Buyer - Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors : Job Details

Buyer Position

We encourage you to bring your talent and effort to Harvest Sherwood and contribute to our shared success, while having fun, serving our customers, and strengthening the local communities in which we operate. As the largest independent wholesale food distributor in the U.S., with 15 distribution centers from coast-to-coast, Harvest Sherwood is an essential business. We buy, sell and deliver fresh, high quality protein products and other foods to over 6,000 retail and foodservice customers.

Job Purpose

Buyer will survey and select suppliers within their assigned market, select buying methods, and negotiate the proper terms, purchase appropriate items, and maintain continuity of supply meeting inventory days of hand goals. This individual will also purchase product from suppliers at the lowest cost consistent with considerations of quality, reliability of source, market conditions, and urgency of need. They are responsible for maintaining adequate supplies of inventory to meet customer service level expectations while minimizing inventory loss due to spoilage/obsolescence and Days Inventory on Hand to company expectations.

Key Responsibilities

Buyer will be assigned duties, based on organizational needs and priorities.

• Daily review of product movement forecasts based on seasonal needs and availability, market trends, and probability of anticipated sales
• Maintain ordering of various product lines from numerous vendors on a daily basis
• Purchase products within company standards to maintain a certain number of turns per year at the best possible price for the best possible product
• Verify quantity and quality of stock received from manufacturer
• Request refunds from vendors to compensate for losses incurred with dumped and damaged product. Discontinue and return products to manufacturers that do not sell
• Expedite delivery of product by communicating with buyers, vendors and transportation companies. Verify inventory status and delivery schedules
• Source and maintain freight rates. Successfully resolve problems with delivery, supply, invoicing, rejections, etc.
• Verify pricing via matching purchase orders to customers. Verify vendor invoice reconciliations
• Work with multiple departments and positions including Sales, Specialists, bid department, receiving department, accounting, marketing and vendors
• Assist sales force with questions concerning product specifications and additions/deletions to inventory product lines
• Ensure current product literature is available for sales personnel
• Work with other department buyers to ensure that purchasing is maintained
• Manage assigned specialty with a variety of product lines through inventory turns, excess and obsolete inventory positions
• Ensure a quality product by keeping existing inventory within proper expiration codes
• Take steps to reduce dead inventory according to department policy, requesting vendor rebates, return product to vendor, and remind sales reps of their original forecast
• Review quality concerns on perishable overstock inventory and recommend plan for disposition of product
• Maintain daily inventory status and usage and review with management when needed
• Create weekly hot sheets to aid in the sale of short dated products and keep excessive inventory to a minimum. Monitor dead inventory
• Negotiate simple deals, recommending terms and conditions for contracts that will be written by senior purchasing personnel
• Perform other tasks as assigned

Qualifications and Experience

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function assigned satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working within food service or meat distribution environment
• Processed product knowledge strongly preferred
• Familiarity of local industry trends and issues in the food service industry
• Thorough understanding of purchasing concepts
• Ability to work as a team. Possess a high degree of diplomacy, tact, tenacity and persistence to deal effectively with suppliers
• Must be organized and have strong communication and negotiation skills. Extensive product knowledge and sources of supply
• Proficiency with Excel, Word, and Outlook is required
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, portion cost, proportions, percentages, area, circumference and volume and add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to execute multiple initiatives autonomously
• Capable of working with peers and associates from other departments and shifts in a proactive and constructive manner
• Ability to track and clearly communicate results to management and other team members
• Ability to handle multiple jobs, timelines and deadlines
• Ability to prioritize, multitask, and shift priorities as necessary

Harvest-Sherwood is committed to offering competitive benefits to our employees and their dependents, including paid vacation, health insurances, and a 401K plan!

*We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.