Purchasing administrator vs senior purchasing agent

The differences between purchasing administrators 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 purchasing administrator and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior purchasing agent has an average salary of $73,386, 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 senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.

Purchasing administrator vs senior purchasing agent overview

	Purchasing Administrator	Senior Purchasing Agent
Yearly salary	$40,133	$73,386
Hourly rate	$19.29	$35.28
Growth rate	-8%	-6%
Number of jobs	63,681	43,833
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
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 senior purchasing agent do?

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.

Purchasing administrator vs senior purchasing agent salary

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

	Purchasing Administrator	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average salary	$40,133	$73,386
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $53,000	Between $52,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	Rivian	Levi Strauss & Co.
Best paying industry	Health Care	Energy

Differences between purchasing administrator and senior purchasing agent education

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

	Purchasing Administrator	Senior Purchasing Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Purchasing administrator vs senior purchasing agent demographics

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

	Purchasing Administrator	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 24.0% Female, 76.0%	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%
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, 8.9% 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%

Differences between purchasing administrator and senior purchasing 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.

Senior purchasing agent example responsibilities.

Manage patterns for older, obsolete OEM part outsource production to locally foundries.
Interact within an ERP system environment and manage various reporting tools to support operations and control the flow of information.
Manage subcontracts activity including RFQ analysis, major negotiations and construction of complex subcontracting orders and milestones.
Provide management for warehousing, transportation, documentation requirements, cost analysis, third-party logistics, and reverse logistics.
Help create new purchasing procurement program base on customer forecasting and JIT programs (KANBAN).
Update & maintain ERP system part master data including new item creation, discontinuations and site planning changes.

Purchasing administrator vs senior purchasing agent skills

Common purchasing administrator skills

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

Common senior purchasing agent skills

Purchase Orders, 8%
Project Management, 6%
Supplier Relationships, 6%
Strategic Sourcing, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 5%

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Purchasing Administrator vs Senior Purchasing Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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