Purchasing Associate Location:

Tampa, FL - on-site

Schedule:

Full-time, Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Reports to:

Purchasing Manager, Operations Manager Compensation:

$21-$24 per hour, based on relevant experience Best-fit background: Purchasing, order management, inventory, building materials, or project-based operations About Priano Priano is a Tampa-based luxury design center serving homeowners, designers, builders, and trade professionals across flooring, cabinetry, countertops, appliances, plumbing, hardware, and other interior finishes. Our purchasing team connects sales, project management, warehouse, finance, and vendors so materials arrive accurately, on time, and at the right cost. The Opportunity We are looking for a hands-on Purchasing Associate who can run the daily purchasing workflow with accuracy and urgency. You will create and manage purchase orders, keep confirmations and ETAs current, resolve order exceptions, maintain purchasing data in NetSuite, and coordinate closely with our warehouse and project teams. The strongest candidate will already have practical NetSuite experience in purchasing, inventory, order management, or distribution. This is an individual-contributor role with room to grow: the Purchasing Manager will own department strategy, major negotiations, and the improvement roadmap, while you provide the disciplined daily execution and reliable data that make those goals possible. What You Will Own Daily Purchasing & Material Readiness Purchase orders. Create, review, release, and send stock and special-order POs within established approval rules; confirm item, quantity, cost, freight, ship-to location, sidemark, need date, and vendor instructions before release. Vendor follow-up. Obtain and document acknowledgements, current ETAs, tracking, backorder status, substitutions, shortages, and delivery changes; escalate risks before they delay a job. Order accuracy. Compare vendor confirmations, quotes, and invoices against the PO and approved pricing; investigate quantity, cost, freight, surcharge, and term discrepancies. Returns and recoveries. Process damaged or incorrect materials, return authorizations, replacement orders, claims, and expected credits; follow each item through resolution. Cross-functional communication. Give sales, project managers, scheduling, finance, and warehouse teams clear, timely updates on material status, risks, decisions, and next actions. Pickups and deliveries. Coordinate vendor pickups, warehouse deliveries, direct-to-jobsite shipments, partial receipts, and special handling instructions as assigned. NetSuite Purchasing Operations PO workflow. Work confidently with purchase orders connected to sales orders, special-order and stock purchasing, vendor communications, approvals, shipping holds, acknowledgements, and ETA updates. Vendor and item records. Create and maintain vendor records, item records, vendor item codes, purchasing descriptions, units, subsidiaries, preferred vendors, costs, classifications, and supporting files using established standards. Pricing data. Update assigned vendor pricing and purchasing fields, preserve internal IDs during spreadsheet-based updates, and attach dated price sheets or negotiated-pricing support to the correct record. Receiving and returns support. Research partial receipts, missing receiving, PO-to-receipt mismatches, damaged goods, return authorizations, and unresolved credit items in partnership with the warehouse and finance teams. Daily work queues. Use NetSuite dashboards, reminders, saved searches, and exception lists to manage POs awaiting acknowledgement, past-due ETAs, orders to receive, returns, damage reports, pricing exceptions, and open credits. System discipline. Enter notes, attachments, confirmations, dates, and status changes promptly so the team can rely on NetSuite as the source of truth. Warehouse & Inventory Coordination Receiving partnership. Coordinate with warehouse staff to verify quantities, document shortages or damage, resolve receiving exceptions, and keep purchasing status aligned with what physically arrived. Inventory awareness. Check available stock and returns before ordering when required; help prevent duplicate buys, avoidable rush orders, and unnecessary freight. Replenishment support. Assist