Purchasing Agent

Remote

💰 Finance

Purchasing Agents are employed by organizations to locate potential products or materials for them to resell or to enhance their daily operations. They’ll typically spend time conducting extensive research on the best suppliers, services, goods, vendors and manufacturers to purchase from. Purchasing Agents will then use this research to find and maintain suppliers who are reliable, cost-efficient and produce quality products.

What does a Purchasing Agent do?

A Purchasing Agent, or Product Purchasing Agent, finds and purchases products for a company to use or resell. Their duties include locating suppliers, researching goods, services and materials and processing purchasing orders.

Responsibilities

A Purchasing Agent should be able to fulfill various duties and responsibilities. The following are some duties and responsibilities a Purchasing Agent should be able to execute:

Evaluating suppliers by considering price, quality, availability and other criteria
Interviewing vendors and visiting suppliers’ facilities to learn about products, services and pricing
Negotiating contracts with vendors and suppliers to obtain the best deals on behalf of the company
Verifying purchases by comparing them to a primary list and recommending alternatives for expensive or irrelevant products
Interacting with suppliers to schedule delivery times and resolve shipping errors
Attend industry trade shows to learn about and stay current on trends and to meet suppliers

Required Skills

A competitive Purchasing Agent will have certain skills and qualifications, including: