Kitting Buyer

Kitting Buyer

The Kitting Buyer plays a key role in supporting the service parts division by purchasing goods, materials, components, and services that meet defined cost, quality, and delivery targets. This position focuses on kitting-related procurement activities, supplier relationship management, and cost analysis, while partnering closely with internal teams to ensure timely availability of parts and continuous improvement in purchasing processes. The role requires a strategic, analytical, and solution-oriented professional who can manage complex, high-volume, high-cost purchasing decks in an automotive environment.

Responsibilities:

• Purchase goods, materials, components, and services in line with specified cost, quality, and delivery targets, with a focus on kitting and service parts.
• Support the purchasing function and other relevant departments by communicating supply issues that may impact business operations.
• Act as an interface between suppliers and internal departments on purchasing processes, new projects, and ongoing activities.
• Monitor and advise on issues that present risk or opportunity to the organization, including supply constraints and cost changes.
• Track market trends, competitor strategies, and supplier developments to inform purchasing strategies.
• Provide cost analysis on new and existing parts and lead cost reduction activities where feasible.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues in the procurement function to identify and implement continuous improvement and business process enhancements.
• Negotiate contracts, pricing, and terms of business with suppliers, leveraging negotiation and procurement best practices to achieve savings.
• Build, maintain, and manage strong supplier relationships while ensuring consistent and clear communication.
• Conduct research to identify new components and potential suppliers that meet quality, cost, and delivery requirements.
• Compile and maintain data related to supplier performance to enable evaluation and informed sourcing decisions.
• Contact suppliers to resolve price discrepancies, quality concerns, delivery delays, and invoice issues.
• Resolve supplier shortages and past-due situations to minimize impact on operations and customer service.
• Update and maintain commodity strategies to align with business objectives and market conditions.
• Work with cost estimating teams to develop cost estimates for savings negotiations and to mitigate supplier price uplift requests.
• Produce weekly reports, charts, and status updates on open assignments and projects for stakeholders.
• Perform market tests, analyze supplier responses, and award sourcing of parts based on objective evaluation.
• Review open vehicles off road (VOR) and backorders on a weekly basis and expedite parts delivery to restore vehicle availability.

Essential

Skills:

• 3–6 years of automotive purchasing or buyer experience, with direct responsibility for sourcing parts and managing supplier relationships.
• Proven automotive purchasing experience, ideally in a service parts or similar environment.
• Intermediate Excel skills with the ability to pass a skills test at 80% or higher, including data analysis and reporting.
• Experience working with SAP or other ERP systems for purchasing, order management, and supplier data.
• Strong negotiation skills with experience handling RFQs, pricing discussions, and contract terms.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complicated purchasing decks involving high volume and high cost components.
• Strategic planning and decision-making skills applied to sourcing strategies and supplier selection.
• Motivated, self-starter mindset with the ability to work independently and take initiative.
• Solution-oriented approach with a focus on resolving supply, cost, and quality issues efficiently.
• Effective communication skills for collaborating with internal teams and external suppliers.

Additional Skills &

Qualifications:

• Kitting experience in a purchasing or supply chain context is highly desirable.
• Experience in supplier relationship management and performance evaluation.
• Background in conducting market tests and analyzing supplier proposals or quotes.
• Familiarity with cost estimating processes and methodologies for…