Sr. Procurement Assistant - Kuraray America

Title: Sr. Purchasing Assistant

Location: Houston, Texas

Why Kuraray:

Kuraray is building a better tomorrow, today. Our team members are dedicated to expanding our business with committed professionals who share essential values such as integrity, excellence, teamwork, dedication to safety, and accountability.

As a part of Kuraray America, Inc., our team shares the advantages of working for the leader in specialty chemicals, resins, and fibers. Our international presence and resources allow us to be a world-leading innovator in the industries we service. Yet, despite our size, our people are more than just a number. As a new team member, you can expect to earn responsibility quickly. Our commitment to our people is visible in our comprehensive benefits package. As a Kuraray team member, you will have the opportunity to enjoy competitive salaries and benefits, incentive opportunities, and an excellent work environment.

Who we are:

Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) is a global leader in specialty chemical, fiber and resin production. With top-of-the-line research and production facilities located in Houston, Texas, and a vast network of supply from around the world, Kuraray leads the industry in specialty dental, fiber, resin, and elastomer products. Kuraray America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuraray Company, Ltd. Based in Tokyo, Japan. Kuraray has operations in 31 countries and employs more than 11,000 employees, including over 800 in the United States.

Position Summary:

The Procurement Assistant is responsible for defining results driven strategic sourcing strategies aligning with key performance objective. Pursues and qualifies new suppliers who meet Kuraray requirements and develops and maintains market intelligence to enable strategies required by Kuraray internal and external customers. This position also represents Kuraray in negotiations and works with diverse business teams to develop and implement strategies.

Responsibilities:

• Provide transactional support in the requisition to pay process in SAP.
• Interpret contract pricing provisions, collect pricing data, and develop a spreadsheet for forecasting and auditing vendor prices.
• Establish and maintain a monitoring system for contract renewal and expiration dates. Work with Procurement Specialists to determine whether an agreement will be extended, canceled, or renegotiated.
• Resolve quality, service, supply, and invoicing issues with suppliers. Interface with both internal clients and external suppliers to resolve issues without leadership direction.
• Respond to critical delivery issues and use discretionary judgment to resolve issues in a prompt manner.
• Serve as key contact to handle day-to-day needs of the Sites, suppliers, and other functional groups. Use discretionary judgment to resolve issues that may arise.
• Responsible for sourcing and executing the procurement activity for assigned commodities.
• Responsible for quality on-time delivery and total cost for assigned commodities with intention of maximizing total value.
• Ensures un-interrupted supplies of Chemicals, Packaging Materials, MRO supplies, and Services at the lowest possible cost on the market.
• Product sourcing of Chemicals, Packaging Materials, MRO supplies, and Services by interviewing suppliers to obtain price and specification information.
• Troubleshoot and resolve quality problems with suppliers.
• Resolve accounts payable discrepancies in a timely manner.
• Ensures data integrity in SAP as well as streamlining transactional elimination opportunities.
• Monitor supplier performance and participate in audit controls for the business unit.

Qualifications:

• High School Diploma with experience or Bachelors degree
• 3-5 years of purchasing experience or education in a related field.
• Petro- Chemical, industrial good and/or Refining manufacturing
• Candidates must have strong customer service skills, be client focused and possess very strong interpersonal skills to deal effectively with the varying tasks and demands in this role.
• Candidates must possess strong computer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook) capability and procurement, materials management systems (SAP) experience.
• Candidates must possess the ability to listen as well as communicate information in a clear, courteous, concise, and logical manner.
• Good decision making, problem solving, and analytical skills are needed as is the initiative and ability to follow through with attention to detail.
• Strong organizational skills are a necessity to manage the heavy workload in this position.
• Candidates must be able to work independently, requiring minimal supervision and possess strong time management skills, and have the ability to set priorities and deliver against their yearly goals and objectives.
• Candidates must have a valid drivers license.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Capital Project experience desired.

We offer a competitive compensation package that includes base pay and an annual incentive. This program is designed to reward individual performance and align overall rewards with corporate and team performance.

Our employees enjoy an attractive healthcare benefits package, including wellness reimbursements to promote a healthy lifestyle. We also provide an Educational Reimbursement Plan, helping our employees fulfill their career goals, as well as a competitive 401(k) through Fidelity Investments.

This position will be a Hybrid Remote position.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S.

Please apply online at: http://www.kuraray.us.com/careers/

Kuraray America, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer AA M/F/disability/protected veteran status

No third party candidates accepted.