Sr Buyer

Vertiv•Pelzer, SC

About The Position

The Senior Buyer executes and manages material procurement activities supporting the Pelzer manufacturing campus. The role ensures purchased material is available to support production while maintaining supplier performance, accurate ERP/MRP data, appropriate inventory levels, and effective working-capital management. The Senior Buyer manages an assigned portfolio of suppliers and commodities from purchase-order placement through delivery. This hands-on role proactively manages material requirements, supplier commitments, shortages, lead times, capacity constraints, and purchase-order accuracy in a fast-paced, growing manufacturing environment. The successful candidate works closely with Planning, Manufacturing, Warehouse Operations, Engineering, Quality, Project Management, Finance, Order Management, and Procurement to identify and resolve material risks before they affect production or customer commitments. The role requires strong ownership, analytical capability, supplier-management skills, and the ability to adapt to changing production priorities and significant material complexity. At the senior level, the buyer is expected to work independently, manage complex or high-risk portfolios, lead supplier recovery and escalation activities, mentor less-experienced colleagues, identify systemic issues, and drive improvements in purchasing accuracy and material availability.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related discipline is preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
Five or more years of purchasing, procurement, materials, supply chain, or manufacturing experience is preferred.
Demonstrated experience managing suppliers and purchase orders in a manufacturing environment.
Strong understanding of MRP, purchasing, inventory management, and production-planning principles.
ERP experience is required.
Experience managing material shortages, supplier recovery plans, and production-critical requirements.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
Ability to interpret demand, supply, inventory, and purchase-order data and translate it into actions.
Strong supplier negotiation, communication, and relationship-management skills.
Ability to manage multiple suppliers, priorities, and escalations simultaneously.
Strong Excel and Microsoft Office skills.
Ability to communicate effectively with operational teams, suppliers, and senior leadership.

Nice To Haves

Oracle experience; Oracle ERP/MRP experience is strongly preferred.
Experience in a high-volume or complex manufacturing environment.
Experience supporting engineered-to-order, configure-to-order, or project-based manufacturing.
Experience with supplier capacity planning and recovery management.
Experience supporting new product introductions and rapid production ramps.
Knowledge of BOM structures, engineering changes, lead-time management, inventory control, and production scheduling.
Experience with supplier-performance metrics and continuous improvement.
APICS/ASCM, CPSM, or related supply-chain certification.

Responsibilities

Manage procurement activities for assigned commodities, suppliers, and material categories supporting Pelzer production.
Review MRP requirements and convert demand into appropriate purchasing actions.
Create, release, maintain, and manage purchase orders in Oracle according to production requirements and procurement policies.
Maintain accurate purchase-order quantities, pricing, required dates, promise-by dates, lead times, and supplier commitments in the ERP system.
Ensure purchase orders provide appropriate coverage for current and future production demand, and correct insufficient coverage before it constrains production.
Review demand changes and expedite, defer, increase, decrease, or cancel purchase orders as appropriate.
Balance material availability with inventory and working-capital objectives, avoiding unnecessary inventory exposure.
Maintain ownership of open purchase orders from placement through receipt and closure.
Review MRP exception messages and material requirements daily and take appropriate purchasing actions.
Maintain purchasing data integrity and ensure supplier promise dates reflect the latest commitments.
Investigate demand and supply misalignment and work with Planning and other functions to resolve system or material discrepancies.
Support the development and stabilization of MRP processes across the Pelzer operation.
Escalate inaccurate or incomplete demand signals, BOM issues, Sales Order alignment concerns, and other system conditions affecting procurement.
Partner with Planning to align purchased material with the Master Production Schedule and current manufacturing priorities.
Serve as the primary operational contact for assigned suppliers and establish expectations for delivery, communication, quality, capacity, and responsiveness.
Obtain and maintain supplier confirmations against open purchase orders.
Review supplier performance, open orders, past-due material, future requirements, and capacity constraints.
Identify supplier risks early and establish recovery plans; obtain realistic recovery dates and documented commitments for constrained material.
Escalate supplier performance concerns through Procurement and Materials leadership when appropriate.
Work with strategic procurement teams on sourcing decisions, supplier transitions, capacity requirements, and commercial escalations.
Develop strong supplier relationships while maintaining commercial and operational accountability.
Identify material shortages and potential production constraints, and maintain clear status and recovery plans for critical shortages.
Expedite material with suppliers to protect production schedules and customer commitments.
Participate in shortage reviews, production meetings, Tier meetings, and material escalation discussions as required.
Communicate material risks, including part number, requirement date, supply position, supplier commitment, recovery plan, and potential production impact.
Partner with Planning, Warehouse Operations, Quality, and Production to verify material availability and resolve discrepancies.
Support urgent requirements while maintaining procurement controls and avoiding unnecessary premium freight or uncontrolled purchasing.
Escalate risks early to prevent production stoppages.
Align purchase-order quantities and delivery dates with production requirements and support inventory objectives.
Review excess, obsolete, slow-moving, and potentially unnecessary material within assigned commodities.
Identify opportunities to defer or cancel material when demand changes.
Support inventory-reduction and working-capital initiatives without introducing unnecessary production risk.
Investigate inventory discrepancies with Materials and Planning teams when they create incorrect purchasing signals.
Understand how BOM accuracy, consumption, inventory transactions, and demand changes affect MRP and purchasing requirements.
Coordinate with Materials Planning, Engineering, Change Management, Quality, Accounts Payable, Finance, Warehouse, Logistics, Project Management, and Operations to resolve supply, quality, invoice, pricing, receipt, and material-status issues.
Support new product introduction and production-ramp activities to ensure supplier and material readiness.
Manage complex or higher-risk supplier and commodity portfolios and lead supplier recovery and escalation activities.
Mentor and support less-experienced Buyers and Planner/Buyers.
Identify systemic purchasing and supplier-performance issues and drive improvements in PO accuracy, supplier confirmations, MRP data, and material availability.
Provide Materials leadership with concise, accurate supply-risk assessments; challenge inaccurate information and drive issues to factual resolution.
Maintain accountability for assigned suppliers and materials from demand signal through delivery.