What are the responsibilities and job description for the Category Buyer position at Kettle Cuisine?
Job Summary
Responsible for the procurement of raw materials, communication with vendors, and ensuring quality standards of raw materials. This position has the authority to act as a purchasing agent for the Company.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITES
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a Category Buyer encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
Physical Demands/Efforts
Responsible for the procurement of raw materials, communication with vendors, and ensuring quality standards of raw materials. This position has the authority to act as a purchasing agent for the Company.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITES
- Plan and execute raw material requirements for internal customers through ERP System.
- Reorder raw materials within lead time specifications as needed, enter purchase order with detail to quantity and cost, communicate purchase order to vendor, and confirm/update pricing as needed.
- Adherence to inventory levels based on usage, forecast, minimum and maximum inventory ranges.
- Monitor daily raw material orders/logistics to ensure on-time deliveries and efficient production.
- Contact vendors when orders do not meet our standards (Ex: out of spec, not on time, incorrect quantity)
- Maintain product reorder data including lead time, minimum order quantity, minimum and maximum inventory levels, primary and secondary vendor.
- Maintain Vendor Database with contact and ordering info for customer service and sales representatives.
- Negotiate with vendors for competitive pricing and review new products.
- Qualify new suppliers as business needs change for the organization.
- Develop and implement cost reduction programs.
- New Vendor and Product setup (price quotation and negation, raw material specs, data setup).
- Invoice approval and reconciliation by researching supplier information, invoice approval software, and ERP data.
- Maintain pricing information for the purpose of tracking and placing contracts.
- Attend weekly KPI meetings and action initiatives to improve quality, reduce cost and reduce inventory.
- Use internal Supplier Evaluation Program to monitor supplier performance.
- Assist Operations Team (Receiving/Warehouse/Production/Planning/Transport) with raw material issues, delivery and pickup times, and ensure customers and supplier are aligned.
- Work with QA to action expiring inventory, manage raw material rejections and returns, and other issues as needed.
- Due to 24-hour delivery schedules, after hours and weekend communication may be required when issues arise.
- Project Management – Develops Plans; Coordinates projects; Communicates changes and progress; Completes projects on time and budget.
- May preform other duties as required.
- Works with little supervision and work is not reviewed. Exercises discretion within areas of responsibility.
- Advises others within the organization on matters within area of expertise.
- Receive customer questions and responds within prescribed areas of knowledge.
- Position is directly responsible for generating revenue within product line or territory.
- Ineffective actions could result in significant loss of time, resources and/or could have moderate impact on the organization’s public image. Decisions or actions have a significant impact on the organization. Errors are difficult to detect and may be difficult and/or costly to correct. Decisions may have a significant impact on resources and organizational effectiveness; funding, productivity, service, quality, security of assets or external relationships may be adversely affected.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Requires one - three years of experience
- On-the-job training of 0-3 months.
- Must be proficient with MS Office programs, specifically Excel and Outlook.
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a Category Buyer encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
Physical Demands/Efforts
- Work requires little or no physical effort.
- Work performed by this position requires a siginficant level of mental concentration to manage multiple complex tasks.
- Work requires frequent visual effort for extended periods of time.
- Employee typically works in a normal office environment free from noise and hazards with occasional exposure to heat and cold.
- This position has limited exposure to hazards that require the exercise of caution with the little likelihood of injury.
- Less than 10% travel is required for this position. Travel may be out-of-state and occasionally require overnight stays.
- Demonstrated excellence in driving consistently strong profitable sales growth
- Experience working with Procurement/Supply Chain Planning
- Strong written, verbal communication and presentation skills
- Financial and business acumen
- Knowledge in chilled/refrigerated manufacturing industry
- Ability to communicate effectively with suppliers and internal customers
- Strong negotiation skills, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving ability
- Working knowledge of Purchase to Pay business process
- Strong understanding of ERP Systems
- Build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- Ability to read and interpret raw material specifications and supplier documents
- Work independently in a face-paced environment
- Self-starter able to conceptualize and drive initiatives forward
- Positive attitude and motivated by contributing to the overall success of the team
- Obsessive attention to detail, well organized and able to juggle many projects at once
- Passionate about food
- Willing to address difficult situations head on with patience and respect