Purchasing Agent III

Kaiser Aluminum
- Purchasing Agent III

The Kaiser Aluminum
- Purchasing Agent III is a senior operational procurement role responsible for supporting plant and corporate purchasing needs across Kaiser Aluminum locations. Responsible for purchase order management, contract administration, supplier coordination, issue resolution, and day-to-day support of the business. As capability and business needs allow, this role may also support selected strategic sourcing activities, including sourcing support, supplier performance improvement, cost reduction, and cross-site procurement initiatives.

This position will be located onsite at our Kalamazoo Michigan Plant.

The successful candidate will have strong operational buying experience, practical contract negotiation skills, and the ability to work effectively with plant leadership, maintenance, engineering, finance, environmental, safety, and corporate stakeholders. The role requires someone who can manage daily procurement execution while also recognizing opportunities to support broader procurement improvement efforts.

What you will work on:

Operational procurement and plant support

• Develop purchase orders in accordance with company policy for materials, services, rentals, equipment, professional services, environmental services, construction, and capital purchases.
• Support day-to-day procurement needs across assigned plant and corporate locations with a focus on accuracy, responsiveness, and service to operations.
• Expedite orders, resolve delivery issues, and work with suppliers and internal stakeholders to minimize business disruption.
• Ensure requisitions, purchase orders, and contract approvals comply with Delegation of Authority requirements and applicable procurement procedures.
• Maintain strong relationships with plant personnel at all levels to ensure procurement expectations are understood and met.

Contract and Commercial Management

• Apply approved Kaiser Aluminum contract language and commercial terms for contracted services and supplier agreements.
• Negotiate pricing, commercial terms, service levels, and supplier commitments to achieve strong business value while reducing risk.
• Prepare, review, and administer purchase contracts, service agreements, capital-related purchase documents, and related commercial documents.
• Ensure final purchase orders and contracts receive appropriate legal, financial, environmental, safety, operational, and management reviews when required.
• Identify, document, and escalate commercial, operational, and contractual risk when supplier terms or performance may expose the business.

Supplier Management and Cost Control

• Manage supplier performance to support service, quality, cost, and supply continuity.
• Monitor supply market conditions, price trends, supplier capabilities, and constraints that may affect operations or cost.
• Track costs, savings opportunities, supplier performance, and other procurement metrics as assigned.
• Support supplier evaluations, supplier improvement plans, and supplier relationship management activities.
• Assist with cost reduction, standard work, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Provide functional guidance, mentoring, and training to Purchasing Agents I and II where assigned.
• Serve as a resource for buyer questions related to purchase orders, supplier issues, contract language, and procurement process compliance.
• Lead or support cross-functional operational procurement initiatives involving operations, maintenance, engineering, finance, environmental, safety, and corporate teams, and participate in selected strategic initiatives where operational knowledge improves sourcing, supplier performance, or cost outcomes.
• Demonstrate leadership capability, sound judgment, and readiness to assume broader operational procurement responsibility, including direct leadership or management duties as business needs require.

Process Improvement and Analytics

• Report on established strategic deployment metrics and procurement KPIs.
• Use spend reporting, supplier metrics, and data analysis to identify opportunities to improve service, cost, compliance, and efficiency in operational procurement and to support strategic sourcing initiatives when assigned.
• Challenge the status quo, identify root causes, and support practical solutions that improve procurement performance.
• Perform Purchasing Agent responsibilities at any level as business needs require.

What you will bring to the role:

Education

• Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, a technical field, or a related discipline preferred. Equivalent experience may be considered.

Experience

• Seven or more years of progressive purchasing, procurement, sourcing, or supply chain experience preferred, ideally in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• Demonstrated experience in tactical buying, purchase order management, expediting, and plant-level procurement support.
• Significant experience negotiating commercial terms, supplier agreements, service contracts, and purchase…