Associate II Purchasing

Where you will work

Our Cypress Bend team is a close-knit group of approximately 275 skilled employees who take pride in what we do. Together, we make paperboard used in products across the United States, including food packaging, plates, cups and more.

Located in the historic Mississippi River Delta, this facility offers a slower pace with plenty of outdoor activities like fishing, hiking, and biking. Many employees commute from nearby towns such as McGehee, Monticello, Dumas, Dermott and Lake Village, which are known for affordable living, strong local pride and family-friendly schools.

The Cypress Bend team also supports local cultural and the arts, with past contributions to the WWII Japanese Internment Museum and SEArk Concert Association.

The Purchasing Associate II position performs site purchasing functions to include PO processing and lifecycle management through Material Requirements Planning (MRP) activities, storeroom inventory management, and reconciling inbound receipts of raw materials & specialty chemicals. This role collaborates closely with other buyers in the department as well as with maintenance and operations to ensure parts, materials, chemicals, services are available to help sustain mill operations.

This requires effective cross functional communication for planning and problem resolution.

• Support Safety initiatives and foster engagement with mill team.
• Responsibility over MRP/MRO ordering and Purchase Order management.
• Work with Maintenance & Engineering Teams by supporting outage and capital project parts management as needed, creating new item stock requests as needed.
• Create, monitor, and update purchase orders to ensure accuracy and timely delivery of parts and equipment (price, delivery dates, freight codes).
• Ensure compliance with corporate supply agreements.
• Train to effectively build skills for higher-level buying responsibilities, to include reconciling chemical receipts & supporting department specific procurement requests.
• Weekend duty responsibility on rotation as required.
• Special Projects as assigned.

• Build relationships with vendors, participate in meetings and help lead communications.
• May monitor vendor performance, assist in the development of corrective actions and ensure completion.
• Develop alternate suppliers in collaboration with mill stakeholders.
• Represent mill stakeholders with insight and feedback for corporate sourcing events.
• Assist as a point of contact for vendors regarding purchase orders, acknowledgments, quotations, shipments, delivery schedules, and invoice inquiries.
• Maintain vendor records and ensure supplier information remains current within company systems.
• Assist with supplier onboarding and maintain required documentation.

• Manage PO/invoice exception process:
  Ensure invoicing is correct, resolve issues and vendor concerns.
• Manage Receipts Not Vouchered (RNV) process to ensure timely receipt of vendor invoices.
• Comply with freight routing guidelines and other logistics as required.
• Collaborate with Storeroom, EH&S, Maintenance, Reliability, and Operations.
• Comply with all relevant Policies & Procedures.
• Support Storeroom on inventory discrepancies and/or parts errors.
• Assist in annual Cycle Count inventory inspections and observations as needed.
• Work with Finance on month end closing duties as needed.

• Accountable for safety performance and related improvements consistent with a culture of EH&S excellence.
• Annually, this role will work alongside the department to deliver relevant productivity values across categories including P&L savings, cost avoidance, negotiated savings, working capital, and additional levers.
• Continuously build skills for future responsibilities and provide occasional backfill coverage as needed.

• Supports purchasing activities by executing assigned tasks accurately and on time, with strong attention to detail.
• Learns and applies basic procurement and business processes, demonstrating curiosity and a willingness to develop new skills.
• Communicate effectively with internal teams and suppliers, practicing clear written and verbal communication and active listening.
• Assists in resolving routine issues by identifying problems, gathering information, and escalating when appropriate.
• Follows customer-focused practices to help ensure timely delivery, quality service, and issue prevention.
• Collaborates well with others, building positive working relationships across a variety of personalities and functions.
• Adapts to changing priorities with a positive attitude and openness to feedback in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrates a continuous improvement mindset, proactively identifying opportunities to improve processes, increase efficiency, and enhance overall performance.

• High School Diploma or GED
• Associate degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Accounting, Finance, or a related…