WHAT DOES A PROCUREMENT DO?

Published: Dec 04, 2025 - The Procurement Professional manages end-to-end sourcing and purchasing activities to secure materials and services with strong value, quality, and on-time delivery. This role oversees supplier evaluation, contract negotiations, and ERP-driven procurement processes while ensuring compliance and risk control across the supply base. The individual partners with internal stakeholders to optimize spend, improve inventory performance, and drive measurable savings through continuous improvement and supplier performance management.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Procurement

1. Procurement Agent Duties

  • Contract Negotiation: Negotiate contracts and purchase orders with subcontractors and suppliers related to construction projects
  • Project Coordination: Work with project managers and estimators on buyout and contract administration
  • Vendor Savings: Find cost savings from vendors and subcontractors
  • Scope Understanding: Understand the scopes of work related to various construction disciplines
  • Document Preparation: Prepare accurate documentation for executing purchase orders and subcontracts
  • Quote Comparison: Obtain multiple quotes on materials and commodities related to the scope of work
  • Shipment Monitoring: Organize, plan, and monitor shipments of materials
  • Proposal Evaluation: Solicit subcontractor and vendor proposals and evaluate against specifications, requirements, and budgets

2. Junior Procurement Analyst Details

  • Supply Planning: Identify current and future supply needs
  • Supplier Sourcing: Source and qualify new suppliers for the identified needs
  • Contract Management: Manage supply contracts and evaluate suppliers
  • Supplier Onboarding: Onboard and offboard suppliers
  • Term Negotiation: Negotiate terms, pricing, and payment conditions with qualified suppliers
  • RFQ Management: Perform RFQs to select suppliers for each purchase
  • Order Processing: Execute and follow up on purchase orders
  • Goods Inspection: Inspect goods received and provide feedback on the supplier
  • Complaint Handling: Manage potential complaints
  • Invoice Approval: Approve invoices to A/P after inspection

3. Procurement Analyst Responsibilities

  • Supplier Communication: Maintain ongoing communications with suppliers and vendors regarding costs, quality, quantity, and delivery of goods purchased as identified through operations and stakeholders
  • Master Data: Set up and maintain material master system planning parameters (MOQ, lead time, safety stocks)
  • Material Coordination: Coordinate material flows throughout product and BOM changes, obsolescence, and the introduction of new suppliers and or materials
  • Discrepancy Resolution: Manage and resolve issues regarding PO to invoice discrepancies, returns, and quality problems with suppliers
  • Supplier Interface: Act as an interface with new suppliers and sustaining businesses to build business relationships
  • Process Improvement: Continuously improve supply chain planning processes
  • Inventory Planning: Determine and establish optimal inventory levels based on forecast, demand variation, and material lead times
  • Relationship Management: Maintain business relationship with the suppliers that supports the overall goals of the business

4. Procurement Assistant Job Summary

  • Purchase Ordering: Create purchase orders for the release of materials to arrive at the store construction sites
  • Quote Analysis: Gather and analyze vendor quotes to confirm accuracy and contract pricing
  • Delivery Coordination: Ensure timely delivery of materials to job sites
  • Budget Tracking: Track budget rates for commodities and suppliers
  • Inventory Reporting: Develop monthly inventory reports and prepare analysis to guide bulk purchases
  • Program Tracking: Track budget and timelines for multistore rollout programs
  • Standards Development: Develop value-added processes that assist in establishing global procurement standards
  • Report Compilation: Compile ad hoc reports
  • Spend Analytics: Drive spend analytics for the identification of profit improvement opportunities
  • System Proficiency: Become proficient in new systems (Power BI, SAP Ariba, and others)
  • Supplier Relations: Build relationships with suppliers to mitigate risks and resolve challenges

5. Procurement Associate Accountabilities

  • SME Contracting: Coordinate with internal customers to contract subject matter experts
  • Invoice Processing: Process invoices for program approval and ensure contracts have the necessary funding
  • Lifecycle Ownership: Complete ownership of the procurement lifecycle
  • RFQ Issuance: Issue RFQs, perform price analysis, negotiate favorable terms and conditions, issue purchasing orders, and follow up with internal customers to ensure the goods receipts are completed
  • Supplier Coordination: Work closely with suppliers to ensure materials and services are delivered on time
  • Agreement Signing: Sign supplier agreements and purchase orders within established authority
  • Industry Practices: Frequent use and application of industry practices, techniques, and standards
  • Stakeholder Communication: Frequently communicate with internal company and external contacts
  • Project Representation: Represent the organization on specific projects

