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The differences between senior managers, procurement 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 senior manager, procurement and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a senior manager, procurement has an average salary of $121,433, which is higher than the $73,386 average annual salary of a senior purchasing agent.
The top three skills for a senior manager, procurement include supply chain, strategic sourcing and supplier performance. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.
| Senior Manager, Procurement | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $121,433 | $73,386 |
| Hourly rate | $58.38 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | -6% | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 36,873 | 43,833 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 47 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Senior Procurement Managers oversee the procurement department of the company. They manage the procurement needs of the organization and network with vendors to keep their database of suppliers updated. Senior Procurement Managers secure competitive prices from their suppliers so that they can save up on costs. As such, Senior Procurement Managers also have visibility on the spending of each department in the organization so that they will never go over budget.
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.
Senior managers, procurement and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Manager, Procurement | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average salary | $121,433 | $73,386 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $175,000 | Between $52,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Energy |
There are a few differences between a senior manager, procurement and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:
| Senior Manager, Procurement | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior managers, procurement' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:
| Senior Manager, Procurement | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average age | 47 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | 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, 66.6% 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% |