Description
Summary:
Under the authority of the Procurement Manager, the Senior Buyer provides support throughout the various ministries to assist Associates with supply and equipment orders needed to maintain patient care, facility maintenance, and administrative duties. The Senior Buyer actively researches and resolves problematic purchase orders, obtaining substitute product details when applicable. The Senior Buyer will maintain daily reports, as well as actively participate in process improvement opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• Meets expectations of the applicable OneCHRISTUS Competencies: Leader of Self, Leader of Others, or Leader of Leaders.
• Responsible for the creation and communication of end of day productivity reporting to Managers.
• Responsible for the processing of purchase requests for assigned region. Ensures requests are processed timely and all problematic lines are researched, data corrected, orders confirmed by vendor. Utilize unreleased report as a resource to ensure orders from previous day are processed and in released status.
• Process special type POs according to CHRISTUS policies and standardization processes.
• Takes corrective steps where requisitions are created improperly, or order failed to transmit to vendor as expected.
• Management of STAT related requests, manually processing to ensure delivered overnight as requested, follow-up on STAT orders to obtain tracking information and communicate any delays to facility/requester prior to expected delivery.
• Manage extended delivery delays by second sourcing, engage with vendor representative for substitute, obtain facility approval before processing substitute. Escalate unresolved issues to Clinical if subs or second sourcing options are unavailable or unacceptable. Utilization of HealthTrust as a resource to ensure substitute options are under contract.
• Prevent aging unconfirmed orders; follow-up on orders with no reference number noted within purchase order; work strategically between emailed confirmations and GHX to ensure orders are processed and confirmed. Contact vendors direct to confirm non-EDI orders were received within 48 hours. Escalate unresponsive vendors to Specialist/Manager/System Director – must utilize email/phone/rep contacts effectively.
• Monitoring of regional email boxes, responding/resolving requests from vendors/facilities, responding in a timely manner; ensuring SLAs are met.
• Manages the return on of products, mitigating freight cost and expense.
• Timely management of sub related emails/actions, preventing receiving/invoice discrepancies; documenting all actions as a line comment to include proper notations for MM for subbed items.
• Responsible for the daily review and resolution of GHX exceptions, , to include unit of measure, part number, and rejections, timely modification of PO to ensure accurate receiving and invoice matching
• Utilize Master Data Management (MDM) ticket process to communicate data integrity updates to avoid recurring order/item rejections which delay delivery or interrupt invoice matching.
• Product research for discontinued items utilizing the tools and systems in place per the department guideline.
• Assist in the review and resolution of Weekly Expedite report related issues.
• Manage/respond to vendor reports to facilitate closure of purchase lines as communicated.
• Assists in Annual Human Tissue Certification Process, ensuring documents are on file in accordance with Joint Commission requirements
• Assists in training of new Associates following Training Tracker, ensuring new Associates have the tools needed to be successful.
• Assists in process improvement activities, participating in all team calls, bringing up suggestions to assist in resolution of Procurement related opportunities.

Job Requirements:

EDUCATION/SKILLS

• High School diploma or equivalent preferred

EXPERIENCE

• 4 years of experience in related field required
• Minimum 1 – 2 years of purchasing experience preferred
• Good organizational skills and experience in collaborating with teams toward measured outcomes.

• Meets expectations of the applicable OneCHRISTUS Competencies: Leader of Self, Leader of Others, or Leader of Leaders.
• Responsible for the creation and communication of end of day productivity reporting to Managers.
• Responsible for the processing of purchase requests for assigned region. Ensures requests are processed timely and all problematic lines are researched, data corrected, orders confirmed by vendor. Utilize unreleased report as a resource to ensure orders from previous day are processed and in released status.
• Process special type POs according to CHRISTUS policies and standardization processes.
• Takes corrective steps where requisitions are created improperly, or order failed to transmit to vendor as expected.
• Management of STAT related requests, manually processing to ensure delivered overnight as requested, follow-up on STAT orders to obtain tracking information and communicate any delays to facility/requester prior to expected delivery.
• Manage extended delivery delays by second sourcing, engage with vendor representative for substitute, obtain facility approval before processing substitute. Escalate unresolved issues to Clinical if subs or second sourcing options are unavailable or unacceptable. Utilization of HealthTrust as a resource to ensure substitute options are under contract.
• Prevent aging unconfirmed orders; follow-up on orders with no reference number noted within purchase order; work strategically between emailed confirmations and GHX to ensure orders are processed and confirmed. Contact vendors direct to confirm non-EDI orders were received within 48 hours. Escalate unresponsive vendors to Specialist/Manager/System Director – must utilize email/phone/rep contacts effectively.
• Monitoring of regional email boxes, responding/resolving requests from vendors/facilities, responding in a timely manner; ensuring SLAs are met.
• Manages the return on of products, mitigating freight cost and expense.
• Timely management of sub related emails/actions, preventing receiving/invoice discrepancies; documenting all actions as a line comment to include proper notations for MM for subbed items.
• Responsible for the daily review and resolution of GHX exceptions, , to include unit of measure, part number, and rejections, timely modification of PO to ensure accurate receiving and invoice matching
• Utilize Master Data Management (MDM) ticket process to communicate data integrity updates to avoid recurring order/item rejections which delay delivery or interrupt invoice matching.
• Product research for discontinued items utilizing the tools and systems in place per the department guideline.
• Assist in the review and resolution of Weekly Expedite report related issues.
• Manage/respond to vendor reports to facilitate closure of purchase lines as communicated.
• Assists in Annual Human Tissue Certification Process, ensuring documents are on file in accordance with Joint Commission requirements
• Assists in training of new Associates following Training Tracker, ensuring new Associates have the tools needed to be successful.
• Assists in process improvement activities, participating in all team calls, bringing up suggestions to assist in resolution of Procurement related opportunities