Build the function, do not just maintain it.
Planet Networks is seeking an analytical, hands-on Associate to help build and scale our procurement operating model while strengthening how inventory, equipment, materials, and fixed assets are managed across New Jersey and Virginia. This is not simply a transactional purchasing or warehouse role. You will help turn evolving processes into scalable ways of working supported by practical controls, reliable data, meaningful KPIs, and thoughtful use of technology.
We are intentionally open to exceptional recent graduates and early-career professionals. You do not need to arrive as a procurement or warehouse expert. We care most about strong analytical ability, structured problem solving, ownership, learning agility, sound judgment, and the willingness to work both strategically and hands-on.
What You'll Do
Build the procurement operating model
- Help standardize the full purchasing lifecycle, including request intake, approvals, sourcing, purchase orders, receiving, invoice exceptions, and supplier performance.
- Support competitive bids, supplier comparisons, commercial analysis, and sourcing recommendations across construction materials, network equipment, customer equipment, fleet, technology, professional services, facilities, and administrative spend.
- Participate in supplier discussions and negotiations under the guidance of the Vice President of Finance & Procurement, and help improve pricing, payment terms, sourcing discipline, spend visibility, and continuity of supply.
- Help build approved-vendor, preferred-supplier, alternate-source, contract-renewal, and supplier-performance processes.
Create practical controls and governance
- Draft procurement policies, SOPs, work instructions, approval matrices, and exception procedures.
- Help design usable controls across requesting, approving, purchasing, receiving, invoice processing, and payment, including appropriate segregation of duties and compensating controls.
- Monitor off-process purchasing, recurring exceptions, pricing discrepancies, and other breakdowns, then help address root causes.
- Partner with Accounting to support accurate classification, capitalization, accruals, cutoff, inventory, and fixed-asset reporting.
Strengthen warehouse, inventory, and fixed-asset management
- Help standardize receiving, tagging, storage, issuance, vehicle stocking, transfers, returns, repairs, retirement, and disposal across New Jersey and Virginia.
- Improve chain-of-custody and record accuracy for fixed assets, construction materials, customer equipment, tools, spare parts, fleet and field-service equipment, and other company property.
- Help build risk-based cycle-count and physical-inventory processes, investigate variances, and reconcile records to supporting documentation and financial records.
- Analyze usage, lead times, field requirements, and construction schedules to improve material availability while avoiding unnecessary working-capital investment.
Use data, technology, and continuous improvement
- Support NetSuite workflows for requisitions, purchase orders, approvals, receiving, supplier records, inventory, fixed assets, and reporting.
- Explore practical automation such as barcode scanning, mobile receiving, asset tags, serial-number tracking, warehouse-location tracking, vehicle inventory tools, and electronic approvals.
- Build or support recurring analysis and dashboards using Excel, NetSuite, Power BI, and other approved tools.
- Help establish actionable KPIs and use data, process mapping, observation, and stakeholder feedback to improve cost, service, controls, inventory accuracy, and operational execution.
What Success Looks Like
- Procurement requests, approvals, sourcing, purchasing, and receiving become more standardized, visible, and controlled.
- Supplier decisions consistently balance cost, quality, lead time, reliability, working capital, and operational continuity.
- Warehouse and fixed-asset records become reliable enough to support operational planning and financial reporting.
- Stockouts, missing assets, receiving issues, unlogged movements, and recurring exceptions decline.
- You progressively grow from an analytical contributor into someone capable of independently owning major parts of the procurement and warehouse-management function.
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, operations, finance, accounting, business administration, business analytics, industrial engineering, data science, or a related field.
- Strong analytical and structured problem-solving ability, including comfort working through incomplete or messy information.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, PivotTables, large data sets, and management analysis.
- Strong attention to detail, data discipline, organization, and follow-through.
- Ability to document processes, policies, controls, and SOPs clearly and communicate effectively with both office and operational teams.
- High ownership, curiosity, learning agility, sound judgment, and the ability to influence stakeholders without formal authority.
- Ability to work regularly from Newton, New Jersey, travel periodically to Virginia, and participate periodically in warehouse inspections, counts, and asset validation, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Helpful, But Not Required
Prior professional experience is not required for an exceptional recent graduate who demonstrates the capabilities above. Experience in any of the following is a plus:
- One to three years of relevant experience, including internships or co-op assignments, in procurement, sourcing, supply chain, operations, finance, accounting, analytics, inventory management, warehouse operations, or process improvement.
- Exposure to telecommunications, construction, utilities, field services, distribution, manufacturing, or another asset-intensive environment.
- Familiarity with procure-to-pay processes, supplier analysis, inventory counts, asset tracking, internal controls, or fixed-asset accounting.
- Experience with NetSuite or another ERP, Power BI, SQL, Python, workflow automation, process mapping, barcode scanning, warehouse-management systems, asset-tracking technology, Lean, or Six Sigma.
Who Will Thrive in This Role
- You enjoy taking an ambiguous problem, finding the facts, and creating structure.
- You ask thoughtful questions, challenge assumptions constructively, and learn new business areas quickly.
- You care about controls and accuracy, but you also understand that processes must work for the people who use them.
- You are willing to analyze a supplier decision in the morning and spend time investigating a warehouse variance in the afternoon.
Career Growth
This role offers broad exposure to procurement, finance, accounting, network construction, warehouse operations, supplier relationships, fixed assets, systems implementation, and senior leadership. A successful Associate can take progressively greater ownership and develop toward roles such as Senior Associate, Procurement Manager, Supply Chain & Inventory Manager, Strategic Sourcing Manager, or Procurement & Operations Manager.
Compensation
Base salary: $100,000. The role is also eligible for annual bonus potential based on company and individual performance.
Reports To: Vice President of Finance & Procurement
Role Mix: Approximately 70% Procurement / 30% Warehouse & Asset Management
