What's the role?The NPI / Project Buyer is responsible for leading procurement activities for New Product Introduction (NPI), product development, and other cross-functional projects from early development through production release.
This role serves as the primary procurement interface within the project team and is responsible for ensuring supplier, material, cost, and sourcing readiness in alignment with project milestones. The NPI / Project Buyer works closely with Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, Planning, Operations, Finance, and suppliers to proactively identify and resolve procurement risks that could impact product launch, cost, quality, or schedule.
Sound Interesting?Here's what you'll do:NPI & Project Procurement- Lead procurement activities for assigned NPI and product-development projects from concept/prototype through production readiness.
- Represent Procurement within cross-functional project teams and ensure purchasing deliverables are integrated into the overall project plan.
- Drive sourcing and material readiness against NPI milestones and production launch requirements.
- Maintain visibility of procurement status, open issues, risks, and critical-path items.
Supplier & Sourcing Management- Manage RFQ activities, supplier evaluations, negotiations, and sourcing recommendations.
- Partner with Strategic Sourcing and Engineering to select suppliers based on cost, quality, capability, lead time, capacity, and supply risk.
- Coordinate supplier readiness for prototypes, pilot builds, qualification, and production ramp.
- Identify long-lead, single-source, capacity, and supplier-related risks and develop appropriate mitigation plans.
BOM & Material Readiness- Review project BOMs and drive sourcing status for purchased components.
- Identify and escalate material shortages, long lead-time items, and sourcing gaps that could impact project schedules.
- Coordinate purchasing activities associated with engineering changes, including ECO/PCO implementation.
- Support accurate material master, purchasing, and sourcing information within SAP/ERP systems.
Cost Management- Obtain and evaluate supplier quotations and negotiate commercial terms.
- Track purchased-material cost against project targets.
- Partner with Engineering and suppliers to identify design-to-cost, value-engineering, and cost-reduction opportunities.
- Provide procurement input for forecasting, business cases, and project cost reviews.
Production Transition- Ensure procurement and supplier readiness before transition from NPI into sustaining production.
- Coordinate handoff of suppliers, pricing, lead times, purchasing information, and open risks to operational procurement/planning teams.
- Support stabilization activities during initial production ramp.
Sound Interesting?Here's what you'll do:Education- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Operations, or related field.
- APICS/ASCM, CPSM, or project-management certification is a plus.
Experience- Typically 5+ years of experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, NPI purchasing, project buying, or supply chain.
- Experience supporting new product introduction and product-development projects in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience working with engineering BOMs, drawings/specifications, ECOs/engineering changes, and prototype-to-production transitions.
- Experience managing suppliers through development, qualification, ramp-up, and production readiness.
- Experience with ERP/MRP systems, preferably SAP.
Core Skills / Competencies- NPI Procurement: Own procurement activities from early development through production release.
- Project Management: Manage purchasing milestones, risks, deliverables, and dependencies against the overall NPI schedule.
- Supplier Readiness: Drive RFQs, supplier selection, lead-time alignment, capacity/readiness, and material availability.
- Cost Management: Develop should-cost/quote comparisons, negotiate pricing, identify cost-reduction opportunities, and track NPI material cost.
- BOM Management: Review BOMs for sourcing status, lead times, shortages, cost, and supply risk.
- Change Management: Coordinate purchasing implications of ECO/PCO/design changes and ensure suppliers transition correctly.
- Risk Management: Identify long-lead, single-source, capacity, quality, obsolescence, and supply-continuity risks early in the project.
- Cross-functional Leadership: Work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Planning, Quality, Operations, Finance, and suppliers.
- Production Transition: Ensure purchasing and supplier readiness before handoff from NPI/project phase into sustaining production.
- Global Collaboration: Comfortable working across suppliers and manufacturing teams in multiple regions/time zones.
- Strong ownership and accountability
- Ability to operate with incomplete information during early NPI phases
- Excellent follow-through and attention to detail
- Ability to challenge suppliers and internal stakeholders professionally
- Strong communication and escalation skills
- Ability to manage several projects/priorities simultaneously
- A proactive rather than transactional purchasing mindset
- Strong understanding of interdependencies between Engineering, Procurement, Planning, Manufacturing, Quality, and Finance
Systems / Technical Requirements- SAP / ERP / MRP
- BOM and material-master structures
- Purchase orders and purchase requisitions
- RFQ and sourcing processes
- Supplier lead-time management
- Inventory and demand planning fundamentals
- Excel/data analysis
- Experience with SAP MDG, KMAT/configurable products, or complex capital-equipment manufacturing would be especially valuable for XRM.
The annual pay range for this position is $77,000 - $96,000
The pay offered for this role may be influenced by factors such as job location, scope of role, qualifications, education, experience, & complexity/specialization/scarcity of talent.
This position is also eligible for a performance bonus or sales commissions. ZEISS also offers robust benefits, including medical plans, retirement savings plan and paid time off.
We have amazing benefits to support you as an employee at ZEISS!- Employee Assistance Programs
The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of requirements, duties, or responsibilities. The Company reserves the right to interpret, amend, or otherwise modify, in whole or in part, any job description at any time, at its sole discretion.
Your ZEISS Recruiting Team:
Jo Anne Mittelman
