Purchasing manager vs senior purchasing agent

The differences between purchasing managers 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 manager and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a purchasing manager has an average salary of $98,118, which is higher than the $73,386 average annual salary of a senior purchasing agent.

The top three skills for a purchasing manager include supply chain, strategic sourcing and project management. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.

Purchasing manager vs senior purchasing agent overview

	Purchasing Manager	Senior Purchasing Agent
Yearly salary	$98,118	$73,386
Hourly rate	$47.17	$35.28
Growth rate	-6%	-6%
Number of jobs	30,430	43,833
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	47	48
Years of experience	6	6

What does a purchasing manager do?

A purchasing manager is responsible for organizing and managing products to order or sell. Purchasing managers review product specifications, negotiate pricing details with the vendors, evaluate and choose the best suppliers, and assist purchasing agents. Purchase managers are also responsible for resolving order processing issues and analyzing current market trends to determine which products to purchase. A purchasing manager must have excellent decision-making and strategical skills to examine effects, inspect defective items, and create an in-depth analysis of customers' needs to improve their performance and sales.

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 manager vs senior purchasing agent salary

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

	Purchasing Manager	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average salary	$98,118	$73,386
Salary range	Between $70,000 And $136,000	Between $52,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maine	New York
Best paying company	McKinsey & Company Inc	Levi Strauss & Co.
Best paying industry	Technology	Energy

Differences between purchasing manager and senior purchasing agent education

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

	Purchasing Manager	Senior Purchasing Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Purchasing manager vs senior purchasing agent demographics

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

	Purchasing Manager	Senior Purchasing Agent
Average age	47	48
Gender ratio	Male, 67.0% Female, 33.0%	Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	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	11%	7%

Differences between purchasing manager and senior purchasing agent duties and responsibilities

Purchasing manager example responsibilities.

Manage payroll and accounts payable.
Lead major purchasing projects for automotive OEM vehicles.
Used RFI, RFP, RFQ techniques to identify, select, and engage with suppliers to ensure competitive market advantage.
Establish an integrate MRO supply program which eliminate specific company manage buying, inventory control and warehousing functions.
Manage all procurement activities to support manufacturing operations including raw materials, tooling, components and MRO services.
Manage several indirect sourcing RFP projects including categories for translation services, payroll services, capital equipment and engineering services.

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 manager vs senior purchasing agent skills

Common purchasing manager skills

Supply Chain, 15%
Strategic Sourcing, 7%
Project Management, 5%
Supplier Performance, 5%
Continuous Improvement, 4%
Purchase Orders, 4%

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 Manager vs Senior Purchasing Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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