A senior purchasing manager oversees a company’s procurement process, establishing policies and procedures for purchasing goods and services from authorized vendors. They are responsible for identifying the company’s purchasing needs, developing sources of supply, negotiating contracts, and evaluating supplier performance.
A senior purchasing manager oversees a company’s purchasing process. It defines the policies and procedures by which employees may purchase goods and services from authorized vendors. As a senior manager, he is responsible for the smooth running of the company’s procurement of the goods and services it needs to operate, including process planning, bidding, awarding, and contract evaluation.
Purchasing is the formalization of an organization’s purchasing process. Rather than allowing staff to purchase from multiple sources at their discretion, the company creates a pool of authorized vendors from which staff can purchase. This allows the company to negotiate the best prices, establish a consistent level of quality and avoid conflicts of interest. In addition, purchases streamline purchases, as authorized suppliers are placed in the company’s database and centrally managed.
The company’s purchasing or purchasing department is usually led by a senior purchasing manager who oversees a team of agents or purchasing managers. This senior manager is responsible for establishing the company’s purchasing policies and procedures, which are often codified in a company handbook. He must keep abreast of best practices in the field of procurement and implement these standards in the company’s procurement system. The senior purchasing manager also handles training the purchasing department staff and educating the regular staff in proper purchasing procedure.
Functionally, the senior purchasing manager and his team are responsible for developing sources of supply in response to business needs. He should establish a system to identify the company’s purchasing needs on an ongoing basis and then search for suppliers who can meet those needs. The process of identifying new purchasing sources continues even after a supplier has been selected. There is also the possibility that a new supplier will offer a better price or better quality merchandise so that the senior purchasing manager remains familiar with the most current options.
Senior Purchasing Managers also oversee the entire purchasing workflow. This includes purchasing planning, making details of the company’s purchasing needs available to suppliers for bidding and awarding contracts. The senior manager will likely be personally involved in negotiations to solidify the terms of the contract, ensuring that the company receives the best possible price.
On the backend, senior-level purchasing managers tend to be involved with evaluating suppliers after contract award. The senior purchasing manager ensures that approved suppliers meet the cost provisions, delivery schedule and quality standards specified in the contract. He monitors staff satisfaction with approved vendors and develops a rating system so that there is a quantitative mechanism to assess performance when a vendor’s contract is renewed.
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