Purchasing Specialist

ABOUT ALBERT USTER IMPORTS

Albert Uster Imports, Inc. ("AUI") is a privately held gourmet food company headquartered in the Washington, DC area (Gaithersburg, MD) with warehouse locations in Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Gaithersburg. AUI falls under the Vestar Capital Partners portfolio with affiliate organization, Roland Foods, LLC.

Founded in 1968, the company offers over 1,400 products from around the world. We serve leading hotels, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, airlines, and manufacturers with innovative, high quality products and solutions to their most demanding culinary challenges. We operate a network of distribution centers across the U.S. and serve select international markets as well. AUI has a national direct selling organization of over 60 sales professionals and a staff of culinary experts (chefs and food scientists) adept at custom product solutions.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Reporting to the Senior Purchasing Manager, the Purchasing Specialist is responsible for the procurement of foreign and domestic goods and services at the best possible price and at the highest level of quality. They will be responsible for maintaining optimal stock levels in all warehouses and ensuring timely replenishment to avoid out of stock situations. The specialist will coordinate the quality control prior to receiving and distributing the products and create and maintain long-term vendor relations. The specialist will assist with legal issues relating to duty, import permit, licenses and trademarks and work to maintain the highest level of professional conduct with suppliers and employees of other departments.

As a response to the pandemic, Albert Uster Imports office employees have transitioned to a hybrid working schedule, requiring employees to report in-person Monday through Wednesday, with the option to telework on Thursday and Friday each week. Due to the collaborative, cross-functional nature of the organization, employees at the Gaithersburg office are required to work in-person for the abovementioned days, outside of any People & Culture-approved disability accommodation request.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Review forecasts from Sales Department; analyze forecast against actuals and communicates with Sales Department
• Monitor and analyze AUI need with current suppliers
• Control inventory levels according to forecasted
• Issue and enter purchase orders into the system for raw material, semi-finished, goods, finished goods, packaging material, non-inventory equipment and material used in assembly or manufacturing
• Review all order confirmations for accuracy and compliance with agreed terms & conditions, quantities, prices etc.
• Communicate and correct variances with Receiving Teams
• Communicate discrepancies with vendors and requests credit notes
• File product claims with vendors in cooperation with QA department
• Approve and submit product invoices to accounting
• Communicate shipping requirements and notifies transportation partners
• Coordinate inbound logistics in cooperation with VP Supply Chain / Logistics Analyst
• Assist with maintenance of PO, Shipment logs and similar reports
• Assist with the recording of actual freight-in cost and landed analysis against budget
• Assist with month-end housekeeping and reports such as in-transit reports, credit and performance trackers, and disposal and donation logs
• Internal Warehouse Transfer Coordination: Participates in weekly stock review meetings with various stake holders and under various aspects (new item review, sales forecast, stock review, overstock, and more) and executes decisions accordingly
• Implement and execute Quality Control procedures per AUI guidelines on different product categories
• Mark products with quality issues as Red Flag items in IT System. Coordinate "hold" of red flag product to assure no sale occurs until fully approved. Monitor the release of red flagged product once approval has occurred. Cooperate with Quality Manager to conclude on product replacement / credit requests concerning sub-standard product
• Participate in physical inventories as requested; responsible for investigating discrepancies as requested
• Maintain records of vendor pricing, contracts, agreements, certificates and other applicable purveyor and service provider data. Maintains shipment logs and other reference material as requested
• Assist with record keeping and file maintenance of inbound shipment files (receiving reports, temperature loggers and similar)
  
  

OTHER FUNCTIONS

• Provides support to VP Supply Chain and Purchasing Team with reports and analytics
  
  

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Required

• Highly proficient in Excel
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in Business Administration or related majors
• Minimum of 2 years of experience in material procurement
• Keeps a good working knowledge of GP, CRM, and Crystal report
• Excellent analytical and communication skills
  
  

Preferred

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to interact with, assist and support the rest of the team
• High level of skill in accuracy and attention to detail
  
  

SALARY RANGE

AUI Fine Foods hires exceptional people to perform a wide variety of important functions that contribute to the success of the Company. One of the ways AUI Fine Foods does that is through a competitive compensation package. The base salary for this role will be $60,000 - $70,000.

This role is bonus eligible.

Based on your qualifications, previous experience, and transferrable skills, the Company will determine at its sole discretion the salary offered.

Founded by immigrants, AUI & Roland Foods knows that diversity is the spice of life. We believe in the power of food to open minds, spark adventure, and bring diverse people together. All are welcome at our table! We know the transformative value of food in individual lives and communities. Because of this, we insist on obtaining the highest-quality ingredients and talent!

AUI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. AUI considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. AUI is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [email protected].

Please read Albert Uster Import's California Job Applicant Privacy Policy here.