Senior Buyer

Senior Buyer

Senior Buyer

The Senior Buyer leads strategic sourcing, supplier management, commercial negotiations, and contract administration for assigned direct and indirect spend categories within an automotive manufacturing environment. This role develops sourcing strategies aligned with business objectives, ensures continuity of supply, drives improvements in cost, quality, delivery, and compliance, and partners closely with Operations, Engineering, Maintenance, Quality, Finance, and Corporate Purchasing. The Senior Buyer also mentors procurement team members and promotes effective use of SAP and SAP Ariba.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead sourcing activities for direct and indirect materials, services, MRO, capital equipment, tooling, construction, and other assigned categories.

• Develop and execute sourcing strategies using spend analysis, market intelligence, supplier capabilities, risk assessment, and total cost of ownership.

• Manage RFIs, RFQs, supplier evaluations, and competitive sourcing events, ensuring proper approvals and documentation.

• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, contracts, lead times, freight, warranties, service levels, and other commercial terms.

• Administer contracts, long-term agreements, statements of work, leases, and confidentiality agreements in collaboration with Legal and Finance.

• Manage supplier performance through scorecards, business reviews, corrective actions, and risk mitigation.

• Support new product launches, engineering changes, and supplier readiness activities.

• Drive cost reduction and value improvement initiatives through sourcing optimization, resourcing, and process improvements.

• Analyze and respond to supplier cost increase requests using market data and cost-driver analysis.

• Maintain accurate procurement records, pricing, contracts, and approvals within SAP and SAP Ariba.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to standardize specifications, consolidate spend, and implement sourcing strategies.

• Mentor Buyers and Assistant Buyers on sourcing practices, negotiations, procurement controls, and system usage.

• Lead resolution of escalated supplier issues and support cross-functional business initiatives.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Performance Measures

• Achieve cost savings, cost avoidance, and total-cost improvement targets.

• Improve supplier quality, delivery performance, responsiveness, and corrective action closure.

• Increase competitive sourcing, contract coverage, and approved supplier utilization.

• Protect supply continuity through supplier risk management and mitigation planning.

• Maintain procurement compliance, data accuracy, and audit-ready records.

• Support working capital objectives through improved payment terms, inventory management, and lead-time reduction.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Finance, or related field required; advanced degree or professional certification preferred.

• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in purchasing, strategic sourcing, supplier management, or supply chain, preferably in automotive or industrial manufacturing.

• Demonstrated success in supplier negotiations, contract management, cost analysis, and cross-functional project leadership.

• Experience with ERP and e-procurement systems required; SAP and SAP Ariba preferred.

• Experience sourcing both direct and indirect materials, supporting product launches, and managing capital or technical service purchases preferred.