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The differences between procurement consultants and buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a procurement consultant, becoming a buyer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a procurement consultant has an average salary of $81,254, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.
The top three skills for a procurement consultant include strategic sourcing, procure-to-pay and HR. The most important skills for a buyer are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.
| Procurement Consultant | Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $81,254 | $54,049 |
| Hourly rate | $39.06 | $25.99 |
| Growth rate | -6% | - |
| Number of jobs | 38,005 | 23,589 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
A procurement consultant is an individual who is an expert in purchasing or procurement. Your duties will include researching and analyzing the supply marketplace, developing business requirements, and managing supplier relationships in collaboration with internal stakeholders, and managing and negotiating supply agreements across all commodities and complexity. Additionally, you are expected to participate in market intelligence analysis and assess productivity, costs, and demand patterns by collecting and interpreting data. As a procurement consultant, you are also responsible for managing and negotiating supply agreements.
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.
Procurement consultants and buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Procurement Consultant | Buyer | |
| Average salary | $81,254 | $54,049 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $101,000 | Between $37,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Englewood, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a procurement consultant and a buyer in terms of educational background:
| Procurement Consultant | Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between procurement consultants' and buyers' demographics:
| Procurement Consultant | Buyer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.3% Female, 33.7% | Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 15% |