Buyer III

Aston Carter•San Diego, CA

4h•$38 - $58•Onsite

About The Position

The Buyer III supports a procurement team responsible for purchasing hardware commodities across multiple aerospace and defense programs. This role focuses on high-volume, transactional procurement with an emphasis on cycle time, accuracy, and compliance. The Buyer III reviews purchase requisitions, creates and processes purchase orders, manages supplier communications, tracks deliveries, maintains procurement documentation, and ensures all transactions adhere to established procurement procedures and applicable regulations.

Requirements

3–7+ years of purchasing, procurement, or supply chain experience.
Strong understanding of the full procurement cycle, including PR review, PO creation, supplier interaction, price validation, documentation, and compliance requirements.
Hands-on experience processing purchase orders within SAP or similar ERP systems.
Experience purchasing hardware commodities such as nuts, bolts, screws, gaskets, cables, connectors, COTS parts, mechanical components, or other high-volume manufacturing materials.
Knowledge of FAR/DFAR and government procurement regulations.
Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a high-volume, transactional procurement environment.
High attention to detail and strong documentation skills.
Comfort working in a metrics-driven, process-focused environment.
Strong communication skills for effective interaction with internal and external stakeholders.
Demonstrated experience in purchasing, procurement, or buying within a manufacturing or similar operational setting.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent procurement experience may substitute for formal education.
Manufacturing experience preferred.
Defense or aerospace industry experience preferred but not required.
Experience with SAP is highly preferred and can significantly reduce onboarding time.
Experience with other ERP systems is valued for candidates with strong procurement fundamentals.
Experience in negotiation, cost analysis, and commodity management.
Familiarity with Ariba or similar procurement tools.
Ability to thrive in a collaborative, team-oriented environment.
Comfort working under defined processes and procedures while meeting cycle-time and accuracy targets.

Responsibilities

Review purchase requisitions for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with procurement policies and procedures.
Create, process, and manage purchase orders, ensuring timely conversion of PR-to-PO transactions, particularly for micro-purchases under $15K.
Communicate regularly with suppliers to confirm pricing, lead times, order status, and delivery schedules.
Track deliveries and follow up with suppliers and internal stakeholders to resolve delays, discrepancies, or issues.
Maintain accurate and complete procurement documentation in accordance with internal processes and applicable regulations.
Ensure all procurement activities comply with established procedures, including FAR/DFAR and government procurement requirements where applicable.
Support a high volume of transactional purchasing activity in a metrics-driven environment with a strong focus on cycle time and accuracy.
Collaborate closely with procurement compliance, program teams, internal customers, and management to meet program and business requirements.
Perform basic cost and price validation and support negotiation activities as needed for hardware commodities.
Manage multiple purchasing priorities simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail and documentation quality.
Utilize SAP or other ERP systems to process purchase orders and maintain accurate system records.
Support commodity management activities for hardware items such as nuts, bolts, screws, gaskets, cables, connectors, COTS parts, mechanical components, and other high-volume manufacturing materials.
Contribute to continuous improvement of procurement processes and support standard work within a process-driven environment.