A senior sourcing specialist is responsible for planning and purchasing material, organized by specific commodities, and supporting new product launches. They also manage commodities assigned to them for quality, delivery, and cost to meet the department and company's goals and objectives. They also develop partnerships with key suppliers that support the overall operational excellence goals.
Senior sourcing specialists build relationships with suppliers to facilitate the sourcing process and negotiate deals and contracts with suppliers to ensure budgetary compliance. Moreover, they also draft contracts that will be reviewed by both the company and suppliers. Lastly, they must understand the company's commodities and have an in-depth knowledge of the industry they are working in. Essential skills include having sourcing experience, a deep understanding of the commodity, and computer skills. As this is a senior post, a master's degree in an industry-related field is required along with at least five years of experience, although more is preferred.
The average hourly salary for the position is $36.37, which amounts to $75,654 annually. The senior post comes with a lot of responsibilities to fulfil, but provides necessary compensation as well.
Senior Sourcing Specialist Overview
Working as a Senior Sourcing Specialist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior sourcing specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $36.37 an hour? That's $75,654 a year!
What Does a Senior Sourcing Specialist Do
There are certain skills that many senior sourcing specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, math skills and negotiating skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior sourcing specialist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.4% of senior sourcing specialists included potential candidates, while 12.5% of resumes included supplier performance, and 10.0% of resumes included linkedin. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the senior sourcing specialist job title. But what industry to start with? Most senior sourcing specialists actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a Senior Sourcing Specialist
If you're interested in becoming a senior sourcing specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 58.1% of senior sourcing specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 28.5% of senior sourcing specialists have master's degrees. Even though most senior sourcing specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a senior sourcing specialist. When we researched the most common majors for a senior sourcing specialist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on senior sourcing specialist resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a senior sourcing specialist. In fact, many senior sourcing specialist jobs require experience in a role such as recruiter. Meanwhile, many senior sourcing specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as senior buyer or purchasing manager.
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Senior Sourcing Specialist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a senior sourcing specialist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as purchasing manager, progress to a title such as director of purchasing and then eventually end up with the title director of purchasing.
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Average Salary for a Senior Sourcing Specialist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Randstad Senior Sourcing and Contracts Specialist Senior Sourcing and Contracts Specialist | Randstad Randstad | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $116,85101/27/2021 $116,851 |
Evergy Sourcing Specialist II/Sourcing Specialist SR. Sourcing Specialist II/Sourcing Specialist SR. | Evergy Evergy | 10/29/2020 10/29/2020 | $64,10010/29/2020 $64,100 |
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation Sourcing Specialist II/Sourcing Specialist SR. Sourcing Specialist II/Sourcing Specialist SR. | Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation | 10/29/2020 10/29/2020 | $64,10010/29/2020 $64,100 |
Randstad Senior Strategy Sourcing Specialist Senior Strategy Sourcing Specialist | Randstad Randstad | 10/16/2020 10/16/2020 | $83,48010/16/2020 $83,480 |
Randstad Senior Sourcing and Contracts Specialist Senior Sourcing and Contracts Specialist | Randstad Randstad | 08/28/2020 08/28/2020 | $62,61008/28/2020 $62,610 |
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Top Colleges for Senior Sourcing Specialists
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
3. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Public
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
6. SUNY College at Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh, NY • Public
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. Baylor University
Waco, TX • Private
9. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Public
10. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Senior Sourcing Specialist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.4% of senior sourcing specialists listed potential candidates on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and math skills are important as well.
- Potential Candidates, 14.4%
- Supplier Performance, 12.5%
- Linkedin, 10.0%
- HR, 8.6%
- Strategic Sourcing, 7.6%
- Other Skills, 46.9% See All Senior Sourcing Specialist Skills
Best States For a Senior Sourcing Specialist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior sourcing specialist. The best states for people in this position are Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and Maine. Senior sourcing specialists make the most in Pennsylvania with an average salary of $87,005. Whereas in Vermont and Washington, they would average $86,561 and $85,288, respectively. While senior sourcing specialists would only make an average of $84,466 in Maine, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Arizona
$81,826
Avg. Salary
2. Pennsylvania
$87,005
Avg. Salary
3. District of Columbia
$87,587
Avg. Salary
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