Senior Indirect Buyer, Plant - Seneca, SC

BASF Catalysts•Seneca, SC

3d•$115,000 - $145,000

About The Position

The Senior Indirect Buyer leads end-to-end procurement for assigned indirect categories and the assigned location, from stakeholder requirements and supplier selection through requests for proposal, negotiation, contracting, and purchase-to-pay execution. The role serves as a trusted procurement adviser and primary point of contact for site leaders on escalations, audits, capital projects, and procurement matters not covered by a specific category. It ensures procurement activity is compliant, commercially sound, and directed to the appropriate buyer. Through market intelligence, supplier management, process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration, the Senior Buyer protects business continuity, mitigates risk, improves procurement performance, and delivers sustainable long-term value. The position provides guidance, coordination, coaching, and administrative support to site-based Indirect Buyers, while each buyer remains accountable for assigned categories, commercial outcomes, operational excellence, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Requirements

Minimum bachelor's degree, preferably in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field.
At least 7 years of work experience.
At least 3 years of administrative leadership or team coordination experience.
Experience in procurement negotiations, requests for proposal, strategy implementation, contract management, and supplier management, including work with senior stakeholders, executive management, and board members.
Strong analytical, financial modelling, market research, business acumen, workload management, prioritisation, and problem-solving skills.
Fluent English.
Proficiency in Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Experience with ERP systems, including SAP.

Nice To Haves

German language skills.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end sourcing for the assigned location, including stakeholder alignment, requests for proposal, cost analysis, negotiation, supplier selection and award, contracting, risk management, and sustained delivery of cost and business value.
Execute competitive sourcing and buying activity in line with defined category strategies, company policies, ethical standards, and relevant regulations.
Manage supplier selection, onboarding, relationships, performance, quality, compliance, and risk; conduct regular business reviews and resolve supply, delivery, and service issues in a timely manner.
Ensure contracts use approved legal language and appropriate commercial terms, and collaborate with Legal and business stakeholders to finalise agreements.
Use SAP S/4HANA and other systems to manage orders, resolve issues, and support purchase-to-pay execution.
Ensure procurement activity is compliant, auditable, and aligned with internal procurement rules.
Clarify internal customer needs and translate requirements, timelines, and constraints into supplier-ready requests, working across Operations, Quality, Finance, HR, Logistics, IT, Legal, EHS, RD&A, Projects, Maintenance, Laboratory, and Distribution.
Coordinate demand, strategy execution, framework agreement use, and preferred supplier adoption across the site, while providing responsive procurement support for site needs.
Represent Procurement as the key contact for senior leadership across the remit in audits, escalations, organisational forums, and cross-functional governance meetings.
Provide daily coaching, problem-solving support, and guidance to the local indirect procurement team on purchasing activities.