with stock counts, min/max reviews, reorder recommendations, and emergency-buy tracking for frequently used materials and consumables. Bilingual coordination. Communicate clearly and respectfully across office and warehouse teams; Spanish fluency is a strong plus for day-to-day coordination. Support for Purchasing Improvement Goals Pricing governance. Help keep priority vendors and high-use products current, identify discontinued or do-not-use items, and document the source and effective date of pricing changes. Freight and landed cost. Capture freight, surcharge, shipment, and order-size data accurately so the Purchasing Manager can improve landed-cost estimates and vendor comparisons. Vendor performance. Provide clean data for supplier scorecards, including confirmations, delivery performance, shortages, damage, price accuracy, responsiveness, and credit resolution. Process improvement. Follow and help improve SOPs, checklists, escalation rules, dashboards, and training materials; identify repetitive work or recurring errors that could be prevented. Scalable growth. Support documentation and data cleanup needed for preferred-product programs, multiple locations, related companies, and future franchise purchasing processes. What Success Looks Like A successful Purchasing Associate creates control and visibility in the daily workflow. Within the first 90 days, we expect meaningful progress toward: Accurate POs released promptly and supported by clear vendor documentation. Consistent confirmation follow-up and current ETA/status information on assigned open orders. Material risks communicated before they become project delays or customer-facing surprises. Pricing, freight, quantity, receiving, and billing exceptions identified and routed quickly. Claims, returns, replacements, and credits tracked with a clear owner and next action. Reliable NetSuite records and independent ownership of the daily purchasing queue, with sound judgment about when to escalate. What We Are Looking For Required At least 2 years of experience in purchasing, procurement support, order management, inventory, materials coordination, distribution, or a closely related role. Hands-on experience creating and tracking purchase orders and following vendor orders through confirmation, shipment, receipt, discrepancy resolution, return, or credit. Strong data-entry accuracy, organization, follow-through, and the ability to manage multiple time-sensitive priorities without losing details. Working Excel or spreadsheet skills, including sorting, filtering, comparing data, and maintaining structured trackers or update files. Clear written and verbal communication with vendors and internal teams. Ability to work full-time on-site in Tampa and to communicate proactively during business hours. High school diploma or equivalent. A college degree is not required. Legal authorization to work in the United States. Strongly Preferred At least 1 year of hands-on NetSuite experience in purchasing, inventory, order management, receiving, vendor records, item records, or related workflows. Experience with flooring, tile, cabinetry, countertops, plumbing, appliances, hardware, construction materials, fabrication, distribution, or other project-based materials. Experience coordinating directly with a warehouse or receiving team. Professional working proficiency in Spanish and English. Experience with vendor price sheets, CSV-based item or price updates, PO/receipt/bill matching, returns, claims, or credit tracking. Who Will Thrive Here You are the person others rely on to determine what was ordered, whether it was confirmed, when it will arrive, what changed, who needs to know, and what happens next. You enjoy keeping details clean, communicating early, and preventing the same problem twice. Compensation & Benefits $21-$24 per hour, based on relevant purchasing, NetSuite, industry, and warehouse-coordination experience. Health, dental, and vision insurance. Life insurance. Paid time off. Employee discounts. Opportunity to grow into broader purchasing analysis, vendor management, and process-improvement responsibilities as performance and business needs develop. Priano is an equal opportunity employer. Employment is at will and subject to applicable Company policies and benefit-plan eligibility requirements.

