Purchasing administrator vs procurement agent

The differences between purchasing administrators and procurement 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 purchasing administrator and a procurement agent. Additionally, a procurement agent has an average salary of $72,384, 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 a procurement agent are supply chain, strategic sourcing, and supplier performance.

Purchasing administrator vs procurement agent overview

	Purchasing Administrator	Procurement Agent
Yearly salary	$40,133	$72,384
Hourly rate	$19.29	$34.80
Growth rate	-8%	11%
Number of jobs	63,681	45,198
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

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 a procurement agent do?

A procurement agent develops profitable measures to save the client money and ensure the quality of goods supplied. Procurement agents obtain the purchased items through suppliers, monitor them, and expedite the orders. They oversee the activities and performance of the suppliers for compliance. Their duties include the verification of item receipts, resolving shipment-related problems, and authorizing purchase payments through documentation. The necessary skills for this job include being accomplished, decisive, and strong communication skills.

Purchasing administrator vs procurement agent salary

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

	Purchasing Administrator	Procurement Agent
Average salary	$40,133	$72,384
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $53,000	Between $49,000 And $106,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New Jersey
Best paying company	Rivian	McKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry	Health Care	Technology

Differences between purchasing administrator and procurement agent education

There are a few differences between a purchasing administrator and a procurement agent in terms of educational background:

	Purchasing Administrator	Procurement Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Purchasing administrator vs procurement agent demographics

Here are the differences between purchasing administrators' and procurement agents' demographics:

	Purchasing Administrator	Procurement Agent
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 24.0% Female, 76.0%	Male, 51.4% Female, 48.6%
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, 8.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.6% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between purchasing administrator and procurement agent 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.

Procurement agent example responsibilities.

Achieve $200k cost savings buy locating excess material from OEM.
Manage project size OEM bills of material from supplier negotiation through final invoice.
Monitor and manage cost of components for bill of material (BOM), schedule lead times and performance with budgets.
Prepare strategic commodity business plans for globally manage commodities, performing spend analysis, and identifying part cost drivers.
Process purchase requisitions to POs for different commodities for MCI s end-user community.
Perform category spend analysis of indirect spend for hotel expenses to determine hotel candidates for 2010 RFP corporate rate negotiations.

Purchasing administrator vs procurement agent skills

Common purchasing administrator skills

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

Common procurement agent skills

Supply Chain, 15%
Strategic Sourcing, 6%
Supplier Performance, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Inventory Control, 4%
Purchase Orders, 4%

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Purchasing Administrator
Purchasing Administrator vs Procurement Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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