Strategic Sourcing Buyer
About The Position
Help shape the future of manufacturing through smarter sourcing, stronger partnerships, and better supply chain solutions. The L.S. Starrett Company is looking for a motivated and analytical Strategic Sourcing Buyer to join our team in Athol, Massachusetts. This is an opportunity to play an important role in how we source materials, manage supplier relationships, support production, reduce costs, and protect the continuity of our operations. You will have the opportunity to influence sourcing decisions, lead negotiations, develop suppliers, and present recommendations directly to company leadership. As our Strategic Sourcing Buyer, you will own sourcing activities for assigned commodities and supplier categories. You will work closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Finance to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions that support quality, delivery, cost, and long-term business goals.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
- Five or more years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, purchasing, or supply chain within a manufacturing environment.
- Experience sourcing raw materials, components, and production-related services.
- Experience negotiating supplier agreements and managing supplier relationships.
- Experience using ERP or MRP systems.
- Strong understanding of strategic sourcing, supplier management, and total cost of ownership.
- Advanced analytical and Microsoft Excel skills.
- Ability to create professional reports, dashboards, graphs, and data visualizations.
- Strong negotiation, communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.
- Working knowledge of contracts, Incoterms, supplier cost structures, inventory planning, and domestic and international sourcing.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Epicor, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or a similar ERP system.
- APICS/ASCM, CPSM, CPM, or another relevant supply chain certification.
- Experience supporting new product introductions or supplier transitions.
- Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or similar business intelligence tools.
Responsibilities
- Develop and lead strategic sourcing plans.
- Identify new suppliers and develop strong supplier partnerships.
- Lead RFQs, RFPs, supplier evaluations, negotiations, and contract discussions.
- Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, and service agreements.
- Analyze market conditions, supplier costs, tariffs, freight, inflation, and industry trends.
- Identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve supply chain performance.
- Evaluate and reduce supplier, capacity, financial, logistics, and single-source risks.
- Develop alternate-source, dual-source, recovery, and business-continuity plans.
- Support new product introductions, engineering changes, and supplier transitions.
- Partner with Operations and Planning to maintain material availability and optimize inventory.
- Lead supplier scorecards, business reviews, corrective actions, and improvement plans.
- Issue purchase orders and maintain accurate purchasing and supplier information.
- Track cost savings, cost avoidance, inventory improvements, and other business results.
- Create dashboards and reports that clearly communicate supplier performance and sourcing results.
- Present recommendations and key insights to leadership.
- Support responsible sourcing, supplier compliance, quality requirements, and company purchasing policies.
Benefits
- The decisions made in this position directly affect our ability to deliver quality products, support our employees, serve our customers, and remain competitive.
- You will help us: Strengthen supplier relationships.
- Improve quality and on-time delivery.
- Reduce costs and avoid unnecessary expenses.
- Protect production from supply disruptions.
- Improve inventory and working-capital performance.
- Build a more resilient and sustainable supply chain.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
