IT Sourcing Buyer

at  First Quality

First Quality was founded in 1989 and has grown to be a global privately held company with over 4,000 employees. Its corporate offices are located in Great Neck, New York, with manufacturing facilities and offices in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia, and Canada. First Quality is a diversified family of companies manufacturing consumer products ranging from Absorbent Hygiene (adult incontinence, feminine care, and baby care), Tissue (bath and towel), and Industrial (print and packaging materials), serving institutional and retail markets throughout the world. First Quality focuses on private label and branded product lines.
We are seeking an IT Sourcing Buyer for our First Quality Enterprises working remotely. This position will be responsible for helping drive the transformation of the procurement efforts to achieve cost-effective and process-efficient best practices. This position will assist the IT Sourcing Manager with departmental functions related to contract management and renewals, price negotiation, procurement processes, savings tracking and vendor relations.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Facilitate the IT supplier management, contract negotiation, purchase order management, and invoicing
• Initiate and develop relationships with internal stakeholders and external supplier contacts
• Partner with our legal team and business owners to ensure contracts meet both business and legal requirements
• Develop negotiation strategies for pending and renewable contracts with guidance from the IT Sourcing Manager
• Communicate with internal stakeholders, information technology, legal, purchasing, and suppliers
• Investigate and evaluate new sources of supply for IT purchases, as needed
• Maintain a comprehensive database of IT contracts
• Provide subject matter expertise and guidance on the procurement processes for IT contracting and orders
• Proactively monitor contracts and orders, and identify and communicate issues or potential risks
• Perform administrative tasks necessary to support the purchase request and contracting processes
• A successful candidate will be well organized, an extraordinary communicator, have an eye for detail, and be a good team player
• Work in partnership with IT, finance, and accounts payable on any outstanding invoices or any purchasing, inventory, or invoice errors
• Manage the vendor add process
• Participate in processing procurement requests in a timely manner
• Performs other duties, as assigned, and follows through on requests in a timely manner

The ideal candidate should possess the following:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related discipline
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in procurement or related field, preferably in an IT enterprise environment
• Direct experience in IT procurement
• Direct experience in contract management and/or contract compliance, particularly in IT
• Direct experience in the requisition, purchase order, and invoice processes, particularly in IT
• Experience with SAP required
• Experience focusing on software, SaaS, consulting services, and/or hardware procurement, preferred
• Experience in an IT Enterprise environment, preferred
• Background in accounting or finance or legal, preferred
• Certification in purchasing and supply chain, a plus
• Intermediate to advanced skills in Microsoft Office
• Effective communication skills, verbal and written, including the ability to present comfortably to management
• Strong work ethic and elevated level of integrity
• Ability to effectively plan and manage multiple projects, tasks, and initiatives simultaneously
• Proficient at building and maintaining relationships
• High level of organizational skills and be detail oriented
• Problem solving skills

First Quality is committed to protecting information under the care of First Quality Enterprises commensurate with leading industry standards and applicable regulations. As such, First Quality provides at least annual training regarding data privacy and security to employees who, as a result of their role specifications, may come in to contact with sensitive data.
First Quality is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identification, or protected Veteran status

• Facilitate the IT supplier management, contract negotiation, purchase order management, and invoicing
• Initiate and develop relationships with internal stakeholders and external supplier contacts
• Partner with our legal team and business owners to ensure contracts meet both business and legal requirements
• Develop negotiation strategies for pending and renewable contracts with guidance from the IT Sourcing Manager
• Communicate with internal stakeholders, information technology, legal, purchasing, and suppliers
• Investigate and evaluate new sources of supply for IT purchases, as needed
• Maintain a comprehensive database of IT contracts
• Provide subject matter expertise and guidance on the procurement processes for IT contracting and orders
• Proactively monitor contracts and orders, and identify and communicate issues or potential risks
• Perform administrative tasks necessary to support the purchase request and contracting processes
• A successful candidate will be well organized, an extraordinary communicator, have an eye for detail, and be a good team player
• Work in partnership with IT, finance, and accounts payable on any outstanding invoices or any purchasing, inventory, or invoice errors
• Manage the vendor add process
• Participate in processing procurement requests in a timely manner
• Performs other duties, as assigned, and follows through on requests in a timely manne