Strategic Buyer

Position Summary

The Buyer is responsible for managing a designated group of supplier accounts based on product type or commodity and supporting the Purchasing Department’s organizational and operational objectives.

This role manages key aspects of the supplier relationship and sourcing process, including identifying and evaluating new suppliers, developing and managing sourcing strategies, obtaining and analyzing quotations, negotiating costs and terms, monitoring supplier delivery and quality performance, and supporting new product development and launch activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Research, evaluate, audit, and recommend new suppliers based on their ability to provide products or services that are strategically aligned with the current and future needs of Viking Corporation.
• Request, obtain, and analyze quotations from qualified suppliers to ensure product design and sourcing requirements are met.
• Coordinate with Viking’s Research & Development and Quality departments to ensure suppliers meet required product design and quality standards.
• Negotiate supplier costs, terms, and other commercial conditions to support overall cost targets.
• Manage and monitor supplier on-time delivery performance.
• Implement necessary corrective actions to address supplier performance issues.
• Manage total landed cost for assigned product types or commodities, including raw material costs, supplier processing costs, inventory costs, freight costs, and other applicable expenses.
• Monitor raw material cost trends and utilize market information to support supplier cost negotiations.
• Partner with suppliers to identify and implement Kaizen and continuous improvement initiatives that reduce costs and improve efficiency. Examples may include establishing consignment inventory programs, developing Kanban programs, and utilizing blanket orders with multiple releases to improve inventory turns.

Job Qualifications | Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management plus a minimum of three years of purchasing/buying experience in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, or equivalent.
• Ability to travel up to 25% for supplier evaluations and audits.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to build strong working relationships with suppliers and internal departments.
• Ability to work independently and successfully complete projects to achieve established goals.
• Ability to lead internal teams in implementing changes and initiatives to reduce costs.
• Strong negotiation skills.
• Experience using an MRP system preferred.
• Experience purchasing brass castings, ductile iron castings, screw-machined parts, and/or steel stampings preferred.