Senior Buyer

Senior Buyer & Purchasing Data Analyst

Walter E. Nelson Co. · Portland, OR · Full-time, hybrid

Pay: $65,000–$75,000 per year, depending on experience

About Us

Walter E. Nelson Co. is the largest family-owned janitorial, chemical, and paper distributor in the Pacific Northwest. We supply commercial-grade janitorial, sanitation, and laundry products and equipment, and our packaging division provides everything from point-of-sale materials to large shipping supplies. We're a stable, growing company with a strong regional presence and long-term customer relationships.

The Role

This role combines procurement with purchasing data analysis. You'll manage buying for a portion of our janitorial, chemical, paper, and packaging lines, and you'll own the accuracy of the item, vendor, and pricing data that the rest of the company depends on. You'll report to the Director of Purchasing and work closely with sales, customer service, accounting, marketing, and the warehouse.

Purchasing

• Manage vendor relationships, negotiate pricing and terms, and monitor vendor performance.
• Review inventory levels, forecast demand, and place purchase orders to keep stock balanced across branches.
• Evaluate new products and suppliers, and support cost-saving initiatives.
• Track market trends and vendor price changes to keep costs competitive and supply reliable.
• Mentor other buyers and help improve purchasing processes.

Data & Analysis

• Process vendor price updates in NetSuite: extract item data, match and validate pricing, import changes, and have them live by 8:00 a.m. on the effective date.
• Maintain landed cost templates and vendor load factors so costs are accurate.
• Set up and maintain vendors and item codes, including order minimums, freight terms, classifications, and contacts.
• Find and resolve duplicate or obsolete item codes, including supersedes and inventory moves between codes.
• Maintain location configuration data to support balanced inventory levels.
• Pull and analyze data from NetSuite, Phocas, and legacy systems (DDI, UBS) for reporting, vendor cross-referencing, cost comparisons, and leadership projects.
• Keep item records complete (UPC, dimensions, weight, SDS, hazmat coding, website descriptions and images), working with Marketing on online ordering content.

Qualifications

• 5 years in purchasing or procurement, with at least 2 years in a buyer role, preferably in distribution or manufacturing.
• NetSuite experience required.
• Strong Excel skills (lookups, pivot tables, data cleanup); experience with reporting tools such as Phocas is a plus.
• Experience with forecasting, inventory planning, and vendor negotiation.
• Strong attention to detail and comfort working with large data sets.
• Knowledge of janitorial, sanitation, chemical, paper, or packaging products is a plus.
• Clear communicator who can manage competing priorities.
• Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Work Environment

This is an office-based role working primarily at a computer. The schedule is hybrid: you'll be on-site at our Portland location every week on a rotating schedule with the rest of the purchasing team, with some days remote.