Purchasing Associate
Charleston, SC 29492
$60K--$65K +benefits
Direct Hire , Full-time role

Duties

· Process orders and coordinate shipments from external warehouses.
· Communicate lead times, delivery schedules, and shipping requirements with vendors to ensure timely delivery.
· Develop and maintain effective working relationships with suppliers and internal departments.
· Negotiate pricing and purchasing terms when appropriate.
· Monitor supplier performance and implement corrective actions to improve on-time delivery.
· Maintain appropriate minimum and maximum inventory levels for consumable supplies.
· Process vendor invoices and resolve discrepancies between purchase orders, receipts, and invoices.
· Maintain accurate purchasing master data in SAP, including vendor information, pricing, and purchasing records.
· Process Material Requirements Planning (MRP) activities within SAP for raw materials, intermediates, finished goods, recertification, and batch traceability.
· Prepare KPI reports, identify daily performance deviations, determine root causes, and communicate findings to the Supply Chain Manager.
· Assist with inventory optimization by reducing inventory days on hand, minimizing expired materials, improving on-time delivery performance, and supporting daily material requirements.
· Utilize SAP and other company systems to support purchasing activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of two (2) years of purchasing or procurement experience required; manufacturing environment preferred.
• Strong understanding of purchasing processes, supplier management, inventory control, and procurement best practices.
• Ability to negotiate pricing, evaluate suppliers, and manage purchase orders effectively.
• Experience using SAP ERP software preferred.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, Outlook, and Word