or similar certification preferred
• Any combination of the experience, education, training, and requirements listed above which provides an equivalent background to perform the work of this position may be considered by management.