Associate - Strategic Sourcing and Cost management

Key Responsibilities

• Understand, establish, and issue Requests for Proposal (RFP) and Requests for Quote (RFQ) for Auxiliary and Balance of Plant (BOP) procurements
• Evaluate and select suppliers to develop a qualified supplier base
• Review and evaluate monthly global sourcing data to make decisions that support company direction and growth
• Negotiate contracts within budgetary limitations and scope of authority
• Manage contracts to verify vendor compliance to contract requirements
• Discuss defective or unacceptable goods or services with inspection or quality control personnel, users, vendors, and others to determine source of trouble and take corrective action
• Perform performance reviews of suppliers for quality, delivery, and reliability
• Establish long-term agreements with suppliers
• Support major procurement activities including procurement of capital equipment and new projects
• Solve BOP and procurement issues as they arise
• Maintain procurement records such as items or services purchased, costs, delivery, product quality, or performance
• Provide support to upper management in effort to meet corporate goals, objectives, and projects

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Comply with all safety policies, practices, and procedures, reporting unsafe activities to Management and/or Human Resources
• Participate in proactive team efforts and leadership to achieve departmental, company, and individual goals and objectives
• Contribute to building a positive team spirit
• Communicate effectively with subordinates and management at all levels
• Protect confidential information by not communicating, disclosing to, or using for benefit of third parties
• Maintain the highest degree of honesty and integrity at all times

Knowledge, Skills & Education

• Must be currently enrolled in a Bachelor's degree (B.S.) at a four-year college or university and have interest in learning or experience with supply chain, buying, selling, contracts, cost reductions, or budgets
• Bilingual Spanish/English a plus but not required
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, engineering drawings, engineering specifications for material, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume
• Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists
• Basic personal computer skills including electronic mail, word processing, spreadsheet, and basic database
• Experience with MS Office Outlook, Word, Excel (Pivot tables, VLOOKUP, etc.), PowerPoint
• Ability to effectively communicate job tasks, goals, and projects to global sourcing staff as well as manage and delegate when necessary