Purchasing Specialist III ( Purchasing & Compliance)

SUMMARY In addition to the duties and tasks performed by the Purchasing Compliance Specialist II, the Purchasing Compliance Specialist III is responsible for activities in procuring goods and services for the City, including guiding Departments through standard procurements (with assistance from the Purchasing Manager when needed) from solicitation to contract close-out. This position executes and supports tasks related to procurement and purchasing including processing, handling, and maintaining data/records to accomplish procurement and purchasing operations in the City.

Maintains a detailed knowledge of procurement laws related to their duties and a strong knowledge of City Policies. This position also manages the surplus item auction process for the City and serves as a back-up to the Purchasing Compliance Manager.

The ideal candidate will have a background in contracts or procurement, strong attention to detail and accuracy, high standards of quality and personal integrity, be a self-starter and good at managing deadlines, able to communicate professionally via telephone, email and in person, be proficient in Microsoft Office Programs (Excel, Word, etc.) and possess a strong ability to work collaboratively with varying personalities and work styles.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Reporting relationships, work assignments, and work schedules may be subject to change in order to meet City needs or operational requirements.

Attendance at work and the ability to get along with the public, supervisors, and co-workers are essential elements of this position. Other duties may be assigned.

Work with City Departments to guide them through standard procurements and navigate purchasing needs/processes; including initializing City wide solutions or IDIQ contracts for City wide use when applicable. This duty is performed daily.

Writes standard solicitation documents, overseeing the solicitation process from beginning to end; including attending bid openings, pre-bid meetings, review bid packages and bid tabulations, assist in the final evaluation of solicitations for bid awards, and contract drafting. This duty is performed weekly.

Complete procurement contract templates and assist other Departments in filling in/using standard templates for work procured outside of the Purchasing Division of the Legal Department; in doing so looking for ways to standardize and improve processes. This duty is performed weekly.

Manage the surplus auction processes; including preparing items for City Council, creating and maintaining a master list of items declared surplus, overseeing the online auction, and coordinating with other departments to properly dispose of surplus items. This duty is performed monthly.

Assist Purchasing Manager is training initiatives, process improvements, and other tasks as needed; including document review. This duty is performed daily.

Serve as back-up to the Purchasing Compliance Manager and Purchasing Compliance Specialist II processing and approving requisition requests into purchase orders according to City Purchasing Policy, and other back-up duties.

Assists the Purchasing Manager in the creation and process of complex solicitations; including managing solicitation tasks such as distributing and posting packets, maintaining known document holders, writing and distributing addenda and RFI responses, and attending or leading pre-bid meetings, and bid openings. This duty is performed weekly.

Run and provide Purchase Order reports and other financial system reports when needed; including assisting in the Year-End process annually. This duty is performed monthly.

Assist Purchasing Compliance Specialist II with managing the shared Purchasing email. This duty is performed daily.

Enter contracts in Munis for other departments as needed. This duty is performed weekly.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES None.

QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE High School Diploma or GED equivalent required, night, trade extension, or correspondence school specialized training equal to two years of college. College level businesses classes or degree preferred, 4+ years in a professional office environment with increasing responsibilities, 2+ years prior purchasing or contracts experience preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience. Prior purchasing experience preferred.

LANGUAGE SKILLSMust possess a basic knowledge of office terminology and business English.

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write complex documents, reports, and correspondence. Ability to effectively communicate information and respond to questions in person-to-person and small group situations with customers, clients, general public, and other employees of the organization.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS Able to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several known variables in situations of a routine nature. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.

REQUIRED CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Possession of a valid Driver's License.

Two-year degree or equivalent.

4 years of experience in a professional, business setting or equivalent.

PREFERRED CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

Notary Public.

Bilingual.

Certified Purchasing Professional.

Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO).

SOFTWARE SKILLS REQUIRED

Computer training in Microsoft Office.

Intermediate: Contact Management, Word Processing/Typing.

Intermediate: 10-key, Payroll Systems, Presentation/PowerPoint, Spreadsheet/Excel.

Preference for familiarity with MUNIS or CivicClerk.

