A Purchasing Assistant assists buyers and staff in the purchasing or procurement department of a business or store. Assists with checking and completing purchase orders, communicates with vendors and suppliers, maintains records and provides data entry.
1.Possession of an Associate's Degree, or higher, in Administrative Professional, Business Administration, Office Technology, Secretarial Science, or a closely related field, AND one (1) year of full-time paid clerical experience, or its part-time equivalent, which included purchasing, requisitioning and/or bidding activities; OR 2.Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma AND three (3) years of full-time paid work experience, or its part time equivalent, as described in (1) above; OR 3.An equivalent combination of education and experience as defined by (1) and (2) above.
SPECIAL NOTE
EDUCATION:
Your degree must have been awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Secretary of Education. If your degree was awarded by an educational institution outside the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. A list of acceptable companies who provide this service can be found on the Internet at http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/degrees.cfm. You must pay the required evaluation fee.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS
The position is responsible for performing a variety of technical clerical tasks to assist professional purchasing staff in the compilation, typing, review and monitoring of a variety of contracts inclusive of specifications and bidding procedures. An employee in this class acts as liaison between purchasing personnel, agency department personnel, vendors, and the public regarding general information relative to contracts, contract procedures. The work is supervised by professional purchasing employees who review work upon completion of assignments. Supervision is not exercised by an employee in this class. Does related work as required.
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES
(Illustrative only) Tracks and maintains contract expiration dates for software purchases and criteria for renewal of subscription; Maintains a directory of vendors, software subscription and related files; Reviews requisitions and licenses subscriptions with departments and district; Creates orders in procurement software system; Summarizes quotes and pricing submitted by vendors; Contacts vendors and initiates renewal process for software; Initiates and drafts correspondence with departments regarding extending or cancelling software subscriptions; Communicates with vendors regarding software subscriptions that are being cancelled or extended; Compiles pertinent information and types notices to concerned departments advising them of contract terms; Maintains various software asset files; Organizes and types specifications into standard format for contracts; Maintains files and related records for contracts and agreements; May do miscellaneous data entry as required. Continued on Page 2
