Purchasing administrator vs operations administrator

The differences between purchasing administrators and operations administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a purchasing administrator, becoming an operations administrator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an operations administrator has an average salary of $50,962, which is higher than the $40,133 average annual salary of a purchasing administrator.

The top three skills for a purchasing administrator include purchase orders, invoice and data entry. The most important skills for an operations administrator are various management, data entry, and clerical support.

Purchasing administrator vs operations administrator overview

	Purchasing Administrator	Operations Administrator
Yearly salary	$40,133	$50,962
Hourly rate	$19.29	$24.50
Growth rate	-8%	5%
Number of jobs	63,681	115,828
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	48	43
Years of experience	6	2

What does a purchasing administrator do?

A purchasing administrator is primarily in charge of overseeing a company's purchasing procedures. As a purchasing administrator, it is their duty to monitor the company's inventory of supplies, gather and analyze purchase requests, and process purchase orders, resolving issues should there be any. They must also negotiate with vendors and suppliers, building positive relationships with them. Furthermore, as a purchasing administrator, it is essential to maintain records of all transactions, producing progress reports regularly for a smooth and efficient workflow.

What does an operations administrator do?

An operations administrator primarily edits, plans, coordinates, or directs the administrative services of an organization. This job involves keeping track of the organization's inventory, managing maintenance issues, offering administrative support, and answering phone calls. Among the necessary skills for the administrators are customer service or relations, timely delivery, data entry, order purchasing, and communication skills. They should also be able to manage the financial statements of the organization aside from its business operations.

Purchasing administrator vs operations administrator salary

Purchasing administrators and operations administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Purchasing Administrator	Operations Administrator
Average salary	$40,133	$50,962
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $53,000	Between $31,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Hawaii
Best paying company	Rivian	Ropes & Gray
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between purchasing administrator and operations administrator education

There are a few differences between a purchasing administrator and an operations administrator in terms of educational background:

	Purchasing Administrator	Operations Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Purchasing administrator vs operations administrator demographics

Here are the differences between purchasing administrators' and operations administrators' demographics:

	Purchasing Administrator	Operations Administrator
Average age	48	43
Gender ratio	Male, 24.0% Female, 76.0%	Male, 34.8% Female, 65.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 7.8% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	7%	9%

Differences between purchasing administrator and operations administrator duties and responsibilities

Purchasing administrator example responsibilities.

Manage the RFP preparation and analysis, cost negotiations, and vendor performance management.
Manage logistics and materials receive for appropriate quantities, timeliness and accuracy to complete project project.
Resolve RMA s on all engineering material.
Schedule product delivery against customer needs and MRP.
Administer the ISO 9001 and vendor performance evaluation process.
Maintain and update supplier master information in the ERP system.

Operations administrator example responsibilities.

Manage online digital storefront operations using PDF file format and HTML.
Manage all aspects of desktop support for several hundr users on site and at remote locations.
Establish operating policies and procedures and attain SNF Medicare certification.
Write queries through mainframe using SQL in order to produce reports for internal/external partners.
Monitor printers and desktop's utilizing WebJet Admin for page count and toner activity.
Learned and maintain department operations and the SQL jobs and reports that run for the business.

Purchasing administrator vs operations administrator skills

Common purchasing administrator skills

Purchase Orders, 33%
Invoice, 10%
Data Entry, 10%
ERP, 4%
Office Equipment, 2%
Credit Card, 2%

Common operations administrator skills

Various Management, 15%
Data Entry, 9%
Clerical Support, 6%
Administrative Functions, 6%
Photocopying, 5%
Management Review, 5%

Purchasing Administrator vs. similar jobs

Purchasing Administrator related careers

Purchasing Administrator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Business and Financial Industry
Purchasing Administrator
Purchasing Administrator vs Operations Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs