Purchasing Operations Specialist

Date: Jul 24, 2026

Location: CIUDAD DE PANAMA, PA

Company: Grainger Businesses

Work Location Type: Hybrid 

As a leading industrial distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the United Kingdom, We Keep The World Working® by serving more than 4.5 million customers worldwide with products delivered through innovative technology and deep customer relationships. With 2023 sales of $16.5 billion, we’re dedicated to providing value for customers, fostering an engaging culture for team members and driving strong financial results.

Our welcoming workplace enables you to learn, grow and make a difference by keeping businesses running and their people safe. We’re looking for passionate people to join our team as we continue leading the industry over our next 100 years.

PRIMARY FUNCTION

The Purchasing Operations Specialist is responsible for all assigned duties including, but not limited to, maintaining and updating current expected ship dates, receipt corrections/adjustments, managing requirements documents, and large order processing and follow-up for all assigned vendors.

They provide credible and useful information to enable multiple cross-functional teams impacted by Past Due Purchase Orders, GRIR issues, and Large Orders to deliver a better service promise.

The Purchasing Operations Specialist will work on all assigned vendor issues, including past due line follow-up, DC receipts, and proactively address potential past due POs to help vendors resolve short-term (transactional) issues in a timely manner.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Purchasing Operations – Key Responsibilities

• Manage Purchase Orders, inbound receipts, requirements documents, and large orders as assigned.
• Perform PO Maintenance (SAP): maintain updates to PO lines for assigned vendors and those distributed to other team members.
• Identify problematic PO lines that have exceeded the requested ship date and determine the appropriate course of action.
• Ensure back-up coverage is properly coordinated during vacation periods.

Communications

• Report any long-term or systemic issues identified to the appropriate teams.
• Update discontinued and pricing database spreadsheets with newly identified SKUs for communication to Supplier Performance Analysts (SPAs) and Product Manager (PM) teams.

Inbound Productivity (DC)

• Partner with Distribution Center (DC) and Accounts Payable (AP) teams to resolve inbound receipt issues quickly and provide actionable insights that support long-term solutions.
• Maintain tracking of assigned team throughput, workload, and performance of each vendor or DC by Expeditor.

Requirements Management

• Review and approve requirements that do not meet specified criteria.

BSR (Large Order Team)

• Collaborate with Customer Service to add value in large order processing, helping avoid availability issues and reduce handling and shipping costs by enabling direct-to-customer shipments when possible.
• Identify process improvement opportunities and promote best practice behaviors within Customer Service teams.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• BS/BA or equivalent experience preferred.
• Ability to foster, manage and leverage relationships at varying levels internally & externally.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills that foster collaboration with team, business partners and cross-functional teams.
• Systemic thinking and problem solving. Ability to influence decisions with teams without direct management responsibility.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask, quickly learn and become competent in, and effectively apply new skills.
• Proficient in Excel, Access and/or other database and reporting tools.
• Exposure to business disciplines outside of Purchasing is desirable.
• Exposure to SAP desirable.

Grainger is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

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© 2026. W.W. Grainger, Inc. All Rights Reserved. From Fortune. © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited All rights reserved. Used under license. Fortune World’s Most Admired and Best Companies to Work For are registered trademarks of Fortune Media IP Limited and are used under license. Fortune and Fortune Media IP Limited are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, W.W. Grainger.

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