Associate buyer Jobs in Virginia Beach, VA

About Us

As a family-owned company, it’s the people who continue to make STIHL a successful, world-class brand. Since revolutionizing the forestry industry in Germany with the first electric chainsaw in 1926, the STIHL name has remained synonymous with outstanding innovations, high-quality products and comprehensive service.

We are seeking a Lead Buyer – Strategic Sourcing to join our growing Indirect Purchasing Team. With competitive compensation, excellent benefits and exciting growth potential, it is a great time to join the STIHL team!

Why You’ll Love Working at STIHL:

• Competitive pay with multiple bonus opportunities and potential for annual merit increases
• Excellent health benefits including Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
• Onsite Health & Wellness Center for employees and eligible family members
• Company-paid Life Insurance and Short & Long-Term Disability
• Robust retirement offerings including:
• A fully vested Pension Plan after 5 years
• A 401(k) with generous employer match
• Paid time off including 11 Paid Holidays
• A strong culture of stability, community, and innovation

About You

You will be responsible for coordinating activities involved in the procurement of goods and services required for production and operations according to established policies and procedures across North America. In addition to providing procurement project support working with company stakeholders and suppliers you would be involved in analyzing supplier performance, total cost of ownership and driving continuity in the supply chain. Your outstanding negotiation skills will be utilized to create value on key metrics such as lead-time, total cost of ownership, quality, cost reduction and supplier contract compliance.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Responsible for coordinating the procurement of multiple, moderately complex commodities to support production and operations.
• Reviews and analyzes procurement requirements and places orders accordingly, using appropriate systems
• Analyzes the market for assigned commodities, tracks price indexes, and forecasts future supplier market trends, and mitigates risks
• Researches and develops competent suppliers of high quality products and services by preparing bids, proposals, or other informational requests that contain specifications and deliverables
• Must be comfortable negotiating, redlining, and managing contracts across assigned commodities.
• Monitors and analyzes potential and current suppliers for financial and performance risks
• Leads quarterly business reviews with key suppliers to track and monitor performance metrics
• Leads cross functional sourcing teams for RFIs, RFPs, and RFQs coordinating the efforts end to end from requirements/performance definition to final supplier selection
• Is a champion in the organization for Purchasing policies and procedures, guiding internal customers, stakeholders, and suppliers
• Executes commercial evaluation of proposals and conducts negotiations of contracts that include price, scope, schedule, and other commercial terms and conditions
• Drives strong relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers acting as a resource and main point of contact
• Contribute to the technical review and clarifications with supplier and provide innovative solutions to solve highly complex supply/supplier problems.
• Works with suppliers to resolve product or service delivery problems
• Perform comprehensive analyses of the supplier’s financial stability, technical competence, capacity and manufacturing/performance capability.
• Is able to demonstrate consistent cost savings results and meet company targets.
• Proactively performs supplier management activities through business reviews, supplier visits, and ongoing risk assessments.
• Acts as the voice of the customer and able to clearly communicate the company’s needs and demands to the suppliers.
• Visits supplier locations as needed to negotiate prices, review and analyze operations, and check quality, evaluating short-term and long-term ability of suppliers to meet STIHL expectations.
• Maintains records and documentation pertaining to past activities, order specifications, supplier specifications and performance histories, etc. and provides information to management as needed.
• Performs continued supplier market analysis to determine trends, risks, and opportunities and develops a strategy to develop new or existing suppliers and drive costs out of the supply chain.
• Cooperates with the STIHL Purchasing Group worldwide by sharing pertinent data and cost analyses as required, in order to establish optimal global supply chain management and commodity strategies.
• Attends training classes, special technical and administration courses, seminars, exhibits and trade shows as needed in order to maintain currency with respect to technical and professional skills.
• Continues to drive innovative process improvements and efficiencies within the purchasing role and as it pertains to the commodities purchased.
• Works with senior commodity buyers or supervisor for more advanced/complex topics

Specifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Procurement, Business, or other relevant area a plus
• 4 years of related experience
• Strong knowledge of commercial terms and conditions and structuring contracts and payment/cancellation schedules to company best interests.
• Highly refined negotiating skills. Documented track record of successfully negotiating complex, high dollar contracts for products or services.
• Demonstrated track record of being proactive, self-motivated, willing to go the extra mile.
• Planning, organizing and analyzing data to build recommendations on sourcing strategies with implications for vendor selection, contract terms and negotiating position.
• Ability to perform within an international industry and global purchasing network.
• Advanced leadership and teamwork skills.
• Strong communication and presentation skills at all organizational levels.
• Proficient at all MS Office applications
• Experience with SAP and Ariba preferred