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The differences between junior buyers/buyers and senior purchasing agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a junior buyer/buyer and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, which is higher than the $52,374 average annual salary of a junior buyer/buyer.
The top three skills for a junior buyer/buyer include purchase orders, MRP and ERP. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.
| Junior Buyer/Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $52,374 | $73,386 |
| Hourly rate | $25.18 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | - | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 22,370 | 43,833 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A junior buyer/buyer is in charge of purchasing supplies in adherence to company goals. Their responsibilities typically revolve around participating in meetings that discuss the kinds of products to procure, performing research and analysis to find the ideal vendors or suppliers, liaising and negotiating with external parties, maintaining invoices and records of all transactions, and producing progress reports. Furthermore, it is essential to monitor the shipment and deliveries of supplies, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Should there be any problems, it is necessary to coordinate with vendors right away.
Senior Purchasing Agents are experienced employees in the company's purchasing department. They oversee the purchase requisitions of the employees. They validate requests, ensure that the requestors followed company guidelines, check the availability of the items with the chosen supplier, and forward the purchase order to the supplier. Upon fulfillment of the request, Senior Purchasing Agents check the deliveries, ensure that the items are complete and correct, forward the items to the requestor, and process the payment for the supplier. Senior Purchasing agents also prepare reports, spot trends in employee or department purchases, and create recommendations based on observations. They are also expected to form good working relationships with suppliers.
Junior buyers/buyers and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Buyer/Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average salary | $52,374 | $73,386 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $69,000 | Between $52,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New York |
| Best paying company | Astronics | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Energy |
There are a few differences between a junior buyer/buyer and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:
| Junior Buyer/Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between junior buyers/buyers' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:
| Junior Buyer/Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.8% Female, 70.2% | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |