Purchasing Managers
Materials Manager, Procurement Manager, Purchasing Director, Purchasing Manager
What they do:
Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of buyers, purchasing officers, and related workers involved in purchasing materials, products, and services. Includes wholesale or retail trade merchandising managers and procurement managers.
On the job, you would:
- Develop and implement purchasing and contract management instructions, policies, and procedures.
- Locate vendors of materials, equipment or supplies, and interview them to determine product availability and terms of sales.
- Prepare bid awards requiring board approval.
Knowledge
Business
- management
- customer service
Arts and Humanities
- English language
Safety and Government
- law and government
Engineering and Technology
- computers and electronics
Skills
Basic Skills
- listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
- talking to others
Social
- bringing people together to solve differences
- understanding people's reactions
Resource Management
- selecting and managing the best workers for a job
- managing your time and the time of other people
Abilities
Verbal
- communicate by speaking
- listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
- come up with lots of ideas
- use rules to solve problems
Math
- add, subtract, multiply, or divide
- choose the right type of math to solve a problem
Personality
People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
- Integrity
- Attention to Detail
- Cooperation
- Dependability
- Stress Tolerance
- Adaptability/Flexibility
Technology
You might use software like this on the job:
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Oracle PeopleSoft
Presentation software
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Procurement software
- Purchasing software
- SAP Ariba
Education
Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
certificate after high school
usually needed
certificate after high school
usually needed
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future.
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about purchasing managers.
