Position Summary
The Senior Buyer at Hernon Manufacturing is responsible for senior-level purchasing execution, supplier follow-through, approved sourcing support, supplier catalog discipline, and procurement data-master accuracy across both the Adhesives/Raw Materials division and the Equipment/Dispensing Systems division. The role supports the full purchase order lifecycle, including request validation, PO creation, supplier acknowledgement, confirmation follow-up, expediting, receiving support, invoice issue resolution, and timely closure of open items.
This position strengthens procurement capacity by maintaining PO discipline, improving supplier commitment visibility, supporting production continuity, reducing avoidable follow-up loops, maintaining accurate SAP/ERP and approved-system data, and helping ensure that item, vendor, category, pricing, lead-time, and supplier catalog information are complete and usable for purchasing decisions.
The Senior Buyer is a senior individual contributor reporting to the Procurement Manager. The role supports the Procurement Manager by identifying procurement risks, escalating issues early, recommending practical improvements, supporting approved digital and AI-enabled process improvements, and helping standardize procurement work so routine requests, PO follow-up activities, sourcing needs, item master/data-master requests, category management activities, supplier catalog maintenance, cross-reference item reviews, and alternative vendor development become cleaner, faster, and easier to measure.
Primary Purpose and Scope
- Sustain the full PO cycle from complete request through PO closure, with strong discipline around due dates, supplier confirmations, late lines, hot parts, documentation, receiving/invoice issues, and unresolved exceptions.
- Support both Hernon business divisions while maintaining visibility of division-specific priorities, open PO aging, project needs, production impact, and customer-impacting material risks.
- Reduce avoidable rework by improving request completeness, quote documentation, cost-center/GL accuracy, approval discipline, supplier commitments, and use of approved forms, dashboards, SAP, Smartsheet, and standard templates.
- Support Procurement Manager-approved priorities related to cost savings, supplier reliability, documentation compliance, lead-time accuracy, supplier risk reduction, reporting, automation, and responsible AI use.
- Support approved new part-number and item master/data-master requests for raw materials, components, consumables, equipment items, and other purchasing needs, ensuring required SAP fields and supporting documentation are complete before creation or update.
- Support category management in SAP and approved systems by helping maintain item categories, commodity groups, supplier/category assignments, preferred vendor data, manufacturer references, UoM, lead times, MOQ, pricing notes, warehouse/division assignments, and purchasing notes.
- Create, maintain, and improve supplier catalogs using approved item codes, supplier part numbers, manufacturer references, pricing, lead times, MOQ, pack size, country of origin, documentation requirements, payment/freight terms, and price-validity information.
- Perform sourcing support for assigned needs, including supplier searches, RFQs, quote comparisons, cross-reference/offset item research, equivalent item discovery, alternative vendor identification, and escalation of quality, regulatory, formula, customer-approval, or supplier-performance risks before supplier or item changes are used.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Purchase Order Lifecycle Execution
- Validate purchase requests for required information, including vendor, item/service description, quantity, UoM, requested date, quote/price, cost center/GL, approval, ship-to, warehouse/division, and quality/documentation needs.
- Create and update accurate POs in SAP or approved workflows with correct vendor, item code, description, pricing, terms, due date, and supporting documentation.
- Track supplier acknowledgements, confirmations, promised dates, late POs, hot parts, service/non-inventory POs, receiving issues, invoice discrepancies, and unresolved exceptions.
- Review assigned open POs and escalated urgent materials with the PO number, item, supplier, needed date, impact, risk level, and recommended action.
- Return or pause incomplete requests when required information or approvals are missing, clearly communicating what is needed to proceed.
- Supplier Follow-Up, Quotes, and Commercial Support
- Build professional supplier relationships while maintaining Hernon standards for price, quality, delivery, responsiveness, documentation, and compliance.
- Request, compare, and document quotes with assumptions, lead times, freight/payment terms, MOQ, price validity, country of origin when required, and supplier commitments.
