Short-Term Indirect Purchasing Assistant

Short-Term Indirect Purchasing Assistant:

 This position is located in Greenville, SC. Working 8AM-5PM. Pay Rate: $20-25/hr. Competitive benefits are offered through ETCON Employment Solutions at the time of hire 

Summary/Purpose

The Purchasing Assistant will support Buyers and Purchasing Coordinators by resolving open invoices and confirming Purchase Orders (POs) with Suppliers in JTEKT’s ERP System (Oracle). The Indirect Purchasing Team issues approximately 70,000 POs totaling approximately 200,000 lines per year across North America (USA, MX, Canada). This position will require weekly on-site support in JTEKT’s Greenville facility as agreed with the Purchasing Manager.

Essential Duties and Accountabilities: 

• Support customers (internal and external) to keep plants running
  • Internal customers include manufacturing plant / facility personnel, other departments and engineering
  • External customers include suppliers and automotive, industrial and other companies that purchase JTEKT products
• Resolve open invoices
  • POs will be issued and acknowledged by the Buyers and Coordinators. POs will be for indirect material / components, equipment / machinery, tooling, special items, MRO / spare parts, services and other supplies.
  • Supplier invoices submitted for the above items may not contain the correct PO number, quantities or price may not match, or the items / services may not have been received correctly or at all.
  • These invoices are considered “on hold” and must be resolved in order 
  • The Purchasing Assistant will work with purchasing, the supplier, accounts payable and/or the manufacturing plant / facility to resolve mismatches to get the invoices paid.
  • This role involves using OnBase (JTEKT’s invoice management system), Oracle (JTEKT’s ERP System), Microsoft Excel, email to communicate externally, and Microsoft Teams to communicate internally.
  • The Assistant will document what needs to be done to get the invoice off hold and the root cause of the issue, putting the invoice on hold to help team members improve.
  • The assistant may be required to fix the issue in Oracle, or communicate actions required back to the relevant party.
  • The Assistant will use the documented reasons to generate a report for Indirect Purchasing to identify recurring issues.
  • This role will require active communication via email, Microsoft Teams, and/or telephone (from laptop application).
  • For situations where a facility may be at risk, the Assistant will need to escalate to the appropriate party for resolution – Buyer, Coordinator, Plant personnel, Purchasing Manager, etc.
• Confirm POs with Suppliers
  • Once the Buyer or Coordinator issues a PO, the Assistant will “firm” the PO in Oracle by confirming receipt and acknowledgement of the PO by the Supplier.
• Follow and utilize Company and Purchasing Policies and Procedures / Processes, demonstrate the JTEKT Way.
• Contribute to relevant company, department and team Objectives, Key Requirements (KRs), Hoshin and Operating Business Plan (OBP or BP).
• Support / attend and participate in meetings scheduled by the Purchasing Manager, customers and/or Buyers, and Weekly / Monthly Operating Reviews unless circumstances prevent attendance. Support 1-on-1 meetings with the Purchasing Manager.
• Schedule meetings as necessary to perform responsibilities / functions.
• Manage and promptly respond to emails.
• Support Coordinators as needed when they are out of the office.
• Perform other duties as assigned / requested by Purchasing Manager.

Job Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

• Time Management (including effectively managing Email and Calendar)
• Ability to manage many emails, Teams and telephone requests to answer questions about POs, suppliers, etc.
• Collaboration / Teamwork is crucial to perform this role well.
• Effective Communication skills (verbal – in person and by phone / MS Teams – and written), assertive when appropriate.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), MS Outlook, MS Teams, Oracle, SharePoint and other computer applications as necessary.
• Proactively address issues with customers, suppliers and team members.
• Strong organizational skills, able to work well under pressure and manage several tasks simultaneously.
• Risk mitigation / management – identify and communicate potential risks associated with supply chain disruptions, supplier failures or price fluctuations. Propose and support strategies to mitigate risks and ensure continuous supply of materials as needed.
• Self-motivated and able to work without close supervision.
• Ability to handle confidential information.
• Ability to work with ambiguous and imperfect data / information, operate in “gray” area (when things are not black and white)

Education and Experience: 

• High School Diploma or higher
• 3-5 years’ experience working in a professional environment preferred.
• Oracle ERP experience REQUIRED

Work Environment/Physical Demands: 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• The daily work is mostly performed in a normal office or home setting with minimal exposure to most health or safety hazards, and with substantial time spent working on a computer. Requires sufficient hand, arm and finger dexterity to operate a computer and other office equipment.
• Travel by automobile and plane required approximately <1% of the time. 

Employee may perform other duties as requested, directed or assigned.

Pay Rate will range from $20-25/hr Depending on Experience

Short-Term position with Full time hours