Purchase Specialist ( {{city}})

FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE:

Develops standards and procedures for the assessment of the Postal Service's needs for services, suppliers, and equipment; provides leadership and guidance in the preparation and administration of contracts for supplies, services, and major systems. Conducts negotiations and contract management. Creates new solutions that make significant changes in technologies and processes that improve the competitive advantage in the marketplace.

OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

This position is for the Technical Pay Band.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Develops and performs strategic needs assessments to identify customers' needs for services, supplies, and equipment; determines requirements and defines solicitation criteria for suppliers. Analyzes and recommends distribution channels.

2. Plans, develops and establishes the purchase strategy for major procurements; may serve as lead during contract negotiations.

3. Creates and develops total cost of ownership models for customers, including a life cycle analysis of materials and/or services; determines value and non-value added to the service and/or product; benchmarks and evaluates opportunities to reduce costs and cycle time.

4. Conducts supplier value and cost analysis to address logistics, pricing, leverage, competitive advantage, and other industry factors related to purchase; performs supplier capability assessment, past performance reviews, and other review methods to create and develop supplier performance data.

5. Develops and analyzes customer satisfaction evaluations and gathers supplier performance data to resolve specification problems, determine production capabilities and responsiveness, monitor quality, obtain feedback, and to support decision-making.

6. Performs market and industry trend analysis to expand and improve the supplier base and to determine availability of services, supplies equipment, and producers; researches and evaluates process and technology options available by the magnitude and impact on the competitive advantage.

7. Oversees the evaluation process of supplier proposals; negotiates pricing, technical requirements, terms, and conditions of the contract; obtains audits and pricing reports where needed to develop negotiation strategy.

8. Awards supplier contracts and performs contract management, including supplier performance reviews and customer satisfaction evaluations.

9. Oversees asset recovery programs.

10. Manages projects to include planning, determining resource requirements, developing timelines, risk analysis, monitoring progress, providing technical guidance and feedback.

11. Leads efforts to comply with Postal Service supplier diversity planning and sourcing strategies.

12. Provides technical direction and guidance on purchasing and material logistics activities.

13. May oversee the activities of lower-level employees or teams, when assigned.

EDUCATION/CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT: Applicants must possess one of the following degrees or professional certifications: 1. A baccalaureate or post-graduate degree from an accredited college or university, that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the following fields: supply chain management, accounting, business, finance, law, contracts, purchasing, economics, industrial management, marketing, material management, logistics and inventory control, quantitative methods, or organization and management. 2. Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) qualification or Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). 3. Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM), Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), or Certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM) from the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS). 4. Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM), Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM), or Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM) from the National Contract Management Association (NCMA).