The Purchasing Agent is responsible for conducting basic- to intermediate-level procurement and contract administration assignments for a wide variety of goods and services in support of the operation of the District. The Purchasing Agent is responsible for sourcing suppliers, negotiating contracts, monitoring inventory levels, and ensuring compliance with government regulations and organizational policies. The incumbent in this role will exercise attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and an ability to work collaboratively with internal stakeholders and external vendors.

CLASS CHARACTERISTICS:
This classification promotes the most effective use of the District’s funds in the procurement of materials, supplies, services, and equipment for the District and performs a diverse range of clerical functions in support of procurement and inventory management objectives. Moderate level of supervision is required.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED:
This classification reports to the Director of Maintenance. No supervision of others is exercised.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

Vendor Management: Sourcing and evaluating suppliers/vendors, negotiating contracts, and managing vendor relationships to ensure compliance, quality, and cost-effectiveness.
Budgeting and Cost Control: Developing and managing budgets for procurement activities, conducting cost analyses, and implementing cost-saving strategies while maintaining quality standards.
Contract Management: Drafting, reviewing, and managing contracts, including terms, conditions, and performance metrics. Ensuring contracts comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
Market Research and Analysis: Conducting market research, analyzing industry trends, and identifying potential suppliers to support informed decision-making and strategic sourcing initiatives.
Negotiation Skills: Negotiating pricing, terms, and conditions with vendors to secure favorable contracts for the District.
Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyzing procurement data, generating reports, and presenting findings to stakeholders to support decision-making, monitor performance, and ensure transparency.
Ethics and Compliance: Upholding ethical standards, promoting transparency, and ensuring adherence to procurement ethics, conflict of interest policies, and compliance requirements.
Communication Skills: Effectively communicating with internal stakeholders, vendors, and regulatory agencies orally and in writing. This includes writing clear and concise procurement documents, contracts, and reports.
Relationship Building: Establishing rapport and maintaining mutually productive relationships.

The functions and duties listed below represent the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific duties does not exclude them if the work is related. Management reserves the right to add, modify, change or rescind work assignments as needed.

Performs procurement planning, oversees solicitation processes, and evaluates bids, quotes, and proposals, utilizing automated procurement systems where applicable.
Obtains bids, proposals, or quotations from vendors, conducts cost comparisons against specifications or scope of work, and makes recommendations for orders or agreements.
Prepares technical reports, correspondences, and other written materials, including charts, graphs, or spreadsheets and makes recommendations for purchasing opportunities.
Attend pre-bid meetings and interacts directly with prospective vendors or contractors to address inquiries, taking meeting minutes to accurately record discussions and agreements reached.
Prepares addenda and issues to all prospective bidders to communicate changes, updates, or clarifications to the solicitation documents following pre-bid meetings.
Generates purchase order documents electronically and maintains formal contract agreement files.
Maintains ongoing communication with vendors and monitors contract compliance and progress, ensuring adherence to quality, delivery, price, and/or service terms of agreement.
Prepare independent cost estimates for formal procurements, ensuring procurement activities are conducted with accuracy, equity, and adherence to established guidelines.
Reviews change order requests and conducts cost/price analysis of bids and proposals, making recommendations accordingly.
Maintains purchase order and contract files in accordance with federal, state, and local regulations, as well as District policies.
Produces memos, correspondence, and reports related to contract processing and execution, responding to inquiries from vendors and District staff.
Negotiates and establishes annual blanket purchase orders, master purchasing agreements, and service agreements, ensuring the best value and alignment with the District’s business interests.
Monitors inventory usage patterns and forecasts future stock requirements, adjusting stock levels to ensure the District maintains adequate supplies to fulfill operational needs.
Conducts research, evaluates findings independently, and makes informed decisions on procurement matters.
Resolves discrepancies in invoices, deliveries, and shipments, ensuring accuracy and consistency.
Prepares agenda items for presentation to the Board, ensuring clarity and accuracy in the delivery of essential procurement. information and makes recommendations for bid awards.
Reports to work as scheduled.
Performs related work duties as required.

QUALIFICATION GUIDELINES:
Any combination of experience and education that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties and responsibilities of the classification is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills and abilities is as follows:

EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND/OR EXPERIENCE:
High School Diploma or GED is required with a combination of two (2) years of progressively responsible purchasing and contracting experience; Associates degree or 60 semester units (or 90 quarter units) of college coursework from an accredited college or university in business, public administration, marketing or related field is preferred. Transit/public agency experience is desirable.

