Job PurposeReporting to the Associate Director, Print Operations, the Senior Print Procurement Analyst owns strategic sourcing and procurement for Great Minds' print manufacturing portfolio, one of the organization's largest categories of annual spend. This role leads competitive sourcing events, builds the cost models that drive award decisions, negotiates pricing and terms with national commercial printers, and manages ongoing vendor performance to protect cost, quality, and delivery for curriculum products shipped to schools and districts nationwide.
The Senior Analyst works as a direct partner to Demand Planning, which sets title, quantity, and timing needs, and aligns with Finance, Product, and Sales to confirm annual print requirements. The role is expected to lead by example in applying AI-enabled tools to procurement: generating RFQs, normalizing and comparing supplier bids, building cost scenarios, automating purchase order workflows, and continuously improving how Great Minds buys print.
ResponsibilitiesStrategic Sourcing and Vendor Negotiation
- Lead competitive sourcing events end to end: define requirements and specifications, issue RFQs/RFPs, evaluate supplier responses, and present award recommendations to Operations leadership.
- Negotiate pricing, payment terms, capacity commitments, service levels, and multi-year agreements with national printers such as Quad/Graphics, Command Web Offset, and other commercial and specialty print manufacturers.
- Develop and execute a category sourcing strategy for print, including vendor consolidation, capacity allocation across vendors, and qualification of new suppliers to reduce risk and cost.
- Own measurable savings and cost-avoidance targets for print spend; track and report results to the supply chain leadership team.
- Conduct cost analyses that account for unit price, paper, freight and landed cost, make-ready and run-length economics, inventory carrying cost, and risk.
- Monitor paper and commodity market trends and advise leadership on timing, pricing exposure, and procurement strategy.
Analytics, Modeling, and Reporting
- Build and maintain print cost models that interpolate vendor quotes by page count, quantity, and specification to support budgeting, reprint decisions, and what-if scenarios.
- Develop vendor scorecards and performance analytics covering price, on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness, and capacity, and lead periodic vendor business reviews.
- Plan, track, and report print spend, savings, and procurement metrics to the supply chain team; identify trends and recommend corrective action.
- Support annual print budgeting and forecasting with Finance and Demand Planning, including variance analysis against plan.
AI-Enabled Procurement and Process Improvement
- Apply AI tools (such as Claude) to generate RFQ documentation, analyze and compare supplier proposals, draft vendor communications, and streamline purchase order issuance, tracking, and reconciliation.
- Identify, design, and implement automation and AI-driven improvements across print procurement; partner with Operations and Technology teams on tooling and workflow design.
- Actively test, refine, train others on, and document AI-powered sourcing and procurement workflows so they become repeatable team practices.
- Maintain key documentation, including SOPs, detailed ISBN print specifications, and vendor print status tracking.
Print Production and Vendor Management
- Apply deep knowledge of print production (paper stock, binding, color, file formats, press requirements) to validate specifications and evaluate vendor capabilities and proposed alternatives.
- Coordinate print schedules and vendor timelines with Demand Planning and production partners; proactively identify and escalate risks from capacity constraints, paper availability, or specification changes.
- Manage purchase order creation, approval, and reconciliation in NetSuite in coordination with Finance, resolving invoice and pricing discrepancies with vendors.
- Visit key vendors periodically to deepen relationships and knowledge of print manufacturing, and conduct vendor qualification and onboarding activities.
- Collaborate with Operations leadership to align procurement strategy, supplier relationships, and policies across categories.
Requirements- 5+ years of experience in print procurement, print sourcing, print manufacturing, or print operations, including direct vendor negotiation with commercial printers.
- Demonstrated experience leading large, competitive RFQ/RFP processes and making data-driven award recommendations.
- Strong analytical skills: advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, modeling) and the ability to build cost comparisons, and what-if scenarios from supplier proposals.
- Working knowledge of print production specifications and processes (offset, digital, binding and finishing, paper) sufficient to verify vendor assumptions.
- Hands-on experience with, or demonstrated aptitude and enthusiasm for, applying AI tools to sourcing, procurement, or operational workflows.
- Experience managing purchase orders and procurement transactions in an ERP system (NetSuite or similar).
- Strong negotiation, vendor management, communication, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
- Highly results-oriented, with personal accountability, urgency, and persistence in completing high-quality work.
- Ability to manage multiple sourcing events and projects simultaneously without missing critical deadlines, and to anticipate roadblocks with proactive solutions.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, Smartsheet or similar project management software, and SharePoint or similar collaboration platforms.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience in educational publishing, curriculum development, or K-12 education.
- Knowledge of instructional materials manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution, including landed cost and freight considerations.
- Experience with AI-assisted sourcing, procurement analytics, or workflow automation platforms.
- Experience with paper purchasing.
- Working knowledge of NetSuite and Salesforce.
Required EducationBachelor's degree in supply chain management, business, operations, information systems, or a related field.
StatusFull-time
LocationRemote
The expected base salary range for this position is $85,000-$93,000, however the offered salarymay be higher or lower than the above range dependent on numerous factors including, but not limited to location, work experience, skills and internal equity considerations. The base salary is not inclusive of benefits or other incentives.
A cover letter and resume are required to be considered for this position.
New employees will be required to successfully complete a background check.
Any communication to applicants relating to the Great Minds hiring process will only come from email addresses with the domains
greatminds.org or
greatminds.recruitee.com. If in the course of the application or hiring process with Great Minds you are contacted through another domain, are requested to provide banking or other sensitive information, or you note any other suspicious activity, please contact [redacted]
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