Procurement Specialist
Procurement specialists concentrate on finding goods or services at an appropriate price that meet the needs of the business. They will prepare proposals, negotiate purchase conditions and manage the approval process of accepting a purchase into the business. Procurement specialists will work closely with manufacturing operations to ensure that they have enough raw materials for production.
Future Job Market
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Fair
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Good
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Excellent
Typical Employers:
A wide variety of agricultural companies employ procurement specialists to purchase ingredients and supplies, including seed and chemical companies, food production companies, animal production companies and grain marketing firms.
Suggested Professional Organizations and Associations:
- American Purchasing Society
- The Institution for Public Procurement
- Association of Certified Procurement and Operations Professionals
- Institute for Supply Management
- State and local associations for procurement professionals
Salary:
$71,000?
SAE Connections:
What Responsibilities Will I Have?
- Work across business units to plan and prioritize purchasing activities
- Review planned orders, create official orders and manage the approval process
- Communicate and prioritize approved purchase orders to the chosen supplier
- Develop strong relationships with suppliers
- Track orders throughout the supply chain
- Prepare and communicate shortage and back-order reports to the organization
- Ensure the manufacturing operations are notified of potential shortages
- Track orders and confirm delivery dates and costs
- Review, update and maintain purchase orders
- Ensure orders adhere to supplier agreements and contracts
- Negotiate contracts, agreements and pricing with suppliers
- Handle occurrences when contracts or agreements are not kept
- Lead finance and logistics staff when raw materials are not up to quality standards
- Identify new business opportunities
- Analyze industry and demand trends
- Build strong relationships with suppliers
Recommended High School Courses:
- agricultural education
- business
- personal finance
- plant science
- animal science
- computer skills
- statistics
- mathematics
Education/Training Required:
A bachelor’s degree in agricultural business, agricultural economics, engineering, business administration, supply chain management or a related field can get you an entry-level procurement job. It is also recommended that you obtain a Certified Procurement Professional (CPP) certification.
