Would You Take This Job? Senior Buyer — Service Parts Procurement

Senior Buyer — Service Parts Procurement
Employer: Thermo Fisher Scientific
Location: Remote (Global / IES division)
Pay: Not specified
Type: Full-time — Procurement / Supply Chain

What You’ll Do:
• Procure service parts and materials to support global spare-parts needs and operational continuity.
• Manage supplier relationships and performance (weekly/monthly reviews, SLAs, delivery performance).
• Negotiate with suppliers and support pooled-spend negotiations with Global Category Management.
• Maintain and update material master data (lead times, disposition types) and support lifecycle activities (obsolescence, discontinuation, NPI).
• Collaborate with Logistics, Demand Planning, Master Data and Sourcing teams to resolve availability issues.
• Drive cost-reduction and process improvement initiatives (PPI methodology) and own special projects as assigned.

Why It Stands Out:
• Work on critical service-parts procurement that directly affects customer satisfaction and equipment uptime.
• Cross-functional role at a major, global life-sciences company — exposure to international suppliers and enterprise systems (SAP).
• Opportunity to lead supplier performance improvement and contribute to meaningful cost and service gains.

Potential Trade-offs:
• Likely high ownership for parts availability — stressed inventory gaps can create urgent, time-sensitive work.
• Supplier performance issues may require frequent escalation and hands-on problem solving.
• Role may require up to ~10% travel and some overlap with global time zones.
• Compensation not posted — senior procurement roles at global firms often expect clear salary/band negotiation.

Qualifications / Requirements:
• Bachelor’s in supply chain, business, or equivalent experience preferred; vocational certifications (APICS/CIPS) helpful.
• Proven service-parts procurement experience in a fast-paced global environment.
• Strong supplier negotiation, analytical, and communication skills.
• Experience with SAP or equivalent ERP for procurement/material-master activities.
• Comfortable running supplier reviews, tracking SLAs, and leading continuous-improvement initiatives.
• Willingness to travel up to ~10%.

Perks / Benefits:
• Work within a large, stable global organization with formal procurement processes and career pathways.
• Opportunity to contribute to cross-functional supply-chain improvements and cost-savings programs.
• Typical corporate benefits expected (confirm specifics with recruiter) and occasional travel to supplier or site locations.

Here is the link to view more job details or apply.

Would you take this job?

If you were applying, what would be your top three non-negotiables: (A) clear compensation band + bonus/total-comp transparency, (B) explicit remote vs. office expectations and clarity on travel/time-zone support, or (C) guaranteed access to ERP/tools + training (SAP, master-data ownership) and cross-functional supplier-support resources? Which would you pick and why — and what would you ask the hiring manager before accepting (for example: “What is the salary range for this role and are there performance or retention bonuses?”, “Is the role fully remote or tied to a corporate site and how often is travel required?”, “Which SAP modules/PPIs will I own and what support (analysts/ERP admin) is available?”)?

1 Like

If this is truly remote, I’d be in only if the buyer owns obsolescence/last-time-buys; in my last service-parts role, tying regional min/max to install-base failure rates and live RMA feeds cut expedites about 30%… On ‘SLAs’ — without clear expedite tiers and supplier scorecards, you just firefight; @ThermoFisher, does this role have LTB authority and access to field/depot usage data?

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In my last service-parts role, moving critical SKUs to VMI and setting a repair/return blanket PO cut backorders 18% and freed ~$600k in inventory, @OP. I’d take this if the buyer owns supplier recovery (RTVs) and hard SLAs like “48h ship or credit”; otherwise it’s whack-a-mole with RMAs. Extra points for a defined second-source plan on A-class parts to keep field uptime.

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Quick example: pairing a ‘criticality code’ matrix with a pre‑approved FFF alternate list and routing PCN/PDN alerts into a 30‑day cross‑functional review cut expedites about 30% for us and avoided customs hiccups by fixing HS codes up front. I’d be in, @OP, but only if this role can push NCNR carve‑outs and RTV/E&O terms — otherwise it turns into 2 a.m. expedite bingo.

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One thing that moved the needle was setting depot safety stock off MTBF + install‑base age and locking suppliers into 13‑week firm commits with decommit penalties; building on @moore57, add an advance‑exchange pool with core tracking to keep turnarounds honest. Small caveat: it hinges on IES sharing live failure/RMA data and using DDP with a named broker, or customs will eat your fill rate like Pac‑Man.

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