6. Procurement Buyer Functions

  • Lead Generation: Lead generation and price negotiations
  • Farm Planning: Long-term and short-term planning with farmers
  • Supplier Onboarding: Supplier onboarding and launch of new products
  • Order Management: Order and box management
  • Supply Optimization: Optimise the supply chain
  • Quality Follow-up: Quality and margin follow-up of products
  • Farm Visits: Visit farms and maintain relationships
  • Team Collaboration: Collaborate with the marketing and customer success team to share info on farms and products
  • Quality Control: Participate in quality control in the warehouse

7. Procurement Category Manager Job Description

  • Supplier Selection: Manage the entire supplier selection process for assigned categories from RFP through contract execution
  • Sourcing Strategy: Devise and implement long-term sourcing strategies
  • Cross-functional: Highly cross-functional communication skills with internal and external teams
  • Procurement Innovation: Identify innovative procurement solutions that provide savings and improve efficiencies
  • Supplier Relations: Build strong supplier relationships to achieve better pricing and quality of services
  • Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with internal customers and other key stakeholders to better understand needs and find the best solutions
  • Opportunity Reporting: Perform and analyze reporting to identify areas of potential opportunities
  • Report Management: Develop and maintain all reporting consistent with the goals identified and required for decision-making
  • Metric Analysis: Provide analysis on key business drivers and metrics, assuring the quality of data and the source of data integrity
  • Data Optimization: Design, build, and optimize relevant data for financial and operational reporting
  • Project Management: Manage and assist in multiple high-level projects
  • Deck Development: Develop and maintain multiple reporting decks for various input requirements across responsible areas

8. Procurement Consultant Overview

  • Process Design: Design and implement a new procurement process for the company
  • Supplier Liaison: Act as a point of contact between the company and trade suppliers
  • Contract Negotiation: Negotiate contracts, terms and deadlines with vendors and suppliers
  • Price Monitoring: Monitor and update relevant departments regarding price fluctuations
  • Legal Coordination: Work closely with General Counsel to ensure contract language aligns with strategic business goals
  • Spend Analysis: Work to identify spending trends, risk areas, areas of opportunity, and potential cost savings
  • Relationship Management: Maintain professional relationships internally and externally
  • Analytics Oversight: Oversee the development and review of procurement analytics, reporting and deliverables
  • Record Management: Manage the maintenance of records of goods ordered and received, liaise between Procurement and Accounts Payable

9. Procurement Coordinator Details and Accountabilities

  • PO Management: Ensures prompt, accurate creation and maintenance of purchase requisitions and purchase orders
  • Requisition Conversion: Convert all purchase requisitions to purchase orders according to release strategies
  • SAP Confirmation: Confirm all purchase orders in SAP within 48 hours
  • Plant Support: Support process requisitions at the plant level
  • AP Issue Resolution: Support resolution of AP issues with SAP Workflow (i.e., Workflow, GR/IR Reconciliation)
  • Process Improvement: Support and identify actions to improve overall purchasing processes for facilities
  • Claim Resolution: Support the resolution of all product claims with suppliers, brokers, and plants to an agreeable resolution and reimbursement for issues dealing with packaging and ingredients
  • Inventory Support: Support inventory activities (annual and cycle counts)
  • SAP Optimization: Support the optimization of SAP to improve the purchase process and accurate financial record documentation
  • Inventory Optimization: Support actions with local management to optimize inventory while maintaining plant efficiency

10. Procurement Director Tasks

  • Supplier Performance: Develop and monitor supplier relationships to ensure that they meet key performance indicators based on vendor contracts
  • Contract Negotiation: Negotiate contract terms and expectations with contracted suppliers
  • Purchasing Oversight: Manage the company’s day-to-day purchasing activities and ensure that all purchasing agents are meeting their objectives
  • Schedule Management: Ensure orders are on schedule and communicate any delivery changes to the purchasing agents to ensure on-time delivery and quality outcomes
  • Policy Development: Develop, implement, and maintain purchasing policies, procedures, and training for purchasing and contract management
  • PO Processing: Prepare and process purchase orders and requisitions for materials, supplies, and equipment
  • Stakeholder Alignment: Collaborate with key department leaders to understand engineering requirements, business demands and supply chain lead times to meet delivery timetables
  • Market Updates: Update relevant departments regarding market conditions, price fluctuations of goods, and vendor pricing