INITIATIVE AND INGENUITY:

SUPERVISION RECEIVED Under general supervision where standard practice enables the employee to proceed alone on routine work, referring all questionable cases to supervisor. Ability to initiate problem solving without direction.

PLANNING Moderate responsibility with regard to general assignments in planning time, method, manner, and/or sequence of performance of own work, in addition, the work operations of a group of employees, all performing basically the same type of work.

DECISION MAKING Performs work operations which permit moderate opportunity for decision-making of moderate importance, and which would not only affect the operating efficiency of the individual involved but would also affect the work operation of other employees and/or clientele to a moderate degree.

MENTAL DEMAND Moderate mental demand. Operations requiring almost continuous attention, but work is sufficiently repetitive that a habit cycle is formed; operations requiring intermittent directed thinking to determine or select materials, equipment, or operations where variable sequences may be selected by the employee.

ANALYTICAL ABILITY/PROBLEM SOLVING Moderately structured. Fairly broad activities using moderately structured procedures with only generally guided supervision. Interpolation of learned things in somewhat varied situations.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUNDS, PROPERTY, AND EQUIPMENT Regularly responsible for property where carelessness or error would result in only moderate damage or moderate monetary loss. Almost continuous care and attention is required when handling this property in order to prevent loss.

ACCURACY Probably errors of internal and external scope would have a moderate effect on the operations efficiency of the organization component concerned. Errors might possibly go undetected for a considerable period of time, thereby creating an inaccurate picture of an existing situation.

Could cause further errors, losses, or embarrassment to the organization. The possibility for error is always present due to the requirements of the job.

ACCOUNTABILITY:

FREEDOM TO ACT Standardized. Accepted processes covered by well-defined standardized policies and procedures with supervisory review.

ANNUAL MONETARY IMPACT The amount of annual dollars generated based on the job's essential duties / responsibilities. Examples would include direct dollar generation, departmental budget, proper handling of organization funds, expense control, savings from new techniques or reduction in manpower.

Moderate. Job creates a monetary impact for the organization up to an annual level of $500,000.00.

IMPACT ON END RESULTS Moderate impact. Job has some impact on the organization's end results, but still from an indirect level. Provides assistance and support services that facilitate decision making by others.

PUBLIC CONTACT Regular contact with patrons, either within the office or in the field. May also involve occasional self-initiated contacts to patrons. Lack of tact and judgment may result in a limited type of problem for the organization.

EMPLOYEE CONTACT Contacts of considerable importance within the department or office, such as those required in coordination of effort, or frequent contacts with other departments or offices, generally in the normal course of performing duties. Requires tact in discussing problems and presenting data and making recommendations, but responsibility for action and decision reverts to others.

USE OF MACHINES, EQUIPMENT AND/OR COMPUTERS Occasional use of highly complex machines and equipment; specialized or advanced software programs.

WORKING CONDITIONS Periodically exposed to such elements as noise, intermittent standing, walking, pushing, carrying, or lifting; but none are present to the extent of being disagreeable. This class specification should not be interpreted as all-inclusive.

It is intended to identify the major responsibilities and requirements of this job. The incumbents may be requested to perform job-related responsibilities and tasks other than those stated in this description, but which are commensurate with similar levels of responsibility.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS The following work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and expectations.

While performing the functions of this job, the employee is continuously required to talk or hear; regularly required to sit, reach with hands and arms; frequently required to walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and occasionally required to stand, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds; regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision; and color vision.

Moderate diversity, low physical. Work activities which allow for a moderate amount of diversity in the performance of tasks which are not as varied as those positions with high-level diversity and decision-making.

HEALTH BENEFITS

The City of Bentonville is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to eligible, full-time employees who work 30 hours per week. This year's benefits package can be viewed here:

https://www.bentonvillear.com/DocumentCenter/View/15032/City-of-Bentonville-2024-Benefits-Guide

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Establish and maintain effective working relations with others.

Communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Organize and prioritize workload.

Understand and follow written and oral directions.

Knowledge of modern office equipment, including MS Word software.

Effectively operate photographic, video photographic, and sound recording equipment.

Perform related duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Ability to problem solve with little direction.

Initiative to identify process shortfalls and implement corrective solutions.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.