LICENSES AND/OR CERTIFICATES:

Certified Public Purchasing Buyer (CPPB) or Certified Public Purchasing Officer (CPPO) highly desirable.
A valid California Driver’s License with a driving record acceptable to the District.

REQUISITE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL LEVELS:

Knowledge of contract negotiation strategies, contract drafting techniques and requirements, and effectively managing supplier/vendor performance.
Knowledge of effective research methods to assess trends in the procurement industry.
Knowledge in developing and overseeing processes for requests for proposals (RFP), requests for quotes (RFQ), request for information (RFI), formal and informal bids, and quotes.
Knowledge of public transit or heavy-duty fleet maintenance operations and equipment, parts, and tools used in heavy-duty vehicle fleet maintenance.
Moderate to advanced level proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Knowledge of local, state, and federal contracting laws and regulations pertaining to the solicitation and evaluation of bids/proposals, negotiation, and contracts.
Knowledge of effective data management and record keeping techniques.
Requisite reading, mathematical, written, and verbal skills in order to perform the essential functions of the job.
Knowledge of proper English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

REQUISITE ABILITIES:

Ability to develop technical specifications and draft contracts outlining order requirements and terms of engagement with vendors, ensuring clarity and adherence to organizational standards.
Ability to identify and engage with potential suppliers and vendors to fulfill procurement requirements, assessing their capabilities, reliability, and suitability to meet the District’s needs.
Ability to analyze cost/value aspects in potential orders, evaluating pricing structures, assessing potential risks, quality, long-term product/service value, warranties, and other relevant contract considerations.
Ability to accurately perform mathematical calculations.
Ability to oversee and manage contracts throughout their lifecycle, ensuring compliance with terms, monitoring performance, and addressing issues promptly.
Ability to efficiently manage multiple projects concurrently, coordinating timelines, resources, and tasks to meet organizational objectives.
Ability to effectively purchase parts and materials and maintain cost controls as required. Ability to research vehicle/equipment parts and interpret price books.
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, including the ability to prepare and deliver clear, concise, and grammatically correct documents and reports.
Ability to create and maintain good working relationships through excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to engage successfully with both internal and external contacts and the public.
Ability to exercise continuous effort to improve operations, decrease turnaround times, streamline work processes, and work cooperatively to provide seamless customer service.
Ability to be available and work during non-traditional hours such as early mornings, late evenings, holidays, and/or weekends as business needs require; Ability to travel to various locations for off-site meetings and events when necessary.

ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL TASKS & ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by employees to successfully perform the essential functions of this class. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Exposure to cold temperatures ranging from 20°F to 50°F for a duration of 30 minutes walking between buildings. The District mandates strict adherence to safety protocols, requiring employees to wear adequately warm clothing, personal safety equipment, and comply with Hazardous Waste/MSDS requirements (F).

Exposure to high temperatures ranging from 80°F to 120°F for one hour to inspect equipment, buildings, and grounds. The District requires employees to wear suitable lightweight clothing and stay hydrated to prevent dehydration (F).

Exposure to loud noises for one hour while communicating with mechanics or assessing building and grounds issues. The District mandates the use of safety ear protection equipment during such instances (F).

The role entails extended periods of sitting, standing, walking, reaching, twisting, turning, kneeling, bending, squatting, and stooping in the performance of daily work tasks and in the handling of office equipment and supplies (F).

Grasping, repetitive hand movements, and precise coordination when operating a computer keyboard or phone (F). Speak and hear in communicating with internal and external stakeholders (F).

The position necessitates far and near vision for reading reports and documents, as well as acute hearing when engaging in phone and personal interactions (F). Lift, drag, or push files, papers, documents, or inventory boxes weighing up to 25 pounds (O).
Further, this role requires the operation of a motor vehicle to pick up parts and supplies at vendors’ facilities or to conduct district business (O).

Reasonable accommodation for qualified candidates with disabilities will be made on a case by case basis.A background check will be conducted for this classification.

All Golden Empire Transit District employees are designated "Disaster Service Workers" through state and local laws (CA Government Code Sec. 3100-3109). In the event of a declared emergency or any undeclared emergency or natural disaster that threatens the life, health and/or safety of the public, GET employees may be assigned to assist rescue and relief workers. Such assignments may be in locations, during hours and performing work significantly different from the employees’ normal work assignments and may continue through the recovery phase of the emergency.

As Disaster Service Workers, all Golden Empire Transit District employees are expected to remain at work, or to report for work as soon as practicable following a significant emergency or disaster.

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Purchasing Agent