Buyer, Manufacturing ​/ Production

CLARK Material Handling Company, 700 Enterprise Drive, Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America

Posted Monday, October 20, 2025 at 4:00 AM

CLARK Material Handling Company, is a 100 year old company, and a global leader in the material handling and forklift industry. CLARK is seeking qualified candidates to join our team.

The Buyer will be responsible for procuring parts needed for the manufacturing process of our forklifts. Position will have a portfolio of commodities and suppliers assigned and is responsible to meet parts cost, quality and availability objectives. Position is responsible to identify, develop, source, and manage foreign or domestic suppliers for production within department guidelines for supplier consolidation, on time delivery and cost reduction.

• Procure parts and materials necessary to support production business requirements at optimum efficiency and pricing.
• Perform a wide range of procurement duties involving all types of parts, components, and materials for assigned commodities.
• Manage all supplier contracts and assist to administer best pricing strategies for all purchase materials and suppliers and analyze all new issue in materials and recommend strategies to improve quality and manage inventory levels for all products.
• Interface between engineers, finance, quality, marketing, and suppliers. Requires the ability to supply, receive and understand instructions conveyed through blueprints and/or sketches of parts, requisitions, verbal or written communication.
• Serve as liaison with finance to assist in the solution of invoice problems.
• Develop and achieve cost savings plans and ideas in conjunction with current suppliers and seek new opportunities with potential new suppliers.
• Assist production in inventory availability and quality problems with suppliers.
• May assist aftermarket in sourcing parts for old catalogue of trucks and components.
• Evaluate new sources of supply and be able to identify and qualify their processes and capabilities to provide cost effective, quality-proven components, processes, or services.
• Identify potential suppliers by reviewing previous domestic and foreign suppliers. Involve quality competitive suppliers early in the design cycle.
• Send and receive quote request forms to and from potential suppliers.
• Process Engineering Change Requests to document cost improvement ideas submitted by suppliers. Identify savings, tooling investment and provide a detailed description of the change for engineering review.
• Process all Engineering Change Notices to suppliers and negotiate pricing, tooling impact and delivery as required. Lead the effort to maintain cost target.
• Assist in value analysis processes which involves costing parts by reviewing the existing manufacturing processes, competitor processes, new technology and other alternatives to reduce cost.

• Four‑year degree with a minimum of 4 years’ experience as a buyer in a manufacturing operation or in a related specialty field
• Must have detailed knowledge of purchasing policies, procedures and principles.
• Ability to provide detailed price analysis and recommendations and project reports to management as requested.
• Knowledge of import/export issues and skilled in negotiating tactics.
• Knowledge of pricing of raw materials, labor rates, and manufacturing costs
• Strong organization and documentation skills
• Strong research and analytical skills
• Critical thinking and the ability to be action‑oriented.
• Ability to read and understand blueprints, bills of materials, formal engineering change processes, supplier processes, pricing structure/policies and Uniform Commercial Code
• Proficient in MS Office including Outlook, Excel, Word
• Proficient in using ERP software in manufacturing environment.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with others through clear, concise writing, telephone usage and presentation skills.
• CPIM certification, or other APICS certification.
• Must be authorized to work indefinitely in the U.S.
• Must be available for periodic business travel to supplier locations.

This position is located in a typical office environment, however…