11. Procurement Engineer Roles

  • Issue Escalation: First point of escalation for delivery and quality issues, etc., at the line and factory level
  • Supplier Improvement: Execute factory-related supplier improvement actions
  • Strategy Support: Support the development and execution of the procurement strategy at the site and in the BU
  • NPI Representation: Represent Procurement in new product introduction projects
  • KPI Reporting: Report procurement KPIs
  • Cost Ownership: Owner for delivering the cost elements for the assigned product or module
  • Risk Mitigation: Ensure that the factory procurement engineering-related risks (cost, quality, availability) are controlled and mitigated
  • Target Costing: Identify opportunities in the new product design process through target costing at the component level, and monitor data sources to improve the design decision-making
  • Price Support: Support price negotiations with fact-based information and opportunities to drive short-term product cost reduction improvement
  • Supplier Involvement: Support the deployment of early supplier involvement through target costing and tracking for the assigned product or module
  • Cost Modeling: Contribute to the development of an effective set of cost models to track the target cost status for the assigned product
  • Cost Updates: Maintain updates to the costs for the assigned product or module and ensure that cost models are up to date and information is available

12. Procurement Executive Additional Details

  • Procurement Support: Provide procurement support to the respective business groups
  • Contract Maintenance: Ensure timely procurement and maintenance of term contract and or ad-hoc works required for the upkeep of the estates or properties
  • Work Evaluation: Evaluate valuation and variation for ad-hoc works procured
  • Contract Negotiation: Carry out negotiations and recommendations for awarding contracts
  • Vendor Sourcing: Source for new vendors, including the selection and qualification process
  • Record Management: Maintain accurate records of requisition and cost data in the shared folders
  • Report Updates: Ensure working reports and or summaries are always updated and ready for submission
  • SOP Compliance: Ensure adherence to SOP, including but not limited to conducting site walks, tender interviews, etc
  • Policy Adherence: Ensure the organization's procurement procedures and policies regarding soliciting quotes, seeking approval to award, issuing letter of award, etc., are strictly adhered to

13. Procurement Lead Essential Functions

  • Portal Operations: Works within the procurement and purchasing portals (OnPoint Logistics) with other departments
  • Needs Assessment: Liaise with key company employees to determine their product and service needs
  • Market Monitoring: Monitor business trends and product availability to pay the best price for company goods and services without sacrificing quality or delivery times
  • Market Research: Conduct market research and help develop required documents relating to RFQs and other purchasing actions
  • Solicitation Management: Accomplish solicitation through the award process
  • Supplier Negotiation: Nurture relationships with suppliers to negotiate the best prices for the company
  • Vendor Review: Facilitate annual vendor reviews and perform value analysis to identify cost improvements
  • Vendor Evaluation: Administer vendor sourcing evaluations
  • Transaction Processing: Process departmental debits, credits, and purchasing card transactions
  • Report Preparation: Prepare scheduled reports concerning departmental activities
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure purchase actions are within IAW, FAR, and other regulatory guidelines
  • Customer Support: Provide customer support to internal and external customers
  • Team Direction: Provide the procurement specialist with direction, training, and customers
  • Safety Culture: Instill a safety-first mentality within respective work areas and a culture that achieves low accident rates and minimal lost-time injuries
  • ISO Compliance: Adhere to ISO policies, procedures, and work instructions in support of the AC FIRST quality management system

14. Procurement Manager Role Purpose

  • Demand Planning: Understand the demand for all categories, work with the buying team and suppliers to secure the same
  • Specification Buying: Buy to specifications required to operate the plant, analyse and challenge the needs of the business
  • Cost Engineering: Participate in the specification process, using design to cost and redesign to cost approaches
  • Spend Analysis: Complete spend and cost data analysis to drive potential cost reduction opportunities
  • Supplier Trends: Analyse trends in the supplier panel, phase-in and phase-out of products and any substitute products on the market
  • RFI Submission: Submit requests for information (RFI) to suppliers that present the potential to accommodate the needs of the business
  • RFP Creation: Create requests for proposal (RFP) and send them to short-listed suppliers that expressed both interest and the capability of meeting the business requirements
  • Contract Drafting: Communicate with the supplier to ensure all necessary terms are included in the contract draft (price, quality, payment and delivery, etc.)
  • Clause Review: Define and review the clauses in the contract (based on TPRM framework and templates)
  • Corrective Actions: Plan and implement corrective actions and escalate matters that prevent progress promptly, and conduct yearly feedback
  • Risk Assessment: Assess third-party risks (at RFP and on an ongoing basis) and execute risk remediation actions defined with the procurement efficiency manager

