Job Title: Buyer / Purchasing Specialist Position Summary The Buyer / Purchasing Specialist is responsible for procuring materials, components, supplies, and services needed to support production and internal operations. This role ensures materials are available in the right quantity, at the required quality level, and when needed, while managing inventory investment, supplier performance, and total cost. The Buyer / Purchasing Specialist works closely with Production, Planning, Engineering, Quality, to maintain continuity of supply and support company goals related to quality, delivery, cost, and customer service. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Other duties may be assigned. • Review work orders to determine procurement needs including the following-inventory levels, open purchase orders, production schedules, forecasts, and lead time to determine purchasing needs. • Issue purchase orders and ensure that pricing, quantities, delivery dates, specifications, and terms are accurate and aligned with company requirements. • Monitor open purchase orders, confirm supplier acknowledgments, expedite critical materials, and resolve late or incomplete deliveries. • Maintain appropriate inventory levels by balancing material availability, production requirements, lead times, storage capacity, and inventory value. • Communicate material availability, supply risks, delivery commitments, and recovery plans to Production, Planning, and management. • Work with suppliers to improve on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness, pricing, and overall performance. • Obtain and evaluate supplier quotations; support sourcing decisions based on cost, quality, lead time, capacity, risk, and service. • Communicate, negotiate and build relationships with outsourced contractors for fabricated and machine modifications. • Assist with identifying, qualifying, and maintaining approved suppliers in accordance with company quality and purchasing requirements. • Coordinate with Quality, Engineering, and suppliers to address nonconforming, damaged, incorrect, or otherwise discrepant material. • Ensure accurate and timely purchasing, receiving, and inventory-related transactions in the company’s ERP system. • Review and reconcile purchase-order discrepancies, invoice variances, receiving issues, and supplier documentation as needed. • Participate in inventory reviews, cycle counts, excess-and-obsolete inventory reduction efforts, and material disposition activities. • Maintain purchasing records, updating lead times in ERP system to ensure accurate lead times. • Communication, neg • Follow company policies, ethical purchasing standards, quality-system requirements, and applicable regulatory or customer requirements. • Additional Responsibilities • Recommend improvements to purchasing processes, inventory practices, supplier management, and production-material flow. • Identify potential supply-chain risks, including long lead times, single-source dependencies, capacity constraints, quality concerns, and pricing volatility. • Support supplier corrective-action activities and follow-up when supplier performance does not meet established requirements. • Collaborate with internal stakeholders to resolve schedule conflicts, shortages, material substitutions, and production-priority changes. • Maintain confidentiality of pricing, supplier agreements, product information, and other sensitive business information. Education and/ or Experience • BA/BS degree in related major or equivalent work experience desirable. • Knowledge of, or experience in inventory management practices • Must be fluent in a Microsoft Office environment, advanced skills in Excel highly desired. • Experience with ERP systems Supervisory Responsibilities This position has no direct supervisory responsibility. Qualifications To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made