- Negotiate pricing, freight, lead times, payment terms, volume opportunities, and service expectations within assigned authority; route contracts, blanket agreements, supplier changes, and non-standard terms through the approval matrix.
- Support supplier scorecards, business reviews, catalogs, backup supplier options, and corrective follow-up by preparing facts and recommendations for Procurement Manager review.
- Sourcing, Category Management, Supplier Catalogs, and Item Master Support
- Support approved creation or update of SAP item master/data-master records and new part-number requests for raw materials, components, consumables, services, and equipment-related items as assigned; verify required fields before submission or update.
- Maintain or support SAP item category and commodity data, including item group/category, division/warehouse, preferred vendor, supplier catalog number, manufacturer part/reference number, UoM, MOQ, lead time, pricing notes, country of origin, shelf-life/documentation requirements, and purchasing notes.
- Create and maintain supplier catalogs in SAP or approved systems, linking Hernon item codes to supplier SKUs, manufacturer references, pricing, pack size, MOQ, lead time, freight/payment terms, documentation requirements, and price-validity dates.
- Support category management by grouping items, suppliers, and spend families to identify consolidation opportunities, volume leverage, cost-reduction opportunities, supply risk, cross-reference/offset items, and sourcing priorities.
- Research and document cross-reference, offset, equivalent, and alternative items and vendors; coordinate review with Lab/R&D, Quality, Engineering/Equipment, Production, and the Procurement Manager before any approved item, vendor, formula, or specification change is used.
- Maintain an alternative-source pipeline for critical raw materials and equipment components, including RFQ status, supplier qualification requirements, sample/evaluation status, commercial terms, open risks, and recommended next actions.
- Avoid unauthorized substitutions; escalate customer-approval, ISO, regulatory, shelf-life, traceability, formula, performance, or quality risks before purchasing or recommending use of alternate materials, items, or vendors.
- Inventory, Planning, Forecasting, and MRP Support
- Use MRP, open PO reports, production needs, historical usage, forecast signals, and inventory information to support timely purchasing and reduce stockouts, overstocking, and expedited buying.
- Identify and communicate misalignment in SAP lead time, supplier actual lead time, demand, safety stock, reorder points, pricing, UoM, vendor code, item master data, or supply risk.
- Data, Reporting, Compliance, and Continuous Improvement
- Maintain and support standard procurement reports for open POs, late POs, acknowledgements, vendor performance, quote activity, cost savings, expedite trends, service POs, and project procurement status.
- Monitor procurement master data quality for vendor records, item records, supplier catalogs, item/category assignments, manufacturer references, lead times, MOQ, UoM, pricing, country of origin, warehouse/division, and purchasing notes; recommend corrections through approved workflows.
- Follow Hernon procurement policies, approval matrix requirements, ethical sourcing expectations, ISO-related purchasing controls, supplier qualification processes, and documentation requirements.
- Coordinate collection and accessibility of supplier documents such as W-9s, credit applications, insurance certificates, NDAs, supplier qualification forms, COA/COO requirements, compliance documents, and agreed terms when applicable.
- Support Quality and Receiving on missing COA/COO, shelf-life, traceability, nonconforming materials, damaged goods, short shipments, incorrect items, supplier corrective actions, change notifications, and alternative supplier reviews.
- Use approved AI and digital tools only as allowed; validate all outputs and protect confidential supplier, customer, pricing, formula, employee, and company information.
- Recommend practical process, form, dashboard, data, and workflow improvements to reduce non-value-added work; final approval remains with the Procurement Manager and authorized leadership.
Key Performance Indicators and Expected Outcomes
- PO lifecycle discipline: clean intake, accurate PO creation, documented acknowledgements, current promised dates, and timely closure of open lines.
- Reduced open PO aging, late-line exposure, preventable follow-up loops, duplicate requests, expedite activity, and avoidable rework.
- Support to improved supplier OTD, lead-time accuracy, documentation compliance, quote documentation, supplier response quality, and issue escalation discipline.
