About the Job: A Purchasing Manager is a title for a person that takes over the responsibility of managing wholesale or retail buyers that buy products that are resold to the consumer. They analyze the trends and histories of the products being bought in order to assure that whatever they’re going to buy will enable them to receive a profit. A Purchasing Manager oversees the wholesale and retail buyers of the retail team in a company.
While Purchasing Manager sounds like a cool title, they have a lot of responsibilities to handle in order to ensure the well-being of their companies. They represent the companies to possible suppliers in order to negotiate and make contracts between both parties. They examine, search for, select, and order merchandise from the best supplier and at the right price. Also, they manage a team successfully in order to maintain the company's budget, and monitor trends in order to ensure that the product they are purchasing will be favorable in the market. Being manager requires you to meet with the sales personnel in order to introduce new products. The Purchasing Manger is also handling lots of money and authorizes payments to companies that they might be purchasing merchandise from.
Advantages:There are various benefits to being a Purchasing Manager. Because many companies rely on their purchasing managers to oversee the people that will be purchasing their necessary tools, information, and materials, they have to include benefits in their packages. Some of these include receiving full health care coverage in many companies as well as retirement, life, vision and disability insurance. Also, about 70% of the worker's in this field receive tuition reimbursements. The opportunities to travel inside and outside of the United States are endless as you have to make sure everything is going as planned wherever it is that you will be conducting business in. This job also allows for opportunities to connect with people in higher positions.
Disadvantages:As there are advantages, there are also disadvantages. Being a Purchasing Manager requires one to travel a lot. While it can be an enjoyment, traveling too much can cause stress on the family. Also, since you manage a team of buyers for a company, having a mismanaged Buying Team can lead to your termination. Being a manager also requires you to keep close tabs on the dealers that your buyers are purchasing from, and if you lose a dealer, you might end up losing the company a lot of money, Finally, one of the last disadvantages that I find problematic because I am a nosy person, is that you are often out of the loop as to what the materials that you are being asked to ask your buyers for will be used as.
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Also Called: Companies might use the term of Buyer, Contract Manager, and Commodities Manager in order to describe the same position. However there are a few differences within each title. A commodities manager looks after the supply chain in order to maintain a constant flow of the supply.A Contract Manager ensures that contracts that tie companies together over a deal stay intact and have equal outcomes for both parties. Finally, a buyer is very similar in the job, but they are underneath the Purchasing Manager.
Important qualities in order to become a successful Purchasing Manager is to be a responsible leader in order to guide your team in the right direction.They also have to be confident negotiators in order to make the price of products become a comfortable fit for both the purchaser and the seller. They must also be persuasive in order to push for the products and the prices that they are trying to buy for the company. This title also holds the responsibility of having a knowledge in marketing in order to learn what it is that the seller is selling, as well as knowing what strategies the sellers are using.
Wages:Average annual wage in California was $121,880.
A Bachelor's Degree in Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management is recommended in order to have a successful careers in the field. However, a higher job title sometimes requires a Masters Degree.
Common College Majors:
College Costs
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