Buyer vs director of purchasing

The differences between buyers and directors of purchasing can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a buyer, becoming a director of purchasing takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a director of purchasing has an average salary of $106,945, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.

The top three skills for a buyer include purchase orders, customer service and logistics. The most important skills for a director of purchasing are supply chain, purchase orders, and product development.

Buyer vs director of purchasing overview

	Buyer	Director Of Purchasing
Yearly salary	$54,049	$106,945
Hourly rate	$25.99	$51.42
Growth rate	-	-6%
Number of jobs	23,589	17,847
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	6

What does a buyer do?

A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.

What does a director of purchasing do?

A director of purchasing oversees the procedures related to buying resources and supplies, directing operations from planning to execution while adhering to standards and company policies. They primarily perform research and assessments to understand project needs in terms of price, quality, and delivery time. They also identify ideal suppliers, negotiate deals, and build positive business relationships. Additionally, a director of purchasing has the authority to make significant decisions, delegate responsibilities among staff, oversee employment procedures within the department, and solve issues and concerns when any arise.

Buyer vs director of purchasing salary

Buyers and directors of purchasing have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Buyer	Director Of Purchasing
Average salary	$54,049	$106,945
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $76,000	Between $68,000 And $166,000
Highest paying City	Englewood, NJ	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Washington
Best paying company	NVIDIA	Rivian
Best paying industry	Automotive	Manufacturing

Differences between buyer and director of purchasing education

There are a few differences between a buyer and a director of purchasing in terms of educational background:

	Buyer	Director Of Purchasing
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	Stanford University

Buyer vs director of purchasing demographics

Here are the differences between buyers' and directors of purchasing' demographics:

	Buyer	Director Of Purchasing
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1%	Male, 75.1% Female, 24.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 7.5% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	15%	11%

Differences between buyer and director of purchasing duties and responsibilities

Buyer example responsibilities.

Achieve QA initiatives by increasing transparency and communication with multiple departments and suppliers to achieve daily/weekly/monthly production requirements and expedites.
Manage all incoming RMA equipment, processing and directing to correct locations and departments.
Create, analyze and manage recaps pertaining to inventory, trends, OTB, and markdowns.
Manage KanBan spreadsheets to optimize inventory levels and supplier performance.
Manage business relationship with Japanese OEM of wide-format printer engines.
Manage MRB and IQA escalations to facilitate defective material resolutions.

Director of purchasing example responsibilities.

Manage all aspects of the RFQ process, contracts, cost and rebate negotiations, and awarding of business.
Manage out-bound logistics services and third-party logistics providers to expand the range of commodities need to support automobile and aerospace manufacturing.
Develop standards and implement procedures for materials planning, product acquisition, inventory control, material distribution and logistics management.
Implement cost controls using commodity segmentation, vendor KPI's and cost justification base on key market indicators.
Monitor KPI indicators such as inventory turns, supplier on time delivery, inventory cycle count accuracy, and PPV.
Develop RFP (request for proposal) analysis, negotiation strategy, contract drafting and agreement execution plans on all contracts.

Buyer vs director of purchasing skills

Common buyer skills

Purchase Orders, 22%
Customer Service, 11%
Logistics, 5%
Supplier Performance, 4%
MRP, 4%
Commodities, 3%

Common director of purchasing skills

Supply Chain, 18%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Product Development, 7%
Vendor Relations, 6%
Logistics, 5%
Cost Savings, 4%

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Buyer vs Director Of Purchasing

Updated January 8, 2025

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