The RoleThe Senior Buyer is a procurement professional responsible for the strategic sourcing and purchasing of specialized materials and services that support New England Biolabs' manufacturing, research, and operational activities across multiple sites including a cGMP facility. This role goes beyond transactional buying and focuses on developing sourcing strategies for complex, regulated, and often single-source life sciences materials. The Senior Buyer plays a critical role in ensuring supply continuity, cost effectiveness, compliance, and risk mitigation across the supply base.
How You'll Contribute- Support cross-functional stakeholders with strategic sourcing initiatives of raw materials such as reagents, enzymes, chemicals, packaging, and other life sciences inputs critical to NEB operations.
- Establish and maintain strong supplier partnerships to ensure quality, compliance, supply continuity, and optimal total cost of ownership.
- Conduct commercial negotiations covering pricing, lead times, long-term agreements, and supply assurance.
- Identify, assess, and resolve procurement challenges, including supply disruptions, contractual disputes, and compliance issues.
- Serve as a subject matter expert in our SAP MRP / ERP system, managing purchasing transactions, supplier master data, pricing, lead times, and inventory drivers.
- Ensure procurement activities comply with global trade regulations, import/export requirements, quality standards, and internal governance policies.
- Analyze supplier performance, spend data, market dynamics, and raw material trends to inform strategic sourcing decisions.
- Manage multiple high-visibility sourcing initiatives simultaneously in close collaboration with Production Planning, Manufacturing, R&D, Quality, and Finance.
- Drive continuous improvement activities that optimize procurement processes, strengthen supplier performance, and deliver sustainable cost savings.
- Collaborate with Accounting and suppliers to proactively identify, investigate, and resolve invoice discrepancies, minimizing payment delays and financial exposure.
Required Qualifications and Experience- Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, business, science, or a related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of progressive responsibility in a procurement or strategic sourcing role.
- Proven negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex sourcing initiatives independently with minimal supervision.
- Solid working knowledge of global procurement regulations, compliance requirements, and supply risk management.
- Working knowledge of ISO quality standards
- Broad, hands-on knowledge of MRP / ERP systems (SAP preferred) and strategic sourcing methodologies.
- Experience working in regulated environments such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or life sciences manufacturing.
What Will Make You Stand Out- Experience sourcing specialized, regulated, or single-source life sciences materials (e.g., enzymes, reagents, chemicals, or validated raw materials) direct (production) and indirect (non-production) materials.
- A strong strategic mindset with the ability to move procurement from transactional execution to proactive sourcing and supplier management.
- Demonstrated success in negotiating and securing long-term supply agreements and mitigating supply risk in constrained or volatile markets.
- Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and shape sourcing strategy in support of operational and scientific priorities.
- Data-driven approach to supplier performance management, cost modeling, and market analysis.
- Experience driving measurable cost savings while maintaining quality, compliance, and supply assurance.
Estimated base salary hiring range for a Senior Buyer is $75,000-$90,000Base salary is one component of our generous total rewards compensation package. Employees are eligible to receive:
- Annual discretionary profit-sharing bonus
- Participation in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan "ESOP" (eligible after two full years of service)
- Exceptional benefits package at a nominal cost to the employee including a 10% 401k match
Benefits at NEB
Base salary decisions depend on several factors, including, but not limited to, individual qualifications, job location, internal equity, and market data alignment.
