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The differences between strategic buyers 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 strategic buyer and a senior purchasing agent. Additionally, a strategic buyer has an average salary of $74,725, which is higher than the $73,386 average annual salary of a senior purchasing agent.
The top three skills for a strategic buyer include supply chain, purchase orders and strategic sourcing. The most important skills for a senior purchasing agent are purchase orders, project management, and supplier relationships.
| Strategic Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Yearly salary | $74,725 | $73,386 |
| Hourly rate | $35.93 | $35.28 |
| Growth rate | - | -6% |
| Number of jobs | 23,156 | 43,833 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A strategic buyer defines detailed plans and objectives for each project as per the organization and business unit purchasing strategies. Besides undertaking benchmarking and updating activity and project progress, strategic buyers also control the supply chain actions and supply chain risks to keep the supply chain secure. Also, these professionals negotiate favorable, effective, and precise terms and conditions as per the rules. Moreover, strategic buyers control the projects' risks and create an effective action plan to achieve all project objectives.
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.
Strategic buyers and senior purchasing agents have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Strategic Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average salary | $74,725 | $73,386 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $109,000 | Between $52,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Pleasanton, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | Entegris | Levi Strauss & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Energy |
There are a few differences between a strategic buyer and a senior purchasing agent in terms of educational background:
| Strategic Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between strategic buyers' and senior purchasing agents' demographics:
| Strategic Buyer | Senior Purchasing Agent | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% | Male, 57.7% Female, 42.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |