OR1 Senior Operational Buyer Planner
About The Position
The OR1 Senior Operational Buyer-Planner is a senior member of the OR1 Purchasing team within KARL STORZ North America Supply Chain Operations. The role independently manages assigned suppliers, materials, and purchasing activities supporting OR1 production, product deployment, service, and installation requirements across North America. It combines operational purchasing, material planning, supplier performance management, commercial analysis, and supply-risk mitigation to ensure continuity of supply while optimizing inventory, quality, delivery, and total landed cost. The role works cross-functionally with Production, Quality, Engineering, Purchasing, Logistics, Finance, Accounts Payable, Product Management, Field Service, and global procurement partners. It anticipates constraints, resolves complex supply challenges, and provides functional guidance to less-experienced buyers. Travel is up to 10%.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related discipline; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
- 5+ years of progressive experience in operational purchasing, buyer/planner, material planning, supply planning, or a comparable role within a manufacturing or service-parts environment.
- Strong SAP or comparable ERP/MRP experience, including purchase orders, supplier confirmations, inventory analysis, and material planning.
Responsibilities
- Independently manage the end-to-end purchase order cycle for assigned suppliers and materials, including requisition review, order placement, acknowledgements, pricing, delivery dates, changes, and closure in SAP.
- Own short- and long-term material planning, including demand and supply analysis, forecasting, lead times, safety stock, lot sizes, inventory parameters, and days of inventory on hand.
- Analyze shortages, backorders, past-due purchase orders, supplier confirmations, inventory turns, and excess and obsolete inventory exposure, and proactively address risks before operations are impacted.
- Lead expediting and de-expediting efforts based on demand, inventory position, project priorities, and supplier capacity.
- Support EOL/EOS, engineering changes, and last-time-buy activities by evaluating demand, inventory, open orders, lead times, risk, and financial exposure.
- Partner with Field Service to ensure timely procurement and availability of service parts, consumables, and equipment.
- Serve as a senior operational point of contact for assigned suppliers, resolving delivery, capacity, quality, invoice, and commercial issues.
- Evaluate supplier performance across delivery, quality, responsiveness, lead time, cost, and service, and drive measurable improvement plans.
- Lead or support RFQs/RFIs, bid comparisons, price analysis, supplier negotiations, and cost-reduction initiatives.
- Drive improvements in cost, payment terms, freight, lead times, and total landed cost while maintaining supply continuity and quality.
- Lead supplier onboarding and ongoing supplier management activities.
- Collaborate with Project Buyers and Strategic Buyers to ensure effective handoffs of new or changed materials and sourcing decisions into operational purchasing.
- Generate and communicate purchasing and planning reports covering backorders, supply risks, inventory, purchase orders, supplier performance, and inventory turns.
- Lead or participate in continuous improvement initiatives focused on planning accuracy, inventory health, supplier collaboration, data quality, and process efficiency.
- Mentor and support Buyers and Associate Buyers as a subject-matter resource without direct supervisory responsibility.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
