Purchasing - University Assistant

Position Summary

The University Assistant provides purchasing office support to the Purchasing Office by assisting with vendor records, purchasing documentation, purchase order status inquiries, records retention, purchasing card support, spend research, and general customer service. The position supports the efficient operation of the office by maintaining organized records, tracking routine purchasing activity, preparing reports, and helping departments and vendors obtain procedural information.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Aid in creating, updating, and maintaining vendor profile information, including vendor contact information, tax forms, insurance certificates, diversity documentation, and other required supplier records.
• Review vendor and departmental submissions for completeness and route materials to appropriate Purchasing Office staff for review or action.
• Maintain electronic and physical purchasing files in accordance with university records retention requirements, including scanning, uploading, indexing, naming, organizing, and archiving documents.
• Respond to routine inquiries from departments, vendors, and university stakeholders regarding purchasing procedures, required forms, document status, vendor information, purchase order status, and general office processes.
• Check and communicate routine status information related to requisitions, purchase orders, change orders, vendor setups, contract documents, purchasing card records, and pending requests.
• Monitor shared purchasing inboxes, maintain inquiry logs, track open items, and route policy questions, exceptions, compliance concerns, or procurement decision matters to authorized purchasing staff.
• Aid in researching and compiling spend and category information across university purchasing card activity, purchase orders, vendor records, and related systems.
• Prepare routine reports, spreadsheets, summaries, and tracking documents related to purchasing card activity, vendor usage, recurring purchases, departmental spend, open purchase orders, expiring contracts, and missing documentation.
• Aid in contract and renewal tracking by maintaining logs of expiration dates, insurance certificate dates, amendment status, renewal deadlines, and recurring service or subscription information.
• Prepare draft responses, status updates, and summaries for review by Purchasing Office staff.
• Aid in fiscal year-end preparation, recurring purchase tracking, file cleanup, audit support, and other purchasing office projects as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Aceessory's degree or higher in Business Administration, Accounting, Public Administration, Office Technology, or a related field.
• Two (2) years of administrative, clerical, office support, accounting support, procurement support, records management, customer service, or related experience; or an equivalent combination of college education and experience.
• Experience using Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain accurate records and organize electronic and paper files.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to prioritize multiple assignments, meet deadlines, and maintain confidentiality.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Business Administration, Accounting, Public Administration, Office Technology, or a related field.
• Experience supporting purchasing, procurement, accounts payable, finance, contract administration, records management, or compliance functions.
• Experience working in a college, university, government, or other public-sector environment.
• Experience with Banner, Jaggaer, Core-CT, or other enterprise resource planning software.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including sorting, filtering, basic formulas, and report generation.
• Experience maintaining vendor records, purchasing card documentation, contract files, or audit records.
• Familiarity with customer service practices and responding to inquiries from multiple stakeholders.