Career profile Purchasing Manager

Table of Contents

• What does a Purchasing Manager do?
• What is a typical salary for a Purchasing Manager?
• What personality traits are common among Purchasing Managers?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Purchasing Managers need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Purchasing Manager do?

Purchasing Managers plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of buyers, purchasing officers, and related workers involved in purchasing materials, products, and services.

In addition, Purchasing Managers includes wholesale or retail trade merchandising managers and procurement managers.

What kind of tasks does a Purchasing Manager perform regularly?

Purchasing Managers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Represent companies in negotiating contracts and formulating policies with suppliers.
• Develop cost reduction strategies and savings plans.
• Develop and implement purchasing and contract management instructions, policies, and procedures.
• Prepare bid awards requiring board approval.
• Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in buying, selling, and distributing materials, equipment, machinery, and supplies.
• Locate vendors of materials, equipment or supplies, and interview them to determine product availability and terms of sales.
• Interview and hire staff, and oversee staff training.
• Prepare and process requisitions and purchase orders for supplies and equipment.
• Review, evaluate, and approve specifications for issuing and awarding bids.
• Control purchasing department budgets.
• Review purchase order claims and contracts for conformance to company policy.
• Resolve vendor or contractor grievances and claims against suppliers.
• Administer online purchasing systems.
• Maintain records of goods ordered and received.
• Analyze market and delivery systems to assess present and future material availability.
• Participate in the development of specifications for equipment, products, or substitute materials.
• Prepare reports regarding market conditions and merchandise costs.

The above responsibilities are specific to Purchasing Managers. More generally, Purchasing Managers are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Purchasing Manager salary?

What personality traits are common among Purchasing Managers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Purchasing Manager are usually higher in their Enterprising and Conventional interests.

Purchasing Managers typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Purchasing Managers typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Purchasing Manager tend to value Working Conditions, Support, and Independence.

Most importantly, Purchasing Managers strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Second, Purchasing Managers strongly value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Lastly, Purchasing Managers moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Purchasing Managers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, attention to detail, and leadership.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Purchasing Managers, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Purchasing Managers need?

Many Purchasing Managers will have a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Purchasing Managers usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Educational degrees among Purchasing Managers

• 1.3% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 11.4% completed high school or secondary school
• 16.9% completed some college coursework
• 8.2% earned a Associate's degree
• 40.7% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 18.7% earned a Master's degree
• 2.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Purchasing Managers

Important Abilities needed by Purchasing Managers

Purchasing Managers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Purchasing Managers need abilities such as oral comprehension, fluency of ideas, and written comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Purchasing Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Purchasing Managers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Purchasing Managers frequently use skills like social perceptiveness, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Purchasing Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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