Buyer

Buyer The Buyer is not just responsible for purchasing materials they are a strategic partner to Sales, Product Management, and Operations. This role ensures that procurement decisions directly support business growth, customer commitments, and product innovation. We're looking for a best-in-class purchasing professional someone who is disciplined, collaborative, data-driven, and solutions-focused. This Buyer will take ownership of supplier relationships, ensure operational continuity, and act as a bridge between procurement and the rest of the business. This position requires a minimum of seven to ten years experience in a similar role. Key Responsibilities Collaboration & Stakeholder Partnership Collaborate with Sales, Product Management & Supply Chain to ensure material availability for product launches, custom orders, and growth initiatives. Partner with Sales to understand customer commitments and align supplier capacity accordingly. Act as the procurement voice in cross-functional meetings balancing supplier capability, cost, and lead times with business goals. Supplier Management & Sourcing Develop and maintain a world-class supplier network evaluating partners on cost, quality, delivery, responsiveness, and innovation. Assist in negotiating contracts and enforce supplier accountability for price, service, and performance. Proactively identify alternative sources and ensure supply chain resilience. Purchasing Execution Manage the full PO lifecycle in SAP with precision and discipline. Respond to MRP exceptions and production shifts with speed and accuracy. Ensure all purchasing data is clean, accurate, and audit-ready. Inventory & Production Support Monitor inventory health to support both customer service levels and working capital targets. Understand production lines, BOM dependencies, and raw material criticality anticipating and resolving risks before they impact output. Support Operations by preventing stockouts, line-downs, and excess inventory alike. Supplier Performance & Risk Control Develop supplier scorecards with metrics on delivery, quality, responsiveness, and cost competitiveness. Run quarterly business reviews with strategic suppliers. Drive corrective actions (SCAR/8D) and escalate chronic underperformance. Continuous Improvement Lead cost savings and value engineering initiatives that improve margin without compromising quality or service. Standardize processes, shorten purchasing cycle times, and enforce data discipline. Benchmark KINA purchasing practices against industry leaders to ensure we operate as "best in class." Key Competencies & Skills Attention to detail Results-oriented Strong communication skills Exceptional collaboration and relationship management (internal & external) Strong negotiation and supplier management Analytical, data-driven decision-making Clear and persuasive communicator Organizational discipline with strong follow-through Proficiency in SAP (MM module), Excel, and Microsoft Office Suite Resilience under pressure, ability to manage competing priorities Expectations Reasonable knowledge of the production process, i.e. what raw materials are required for what production lines & any intricacies involved Communicate upwards where expectations will not be met Data driven approach to buying, i.e. our actions must match what the data suggests Work with Finance to proactively deal with invoicing variances Thrive on collaboration partnering daily with Sales, Product Management, Finance, and Operations. Understand that procurement is about supporting business growth, not just pushing purchase orders. Are customer-obsessed ensuring suppliers deliver so Sales can keep promises to customers. Are comfortable challenging suppliers and stakeholders when something doesn't add up. Bring initiative and urgency to every task proactively fixing problems, not waiting for direction. Take ownership for supplier accountability, PO accuracy, and clean data Performance Metrics PO Accuracy/Cleanliness: Ensuring all purchase orders are updated regularly, closed out etc Inventory Turnover Ratio: Measures how efficiently purchased goods move through inventory Excess/Obsolete Inventory Value: Cost of unused or outdated materials

Created: 2026-03-04