Buyer

Buyer - (2300003B)

Description

**We invite you to Explore the Potential of being part of something Clearly Essential**

At Compass Minerals, we harvest, mine and produce essential minerals that deal with nature’s challenges, including - but not limited to - highway deicing salt for the winter months, water softening salt and plant nutrition that improves the quality and yield of crops. We transform Earth’s resources that ultimately help keep people safe, feed the world and enrich lives, every day.

With our company headquarters in Overland Park, KS, Compass Minerals operates 15 production and packaging facilities with more than 2,000 employees throughout the U.S., Canada, Brazil and the U.K. We’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone’s voice matters. We believe in work that creates value for all stakeholders, encourages collaboration at all levels and focuses on a high-performance environment where employees are challenged to be their best.

We are currently seeking **Buyer** to join our team at our Goderich Evaporation Plant site in Goderich, Ontario.

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The Goderich Evaporation Plant is proud to be one of Goderich’s first employers, tracing back to 1867. Currently, the site employs 90 people, producing an annual capacity of 140,000 tons of evaporated food grade, agricultural, pool and water-softening salt, and additionally packages 100,000 tons of rock salt, serving customers throughout the Ontario, Quebec and Northern-Central United States regions.

Goderich is named Canada’s Prettiest Town and is best known for its stunning sunsets. Goderich is a lakeside community of 8,000 people located approximately 1 ½ hours from London, Stratford, and Kitchener-Waterloo.

This position is primarily responsible for effectively sourcing, negotiating and contracting an uninterrupted supply of MRO materials. The person will also assist in purchasing special project/capital materials as well as assistance with continuous cost improvement, process improvement, safety, training and work activities related to the operation with an emphasis on controlling costs, total cost of ownership and inventory systems proficiency.

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**How will you contribute to the team?**
- Effective purchasing of stock inventory, non-stock material and services and project/capital material and services, ensuring appropriate sourcing, negotiations and contract development and documentation.
- Ensure compliance with corporate supply contracts on MRO purchasing, including loading of contract pricing into the system to permit automated release of contracted inventory items. Ensure site policies, procedures and government regulations are adhered to, including WSIB, liability insurance and WHMIS.
- Follow up and resolve with Accounts Payable any invoice discrepancies, ensuring costs in the system are accurate.
- Analyze inventory levels on stock items and purchases replacement items as required and per established purchasing standards, best practices and production requirements; adjust reorder levels to reflect current usage and effective inventory management. Setup new item numbers as required. Manage obsolete items as required.
- Assist with the management of consignment and committed inventory agreements with suppliers.
- Selects vendors, assesses vendor capabilities, develops alternative sources and evaluates vendor performance.
- Work with Stores Keeper and provide back up coverage for vacation relief.
- Assure that open purchase orders are tracked, followed up on and expedited as needed; actively engaged in realizing, capturing and reporting cost savings opportunities.
- Issue purchase orders and maintain positive supplier relations. Work proactively with internal and external customers to maintain a high level of confidence and working relationships; work with maintenance, engineering and operations in quoting and sourcing non stock needs.
- Assist managers in contract preparation and/or review.
- Maintain blanket services agreements.
- Actively participate in Compass Minerals Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) and Catalyst programs and use the tools of CIP to improve work flows.
- Participate in career enhancement programs to attain/maintain professional level buying skills.

**Qualifications**:
**You bring to the role**:

- College Diploma or Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in a Business-related field
- Three to Five years of purchasing experience including sourcing, contract development and negotiations, inventory control systems, cycle counts
- Inventory operations; general parts or mechanical knowledge a plus. Heavy industrial experience a plus.
- Good understanding of and experience with Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, Internet. MRP/ERP software experience with JD Edwards, SAP, Oracle or similar an asset. Must have excellent analytical and problem solving skills.
- Multi-task with interruptions, superior organization and follow-up ability is essential. Ability to work well with little supervisio