Pay:

$21.00 - $24.00 per hour Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

Dental insurance Health insurance Health savings account Life insurance Paid time off Vision insurance Application Question(s): o This Purchasing Associate role is fully on-site in Tampa, FL 33607, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., at $21-$24/hour depending on experience. Does the location/schedule work? Does the pay range work, and what rate would you need? When could you start? o Which recent role best prepares you for this job? Give your title, type of business, and years of relevant purchasing experience. o In that role, about how many POs did you personally issue per month, and what was their typical dollar range? o What interests you about this opportunity, and which responsibility would be newest to you? Tell us about your hands-on NetSuite experience. If you have not used NetSuite, answer for your main ERP or purchasing system and name it. o How long did you use it, when did you last use it, and in what type of business? o Which records or transactions did you personally create, update, or approve? Distinguish your work from steps handled by others. o How did purchasing connect with approvals, receiving, and invoice matching in your setup? Where did your responsibility begin and end? o How did you find orders needing attention? Name a search, report, reminder, or dashboard you used or built, and give a recent example of an action it prompted. o What could you handle independently, and what did you need help with? Choose a recent PO you personally handled through receipt or final resolution. You may reuse this example in another answer where relevant. o What was ordered, was it stock or special-order, and what were the approximate value and number of lines? o How did the request reach you? Before sending the PO, what source documents or information did you compare to verify specifications, quantities, price, and availability? o What did you personally enter or update in the system? How did you track vendor acknowledgment, shipping, and receipt, and which steps belonged to others? o How did the order end, and how did you confirm your work was complete? o List up to three other product categories you have purchased most often, with your approximate experience in each. Describe one recent pricing, quantity, freight, damage, receiving, or invoice problem you personally helped resolve. A brief example is enough. o What was wrong, how did you notice it, and what documents or system records did you check? Include the approximate amount or quantity if known. o What did you do first, who did you coordinate with, and what did you document or change? o How did you keep the warehouse or other affected team informed, and who owned the next action? o What was the outcome and approximate time to resolve? If it remained open, explain what was outstanding and how you followed up.

Separately:

Have you used Spanish at work? If so, with whom, for which tasks, and how often? If not, simply say so.

Scenario:

Cabinet installation is in three weeks. The vendor acknowledgment shows a finish different from the designer's approved selection; changing it could add six weeks. At the same time, the warehouse reports two broken cases of tile for another job, with the delivery driver still there, and a salesperson asks for an update on a backordered faucet. o List your first actions during the next two hours, in order, and explain your priorities. o What facts would you verify before committing to a solution, and what would need someone else's approval? o Write a 1-2 sentence message to the cabinet vendor and a separate 1-2 sentence update to the designer or project manager. Identify anything you cannot yet confirm. o Describe one spreadsheet you personally built or maintained for purchasing, pricing, inventory, or order tracking. What did it track, roughly how many rows did it contain, and which Excel functions or tools did you actually use? Give one example of how you checked its accuracy.

o Quick practical example:

Sheet1 has item numbers in column A. Sheet2 has vendor item numbers in column A and current prices in column D. What formula or method would you use in Sheet1 cell B2 to find the price for A2? What two issues would you check before trusting the results? If you do not use formulas, explain your actual method and where you would need help. An honest description of your current skills is useful. Share two brief examples. A small practical improvement counts, and the same example may cover both.

o Process improvement:

What purchasing problem did you notice, and what did you personally change or propose? Was it your initiative or an assigned task? Did others use it, and what changed in time, cost, or errors? Approximate results are fine; explain how you know it helped.

o Vendor result:

Describe a better price, delivery date, freight arrangement, credit, or payment term you personally helped obtain. What did you request, what reason or tradeoff supported the request, and what was the outcome? If you have not had an opportunity in either area, say so and describe the closest relevant example. Briefly tell us about feedback you have received and a mistake you learned from. o What did your most recent manager say you did particularly well, and what was one thing they asked you to improve? What did you do with that feedback? o Describe a purchasing mistake or missed follow-up you were personally responsible for. How was it discovered, what was the approximate financial or operational impact, and how did you communicate and correct it? o What specific habit or check did you change afterward, and how do you know it helped? You may use an example already mentioned and add these details. A small, honest example is useful. Think about a recent busy period when you were responsible for keeping multiple purchase orders moving. o Roughly how many open POs were you tracking at once? How did you decide which needed attention each day? o How did you distinguish a vendor-confirmed delivery date from an estimate, record the latest update, and schedule your next follow-up? o Give one brief example of a vendor missing a promised date or repeatedly failing to respond. What did you personally do, when did you escalate, and how did you keep the affected team informed? o When you were absent or handed an order to someone else, how could they see its current status, outstanding issues, and next action? Describe the methods you actually used, even if they were simple.

Experience:

purchasing or procurement: 2 years (Required)

NetSuite:

1 year (Preferred)

Language:

English (Required) Spanish (Preferred) Ability to

Commute:

Tampa, FL 33607 (Required)

Work Location:

In person