Position Summary
The Procurement Buyer Team Lead is responsible for leading day-to-day purchasing activities in support of geothermal power plant Operations & Maintenance (O&M). This role combines hands-on buying, team leadership, and process discipline to ensure materials and services are procured safely, compliantly, on time, and at optimal total cost. The Team Lead serves as the primary interface between Procurement, Plant Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain/Logistics, and key suppliers, and is an escalation point for urgent plant needs, forced outages, and complex procurement issues.
Beyond day-to-day execution, this role is expected to actively demonstrate strong commercial leadership and ownership. The Buyer Team Lead will proactively identify gaps in procurement coverage, including decentralized or non-standard purchasing activities performed outside the Procurement function, and initiate actions to bring such spend under appropriate commercial, governance, and compliance controls. The role requires leadership maturity, sound commercial judgment, and the ability to influence stakeholders beyond formal reporting lines.
Essential Functions
- Lead, coach, and prioritize work for a team of Buyers supporting multiple geothermal plants, balance workload across routine demand, outages, and capital maintenance projects.
- Serve as escalation point for urgent plant needs, forced outages, and procurement issues; coordinate solutions with Plant teams, Supply Chain/Logistics, Strategic Sourcing, and the Procurement Manager.
- Provide onboarding, SOP guidance, and ongoing training for Buyers; reinforce standard work, internal controls, and best practices.
- Support performance management through KPI tracking, cycle-time/throughput monitoring, and regular coaching/feedback.
- Execute and oversee procurement of MRO materials, critical rotating equipment/spares, and specialty geothermal services (wellfield, turbines, heat exchangers, brine systems, electrical and I&C), including contracted maintenance and outage services.
- Convert requisitions into compliant, accurate Purchase Orders in SAP (S/4HANA), ensuring correct pricing, scope, delivery terms, account assignment, and required documentation.
- Partner with Plant Managers, Maintenance Planners/Schedulers, Reliability Engineers, and Operations to validate requisition quality (scope, urgency, and correct material/service classification) and improve front-end planning inputs.
- Track procurement cycle time and separate procurement lead-time drivers from planning/maintenance delays; remove constraints and improve schedule adherence.
- Support outage planning and quarterly/long-range maintenance look-aheads by surfacing long-lead material/service risks and executing sourcing and expediting plans.
- Ensure buying aligns with approved vendor lists, MSAs, negotiated pricing, and sourcing strategies; prepare and issue RFQs, support competitive bids, and document supplier evaluations as required.
- Coordinate with Strategic Sourcing on new vendor onboarding, sole/limited-source justifications, OEM relationships, and long-lead equipment.
- Enforce compliance with insurance and contractor requirements, PO-before-work policies, and audit/internal control standards; ensure complete and accurate procurement file documentation.
- Provide commercial leadership for complex or non-standard procurement matters, including pricing models, contract terms, and total cost of ownership considerations while ensuring cost savings are in focus.
- Lead commercial problem-solving efforts for procurement activities historically managed outside Procurement.
- Identify and address decentralized or maverick spend in partnership with Operations and Maintenance leadership.
- Drive SAP and process discipline (material/service coding, clear PO notes, confirmations, delivery tracking, and timely receiving/GR) to reduce rework and ensure audit-ready documentation.
- Identify process gaps, rework drivers, and automation opportunities; support data accuracy for reporting, audits, cost tracking, and supplier performance management.
Other Responsibilities
- Other duties and projects as assigned by management
- Participate in cross-functional readiness reviews (material status, supplier performance, and schedule risk) and align actions across stakeholders.
- Assist with onboarding of new suppliers and/or internal process changes that impact purchasing and delivery commitments.
- Support staffing coverage planning (PTO/absences) and coordinate prioritization across the Buyer team to meet business needs.
- Assist the Procurement Manager with reporting, coaching, performance feedback input, and identifying training needs for the Buyer team.
- Maintain and update procurement procedures, templates, and standard work instructions; communicate changes and support adoption across the Buyer team.
- Proactively initiate and lead improvement initiatives beyond the defined role scope, including procurement governance expansion and centralization of decentralized activities.
Education, Experience, and Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 7+ years of procurement or supply chain experience, including O&M or industrial operations; experience supporting power generation, oil & gas, geothermal, utilities, or heavy industrial environments.
- 2+ years in a lead, senior buyer, or supervisory role with demonstrated ability to set priorities, coach others, and drive consistent use of standard processes and controls.
- Demonstrated commercial expertise, including complex negotiations and contractual risk evaluation, including total cost thinking, supplier evaluation,
- Proven ability to lead teams and influence senior and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Experience operating effectively beyond formal authority.
- High leadership maturity and decisiveness.
- Advanced working knowledge of SAP (S/4HANA preferred) and ERP/MRP purchasing processes, with strong attention to master data and transaction accuracy.
- Strong negotiation, RFQ, and contract/commercial skills; ability to apply total cost thinking and document sourcing decisions.
- Strong prioritization under operational pressure; ability to respond effectively during outages and time-critical plant needs.
- Clear written and verbal communication with a plant-focused customer mindset; ability to challenge poor requisition quality constructively and drive alignment.
- High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines; proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
Physical Requirements
- The ability to work at a computer and use repetitive motion for long periods of time.
- The ability to occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.
- This position requires sitting and walking.
- The ability to use standard office equipment (computer, monitor, phone) for extended periods.
