Plains is an industry-leading transportation and midstream provider specializing in transportation, storage, processing and marketing solutions for crude oil. We own an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage and gathering assets in key oil producing basins and transportation corridors and at major market hubs in the United States and Canada. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
We’re on the lookout for passionate self‑starters who thrive in fast‑moving, collaborative, and innovative environments.
Position Summary
The primary focus of the Senior Associate, Procurement role is to convert approved, complete requisitions into accurate and compliant purchase orders with speed, accuracy, and strong customer service. The Buyer owns the day-to-day PO lifecycle for assigned materials or services, geography, or business area, using contracts, preferred suppliers, and Oracle Fusion workflows ensuring timely execution, cost effectiveness, and adherence to procurement policies and procedures. Working closely with suppliers and cross-functional teams, the Buyer determines the appropriate buying channel, leverages existing contracts and preferred suppliers, resolves procurement issues, and executes purchasing activities that support operational continuity and business objectives while driving process excellence.
Responsibilities
- Manage assigned operational buying queues and convert approved, complete requisitions into purchase orders within defined service levels.
- Review requisitions for completeness, accuracy, budget/approval readiness, correct supplier, contract availability, item description, quantity, unit of measure, delivery terms, ship-to details, and required supporting documentation.
- Identify and use existing preferred suppliers, contracts, and approved buying channels before initiating spot buy activity.
- Solicit and evaluate supplier quotations, evaluate price and delivery information, and select suppliers in accordance with approved sourcing rules, ensuring commercial competitiveness and compliance with procurement requirements.
- Create, dispatch, monitor, and maintain purchase orders in Oracle Fusion, including routine change orders, cancellation requests, close out activities, supplier communication, and status updates.
- Coordinate with requestors to resolve incomplete requisitions, unclear specifications, missing documentation, delivery needs, coding issues, or business-priority questions before PO issuance.
- Escalate higher-value, higher-risk, contract-required, or negotiation-heavy requests to Strategic Buying or Contract Management as appropriate.
- Support supplier onboarding requests by coordinating business requirements and working with Vendor Master and internal stakeholders to ensure suppliers are approved before purchase order issuance.
- Communicate with suppliers to confirm order acknowledgment, pricing, lead times, and changes affecting operational needs.
- Support urgent and emergency purchase routing in accordance with the Procurement Standard and escalation path.
- Support troubleshooting of PO, receiving, and invoice hold issues by coordinating with requestors, Expeditors, Accounts Payable, and suppliers.
- Contribute to continuous improvement by identifying recurring free-text demand, pricing mismatches, description issues, supplier gaps, or contract opportunities that could reduce manual buying work.
- Comply with procurement standard, segregation of duties requirements, FAA approval workflows, and Oracle Fusion data standards.
- Maintain accurate documentation, ensuring compliance with company policies and governance requirements, and support audit activities.
- Provide requestor guidance on requisition quality expectations, buying channels, catalog usage, PO status, and process requirements.
Qualifications
- Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Operations, or related discipline preferred; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
- 3+ years of purchasing, procurement, operations support, supply chain, materials, or accounts payable/procure-to-pay experience, preferred
- Working knowledge of requisitions, purchase orders, change orders, contract call-offs, supplier communication, and invoice/receiving dependencies.
- Ability to interpret requisition, PO, supplier, contract, and spend data
- Working knowledge of Oracle Fusion or comparable ERP/procurement/materials management platforms preferred
- Ability to interpret buying guidance, contracts, catalogs, supplier information, and approval requirements.
- Strong communication and follow-up skills with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
- Ability to manage high transaction volumes across multiple requestors and suppliers in a dynamic operating environment while maintaining compliance, documentation quality, and service-level discipline.
Key Interfaces
Strategic Buyers, Business Requestors and Approvers, Category Management, Contract Management, Expeditors, Vendor Master, Accounts Payable, Suppliers.
Measures of Success
- Meet or exceed purchase order processing cycle times
- Meet or exceed SLA performance for volume of open requisitions
- Requestor satisfaction through timely and clear communication on requisition status, issue resolution, and process guidance
- Improved utilization of preferred suppliers, contracts, and approved buying channels. #Plains
The selected candidate will be eligible for company benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, and Paid Time Off (PTO)..
- Cleared criminal history (background) and satisfactory reference checks
- Compliance with the Company’s drug and alcohol policy including pre-employment D&A testing
- This position is not eligible for employment-based visa sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the country of the job location for the duration of their employment
At Plains, our employees are our most valuable asset. Hard work is rewarded with competitive compensation and a top-tier benefits program designed to keep our employees safe, healthy and happy. We work hard to deliver the best results to our stakeholders, and we also respect our employees' need for personal and family time, which is reflected in our benefits program.
We are committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified individuals, without regard to age, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetic information, disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Applicants with disabilities can request accessible formats, communication supports, or other accessibility assistance by contacting WebCareers@Plains.com.
Salary details estimated by job boards such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn do not represent Plains’ compensation structure. We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
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