Buyer/Planner Specialist

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Thrive on Challenge!

We are looking for the right person to join our purchasing team.  

If you are self motivated, have excellent communication skills
and want to work in  a performance driven culture, we want to meet you! 

Introduction:

We are seeking candidates for the position of Buyer/Planner Specialist to be located in our U.S. headquarters in Bridgeport.  A fast growing, privately-held family of companies, the Unger Companies had their start in Germany as a specialized manufacturer of window cleaning tools.  The Companies have become a leading global manufacturer of professional and retail cleaning and maintenance tools with Fortune 100 customers.  Unger products are sold in more than 80 countries. Unger has operations in the United States, Germany, and India.

This key operations position will plan and purchase many of the products and services used in our manufacturing operation from various domestic and international suppliers.  Typically this includes injection molding, metal stampings, aluminum tubing, hardware and various MRO supplies necessary to support production.

Principle Responsibilities:

• The responsibilities will include the coordination of sending merchandise shipments to Germany from the U.S and vice versa, which includes managing numerous freight issues involving delivery and receipt of containers.  This includes arrangements for container pick-up, maximizing cube space to lower costs, clearance of containers in port, and the approval of freight/broker invoices.  Our Company uses Microsoft Great Plains Procurement software to implement our purchasing programs.
• This individual will review material requirements, issue and follow-up on purchase orders as required to ensure that there are no stock-outs and that inventory/purchase costs are balanced. 
• This individual will place orders with vendors, review open orders and forecasts, and negotiate cost-effective solutions. 
• This individual should be capable of handling tough negotiations with suppliers and analyzing ?true? costs (i.e. landed costs with freight, overhead, etc.)
• Part of the planning will involve meetings with the inventory control staff and sales/marketing representatives launching new products. 
• The majority of the purchasing is standard repeat business requiring good systems and organization to stay ahead of the demand.
• This role will require daily review of inventory positions relative to ordering lead-times to assure the appropriate items and quantities of imported goods are available at all times in support of production requirements and customer orders.
• There will be substantial interface with sales and marketing teams to continually update projected sales forecast data, which will be used to procure items in quantities consistent with demand.
• There is also substantial interface with the research and development teams regarding materials specifications for new products or product re-designs.

Ideal Candidate Profile: 

The ideal candidate will be an experienced Purchasing professional with a solid background in material acquisition and planning.

• Knowledge of purchasing terms, typical purchase order contracts, vendor management issues and inventory planning is essential. 
• Four year college degree is preferred, equivalent on the job training may be considered in lieu of a degree. 
• CPIM experience is highly desirable. 
• Basic knowledge of plastics, metal stamping, aluminum and offshore procurement is highly useful. 

Contact Information:

We hire people with the right stuff not long resumes.  If you want to part of an outstanding company and work with highly motivated people, please forward your resume as a Word attachment to: recruit@ungerglobal.com

The Unger Companies appreciate your expression of interest and/or referral of potential candidates.  Your resume will be treated confidentially.  We regret that, due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to respond to inquiries and applications from all individuals.  Candidates with whom we are pursuing interviews will be contacted as soon as possible.  We request that only principals respond.  

We are an Equal Opportunity employer, and welcome applications from diverse candidates.