Chemicals Buyer

Incora•West Chester, PA

About The Position

The Chemicals Buyer is an intermediary-to-advanced purchasing role responsible for purchasing on behalf of complex, high-volume customers. The role manages pricing, lead-time logistics, and on-time product delivery, applying procurement experience, business judgment, customer care, and communication skills. It involves direct contact with customers and suppliers, as well as collaboration with employees across departments. The Chemicals Buyer provides customer-service support, resolves complex client issues, and works to improve client satisfaction in a timely manner. The role also monitors chemical market trends and sourcing strategies, develops vendor relationships, negotiates contracts, and identifies and qualifies alternate sources of supply to improve cost, quality, responsiveness, and reliability. It supports procurement, delivery, and quality efforts; resolves purchasing discrepancies; expedites critical materials; and administers customer contract requirements to ensure supplier compliance with site and client requirements. The position may train and mentor Junior Buyers and requires minimal travel. Incora describes its values as Courage (taking ownership of issues and problems), Collaboration (sharing knowledge and experience), Commitment (meeting internal and external customer expectations in a timely way), and Community (valuing the world and everyone who shares it).

Requirements

High school diploma or GED and five years of related industry experience; or a bachelor's degree in a related field and one to two years of buying experience; equivalent combinations of education and experience may also qualify.
Previous experience resolving high-level customer-service issues.
Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills, with an emphasis on quality and customer service.
Positive attitude and ability to work as a team player.
Ability to interact professionally across all organizational levels.
Ability to develop technical acumen for reading and understanding technical specifications and requirements.
Attention to detail and ability to perform basic research.
Strong organizational and time-management skills.
Excellent customer-service skills and ability to deal tactfully, confidently, and ethically with internal and external customers.
Strong follow-through and perseverance, with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Ability to learn integrated database systems and report-writing software, as well as Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Experience using Copilot or other AI tools to enhance productivity.
Ability to travel; travel is described as minimal.

Nice To Haves

Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) credential.
Two to four years of experience in purchasing, supply chain, or the banking industry; preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Organize and monitor complex chemical purchasing activities for high-volume clients.
Monitor market trends in assigned categories, including sourcing strategy, vendor relationships, and contract negotiations.
Identify, qualify, and introduce alternate chemical suppliers to improve cost, quality, responsiveness, and reliability.
Work with cross-functional teams to assess supplier performance in delivered cost, quality, service, and innovation.
Review incoming requisitions for accuracy and completeness and resolve issues with the appropriate department.
Train Junior Buyers and mentor them during their training period.
Contact chemical suppliers to obtain competitive pricing and determine availability, terms, and delivery schedules; evaluate quotes and recommend awards.
Perform duties accurately and responsively while meeting or exceeding performance metrics.
Work with suppliers to support procurement, delivery, and quality efforts.
Resolve procurement discrepancies by communicating with customers and suppliers, working across business and computer systems, and initiating actions relating to invoices, payments, receiving quantities and schedules, inspections, rejections, and related issues.
Resolve complex customer-service issues and concerns, escalating them when needed.
Initiate and escalate critical-material expedites for open purchase orders to support on-time delivery.
Serve as the primary day-to-day supply-chain service contact for internal employees and high-volume clients.
Administer customer contract requirements for contracted chemical procurement services and ensure suppliers comply with site and client requirements.

Benefits

Incentive program eligibility for every employee.
Eight paid holidays and two additional floating holidays for full-time employees.
FlexTime policy for full-time exempt employees.
Eighty hours of exempt sick time.
Two weeks of paid parental leave.
Employee discount portal through Perkspot.
Employer-paid group life insurance at one times salary.
Short-term disability insurance.
Long-term disability insurance.
401(k) plan with company match.
Salary and benefits package; specific salary details are not provided.