- Documented cost savings, cost avoidance, freight savings, payment-term improvements, supplier risk items, and long-term agreement opportunities within approved authority.
- Improved SAP and approved-system data quality for vendor, item, manufacturer reference, pricing, lead time, country of origin, warehouse/division, due date, and purchasing notes.
- Complete and accurate item master/new part-number requests for raw materials, components, consumables, and equipment-related purchasing items, with required category, vendor, UoM, lead-time, MOQ, documentation, and purchasing-note fields captured.
- Improved supplier catalog coverage and accuracy, including supplier part numbers, manufacturer references, pricing validity, lead times, MOQ, pack sizes, and documentation requirements.
- Documented sourcing pipeline for assigned categories, including RFQ status, alternate vendor options, cross-reference/offset items, evaluation status, qualification requirements, and recommended next actions.
Minimum Qualifications
- High school diploma or equivalent required; associate or bachelor degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, Accounting, Engineering Technology, or related field preferred.
- 6+ years of purchasing, procurement, supply chain, production planning, or supplier management experience; manufacturing experience required or strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience managing POs from request through closure, including acknowledgements, supplier follow-up, delivery issues, receiving exceptions, and invoice discrepancies.
- Strong ERP and Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel; SAP Business One experience preferred.
- Working knowledge of purchasing master data, item records, vendor records, supplier catalogs, part-number setup, category assignments, and data accuracy requirements in an ERP environment.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with competing priorities, urgent production needs, supplier delays, and incomplete request information.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with suppliers, internal departments, and leadership.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in chemical, adhesive, equipment, component, direct material, indirect/service, or regulated material procurement.
- Experience with supplier scorecards, RFQ/quote comparison, cost savings documentation, vendor risk, contract tracking, COA/COO, shelf-life, ISO 9001 purchasing controls, Smartsheet, Power BI, dashboards, workflow automation, or approved AI tools.
- Experience with SAP Business One item master maintenance, new item/part-number requests, supplier catalog setup, category management, purchasing data governance, or vendor/item data cleansing preferred.
- Experience researching alternate vendors, equivalent items, cross-reference/offset parts, manufacturer references, and commercial/technical sourcing options preferred.
Core Competencies
Expected Senior Buyer Behavior
Manages intake, PO accuracy, acknowledgements, follow-up, receiving/invoice issues, and open PO closure.
Converts supplier communication into documented commitments, dates, risks, and action items.
Process and Data Discipline
Uses approved systems/templates and maintains clean vendor, item, category, supplier catalog, price, lead-time, due-date, and division data.
Problem Solving and Escalation
Identifies recurring issues, documents facts, recommends countermeasures, and escalates appropriately.
Understands cost, cash flow, freight, terms, inventory, landed cost, and supplier leverage within authority.
Balances urgency with process control while supporting Production, Quality, Lab, Finance, Receiving, and leadership.
Digital Readiness and Authority Discipline
Uses approved tools responsibly and operates as a senior individual contributor without bypassing Procurement Manager direction.
Item Master and Supplier Catalog Discipline
Supports accurate SAP item master, new part-number, supplier catalog, manufacturer reference, category, UoM, MOQ, lead-time, and purchasing-note data.
Sourcing and Category Management
Researches suppliers, cross-reference/offset items, equivalent options, alternative vendors, and category opportunities while respecting quality, formula, customer, and approval controls.
Physical Demands, Other Duties, and Legal Notes
This role is primarily performed in an office and manufacturing support environment. The employee regularly communicates, uses a computer, reviews documents, coordinates with internal teams and suppliers, may occasionally walk through production or receiving areas, and may lift or move up to 25 pounds. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. This job description does not state or imply that these are the only duties to be performed. Duties may be modified as business needs require. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. Hernon is an Equal Opportunity Employer, a drug-free workplace, and complies with ADA regulations as applicable. HR should confirm final FLSA classification and legal language before release.
DISCLAIMER
This job description does not constitute an employment contract and may be modified as business needs evolve. Hernon Manufacturing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
All interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their resumes to:
[email protected]
