What does a procurement assistant do?
Procurement assistants provide administrative support for a company's procurement department through inventory monitoring, ordering supplies, and scheduling deliveries in order to ensure that the company has the necessary materials. It is a career that will appeal to those with work experience as a buyer or purchasing agent and have skills in business, economics, logistics, supply chain management, or purchasing.
Procurement assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real procurement assistant resumes:
- Manage third party rental program, hold monthly meetings to determine status of current rentals and keep POs current.
- Manage suppliers (KPI's) to deliver target cost, service and quality levels in each operating center.
- Interact with suppliers to ensure high quality, competitive cost and on time delivery by utilizing RFI, RFP and RFQ.
- Organize and validate SharePoint site for easy flow.
- Help implement and test the new Jobscope ERP system.
- Send out RFQ's and follow up with vendor.
- Scan and fax of all documentation into a Sharepoint system.
- Issue new store construction, maintenance and capital project purchase orders using Maximo.
- Draft RFP s for county constructions projects, then review and analyze bids receive.
- Capture spending data and develop reports to help identify sourcing opportunities for the assigned services and commodities.
- Coordinate expedite services, as well as inventory returns and refunds for non-conforming or out of specification material.
- Work to quickly to place and expedite orders from alternate vendors due to decimation of vendor warehouse after natural disaster.
- Provision of support to logistics supervisor in Islamabad regarding logistics activities.
- Build purchase order from requisition generate within PeopleSoft by departments for purchase order encumbrance and purchase order generation.
- Support an affiliate business development team that trade and market commodities and relate transportation services to various customers.
Procurement assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 36% of Procurement Assistants are proficient in Purchase Orders, Logistics, and Data Entry. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Communication skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Procurement Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Purchase Orders, 36%
Generated local purchase orders, processed invoices, tracked payments and delivered monthly reports to management analyzing materials and costs.
- Logistics, 9%
Traveled to supplier locations to evaluate their production facilities, capacity planning, quality assurance programs/controls, and logistics capabilities.
- Data Entry, 8%
United States Duties: Answered multiple line telephone, typed routine correspondence, data entry, and maintained office files.
- Purchase Requisitions, 3%
Assisted Senior Procurement Officer in receiving, reviewing, and analyzing purchase requisitions.
- Computer System, 3%
Facilitated the integration of inventory data for all SKU's into one centralized computer system from multiple computer platforms.
- Expedite, 3%
Worked to quickly to place and expedite orders from alternate vendors due to decimation of vendor warehouse after natural disaster.
Most procurement assistants use their skills in "purchase orders," "logistics," and "data entry" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential procurement assistant responsibilities here:
Organizational skills. One of the key soft skills for a procurement assistant to have is organizational skills. You can see how this relates to what procurement assistants do because "financial clerks must be able to arrange files so they can find them quickly and efficiently." Additionally, a procurement assistant resume shows how procurement assistants use organizational skills: "improved office organization by compiling purchase order reports, attendance reports, organizational charts and spreadsheets. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling procurement assistant duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "financial clerks should be able to explain policies and procedures to colleagues and customers." According to a procurement assistant resume, here's how procurement assistants can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "resolved invoice, quality/delivery discrepancies and maintain clear, timely communication to internal stakeholders. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for procurement assistants to perform their duties. For an example of how procurement assistant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "the job duties of financial clerks includes calculating charges and updating financial records." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a procurement assistant: "developed market research on employment trends, labor statistics line managers as they plan future employment options. ".
The three companies that hire the most procurement assistants are:
- ICONMA4 procurement assistants jobs
- Stanford Health Care3 procurement assistants jobs
- General Dynamics2 procurement assistants jobs
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Compare different procurement assistants
Procurement assistant vs. Expeditor
The role of expeditors is to ensure the timely and efficient preparation and delivery of food. To accomplish this task, they also perform other duties, including managing inventory levels, managing supply requisition, and coordinating with subcontractors. They are also responsible for streamlining interdepartmental communication, monitoring job progress, and collaborating with project managers to collect relevant information about job status. This role requires specific skills and qualifications, including a high school diploma or an associate degree in food service, business management, and hospitality management, relevant work experience, and certifications in CCP, CPSM, or CPPB.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a procurement assistant are more likely to require skills like "data entry," "procurement procedures," "purchase requisitions," and "expedite." On the other hand, a job as an expeditor requires skills like "customer service," "cleanliness," "house training," and "team work." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Expeditors really shine in the construction industry with an average salary of $46,040. Comparatively, procurement assistants tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $50,389.On average, expeditors reach lower levels of education than procurement assistants. Expeditors are 6.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Procurement assistant vs. Contractor buyer
A contractor buyer is responsible for acquiring materials and resources for construction and manufacturing processes that meet the quality standards and budget limitations. Contractor buyers negotiate offers with trusted suppliers and vendors for cost-effective materials based on design specifications and requirements. They also monitor the accurate distribution and delivery schedules to maintain the consistency of project plans and finish the task within the required deadlines. A contractor buyer must have excellent knowledge of the construction industry to identify the reliability of resources and handle the costings efficiently.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, procurement assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "procurement procedures," "purchase requisitions," "expedite," and "financial reports." Meanwhile, a contractor buyer has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "customer orders," "order entry," and "sales orders." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, contractor buyers earn a lower salary than procurement assistants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, contractor buyers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $48,255. Whereas procurement assistants have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $50,389.In general, contractor buyers achieve similar levels of education than procurement assistants. They're 3.0% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Procurement assistant vs. Purchasing department clerk
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from procurement assistant resumes include skills like "logistics," "procurement procedures," "purchase requisitions," and "sharepoint," whereas a purchasing department clerk is more likely to list skills in "surgery," "fax machines," "coordinators," and "medical equipment. "
When it comes to education, purchasing department clerks tend to earn similar degree levels compared to procurement assistants. In fact, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Procurement assistant vs. Assistant
Types of procurement assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