15. Procurement Officer General Responsibilities

  • Strategy Drafting: Draft procurement strategies and ensure their implementation is in line with the provisions of the procurement manual
  • Tender Preparation: Prepare tender documentation (RFQ preparation)
  • Bid Analysis: Prepare a deep dive analysis of all bid elements to run fact-based negotiations
  • Strategic Negotiation: Run strategic negotiations with bidders about prices, quality, volumes, lead times, contract and payment terms, framework agreements and related
  • Award Management: Draft award approvals, notify bidders on tender outcome, and draft and sign contracts and purchase orders
  • Report Reporting: Conduct weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports
  • Manual Implementation: Take care of the implementation of the group procurement manual, deadlines, and the budgetary requirements
  • Supplier Database: Develop and maintain the database of suppliers
  • Market Survey: Conduct market surveys and monitor the developments of the market under scope
  • Stakeholder Support: Closely collaborate with and provide interpretation and support to business stakeholders before, during, and after the supplier selection procedure

16. Procurement Representative Key Accountabilities

  • Shared Services: Reporting to the SCM shared services lead and liaising with project teams
  • Team Collaboration: Work in a strong team of procurement officers, senior procurement officers and material planners
  • Category Management: Manage and support both direct and indirect categories across multiple projects
  • P2P Processing: Manage purchase card acquisitions, purchase requisitions and purchase orders through the procure to pay (P2P) system
  • Price Negotiation: Undertake price and rate negotiations, purchase order creation and ongoing management of said
  • Cost Efficiency: Identify price and rate efficiencies and help drive cost savings
  • Contract Support: Support contract implementation with key suppliers
  • Supplier Onboarding: Onboard new suppliers and manage in relevant systems
  • Procurement Reporting: Develop and distribute procurement reports, including purchase order and purchase requisition metrics and non-purchase order payments, invoices waiting for receipting action
  • Market Approach: Undertake an approach to the market for small procurements
  • RFQ Management: Request for quotations, proposals, and tenders (RFQ/P/T)
  • Response Analysis: Analyse vendor responses, manage contract award, and complete post-award management
  • Stakeholder Relations: Build and sustain relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, vendors and client areas
  • Plan Support: Support Leidos' 12-month plan activities

17. Procurement Specialist Roles and Details

  • Help Desk Support: Answer and resolve procurement help desk requests from Dropbox partners, buyers, and vendors, resolving purchase-related challenges, assisting with e-procurement tools and answering procurement-related queries
  • Spot Buying: Handle spot buys across the enterprise to support tail spend management, including all compliance-related activities
  • Global Sourcing: Manage sourcing projects across categories and internationally
  • Channel Management: Support the launch of and maintenance of buying channels (including catalogs and marketplaces) in all regions
  • Policy Compliance: Use P-Cards in conjunction with purchase orders in compliance with the global procurement policy
  • Vendor Onboarding: Lead new vendor onboarding from evaluation to system setup and address invoice issues
  • P2P Metrics: Meet performance levels for P2P critical metrics
  • Payment Partnership: Partner with the internal teams to ensure accurate payment and month-end close cycles

18. Procurement Supervisor Responsibilities and Key Tasks

  • Database Management: Update and maintain the internal database for Windows
  • Supplier Updates: Update the database with new suppliers and existing supplier changes and information
  • Vendor Approval: Support the vendor process for both new and existing suppliers through the Mitie vendor approval process
  • Vendor Coordination: Correspond with vendors regarding prices, product availability and delivery, ensuring all documentation is provided
  • PO Creation: Raise purchase orders to support service, installation, small works and project teams
  • System Ordering: Raise purchase orders on both SAP and CASH
  • Delivery Proof: Obtain proof of delivery for all orders
  • Invoice Queries: Oversee queries relating to both supplier invoices to avoid non-payment
  • Stock Management: Manage the stores and procurement process to maintain stock levels in the engineer van locations and office stores
  • ADI Processing: Manage the ADI walk-in process and send invoices to the Intermetal accounts department for payment
  • Inventory Liaison: Complete and liaise with RSMs following the inventory report being run every week
  • Stock Taking: Supply a monthly stock take on both van stock and stores
  • WEEE Compliance: Manage the WEEE process to ensure stock is disposed of and recycled correctly
  • Asset Management: Manage any loan units and equipment repairs
  • BMS Compliance: Follow the company's business management system to achieve 100% compliance
Relevant Information
What Does A Procurement Director Do?
What Does A Head of Procurement Do?
What Does A Procurement Manager Do?