What does a Procurement Engineer do?
Procurement engineers are professionals who are responsible for procuring technical goods and services that are used in the industrial operation of an organization. These engineers must evaluate all new and existing suppliers and negotiate purchase agreements to ensure that the purchased goods and services are delivered as promised. They must ensure that all the machines and equipment are following the quality and performance standards of the facility. Procurement engineers must also choose appropriate suppliers by analyzing and comparing their products and prices.
Procurement engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real procurement engineer resumes:
- Develop and supports of strategic plans to manage projects total spend on designate commodities.
- Lead procurement ISO 9001 2008 task team to implement vendor performance tracking and an effective supplier corrective action/root cause analysis process.
- Manage construction and implementation of new warehouses which include determining racking configurations, picking automation and integrating WMS systems.
- Mentore a new engineer to develop six sigma skills in a lean manufacturing environment.
- Perform failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and safety evaluations.
- Assist sourcing manager with inventory control, sourcing decisions, and ERP material processing.
- Perform BOM cost management; work with category managers and suppliers to maintain NPI cost goals on components.
- Create ISO procedures to track and resolve problems when a vendor's delivery or quality drop below determine levels.
- Coordinate the logistics for moving machines to Mexico including the rigging, transportation, and documentation associate with the move.
- Document and generate the bill- of- materials (BOM), listing all maintenance materials/ parts for a specific maintenance task.
- Coordinate audits perform by various customer QA representatives.
- Execute advance negotiations and purchase of various components and complex commodities.
- Analyze drawings and specifications to determine security requirements for construction and material logistics.
- Analyze material requirements utilizing MRP to ensure flow of materials and services remain uninterrupted.
- Make daily purchases base on requisitions from multiple locations analyzing the quality specification and delivery requirements using ERP system.
Procurement engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Procurement Engineers are proficient in Project Management, Cost Reduction, and Supplier Quality. They’re also known for soft skills such as Speaking skills, Writing skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Procurement Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 10%
Project management and manufacturing engineering of small and medium caliber ammunition.
- Cost Reduction, 7%
Lead engineer responsible for design-based cost reductions, and production optimization.
- Supplier Quality, 5%
Establish supplier quality, delivery, lead-time and cost performance expectations across the supply base.
- Supplier Selection, 5%
Drive early supplier involvement, request for quotations and supplier selection process in collaboration with commodity management teams.
- Logistics, 5%
Coordinate the logistics for moving machines to Mexico including the rigging, transportation, and documentation associated with the move.
- Strategic Sourcing, 4%
Encouraged strategic sourcing to provide competitive advantages and line down avoidance.
Common skills that a procurement engineer uses to do their job include "project management," "cost reduction," and "supplier quality." You can find details on the most important procurement engineer responsibilities below.
Speaking skills. The most essential soft skill for a procurement engineer to carry out their responsibilities is speaking skills. This skill is important for the role because "industrial engineers sometimes have to explain their instructions to production staff or technicians before they can make written instructions available." Additionally, a procurement engineer resume shows how their duties depend on speaking skills: "presented updates on tracked purges/holds and commodity performance in weekly supplier quality meeting. "
Writing skills. Another essential skill to perform procurement engineer duties is writing skills. Procurement engineers responsibilities require that "industrial engineers must prepare documentation for other engineers or scientists, or for future reference." Procurement engineers also use writing skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "perform research and analytics in writing bid specifications and proposals and formal/informal quotations for technology and science commodities. "
Creativity. This is an important skill for procurement engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how procurement engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "industrial engineers use creativity and ingenuity to design new production processes in many kinds of settings in order to reduce the use of material resources, time, or labor while accomplishing the same goal." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a procurement engineer: "assisted sourcing manager with inventory control, sourcing decisions, and erp material processing. ".
Listening skills. A big part of what procurement engineers do relies on "listening skills." You can see how essential it is to procurement engineer responsibilities because "these engineers often operate in teams, but they also must solicit feedback from customers, vendors, and production staff." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical procurement engineer tasks: "communicated status and critical issues to buyers, project management, arra procurement management, engineers, etc. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in procurement engineer job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what procurement engineers do. Procurement engineer responsibilities rely on this skill because "in designing facilities for manufacturing and processes for providing services, these engineers deal with several issues at once, from workers’ safety to quality assurance." You can also see how procurement engineer duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "resolved problems at receiving and supplier quality issues. "
Math skills. Lastly, "math skills" is an important element of what a procurement engineer does. Procurement engineer responsibilities require this skill because "industrial engineers use the principles of calculus, trigonometry, and other advanced topics in mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." This resume example highlights how procurement engineer duties rely on this skill: "provide training and guidance on validation principles, risk management, root cause analysis, statistics, and quality systems. "
The three companies that hire the most procurement engineers are:
- BWX Technologies10 procurement engineers jobs
- Lockheed Martin6 procurement engineers jobs
- Nuclear Fuel Services5 procurement engineers jobs
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Compare different procurement engineers
Procurement engineer vs. Landman
Landmen are referred to as the public-facing side of a gas, mineral, and oil exploration and production team. They are professionals who interact and negotiate directly with landowners for the acquisition of gas and oil drilling leases. Their duties include acquiring subsurface mineral rights from the landowners. They negotiate mineral rights, which include marketing and leasing right from the owner. The skills necessary for the job include management skills, leadership, communication skills, and attention to detail.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between procurement engineers and landman. For instance, procurement engineer responsibilities require skills such as "project management," "cost reduction," "supplier quality," and "supplier selection." Whereas a landman is skilled in "ownership reports," "title searches," "due diligence," and "right-of-way." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, landmen reach lower levels of education than procurement engineers. Landmen are 9.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 8.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Procurement engineer vs. Senior contract administrator/contract administrator
A purchasing assistant is responsible for obtaining raw materials and goods for a business or company. They primarily function to assist purchasing managers or supervisors by keeping records, maintaining inventory, reviewing purchase orders, and monitoring shipments and deliveries. Furthermore, a purchasing assistant may perform administrative support tasks ranging from arranging appointments and managing schedules, answering calls and inquiries, reaching out to vendors and suppliers, producing reports, and coordinating with various departments to ensure the smooth flow of products within the company.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real procurement engineer resumes. While procurement engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "project management," "cost reduction," "supplier quality," and "supplier selection," senior contract administrators/contract administrators use skills like "contract administration," "proposal preparation," "contract management," and "contract terms."
Senior contract administrators/contract administrators may earn a lower salary than procurement engineers, but senior contract administrators/contract administrators earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $97,980. On the other hand, procurement engineers receive higher pay in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $83,858.senior contract administrators/contract administrators earn similar levels of education than procurement engineers in general. They're 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Procurement engineer vs. Purchasing assistant
A senior agent manages incoming calls, generates leads, and schedules appointments for important meetings. They must accurately track and respond to the internet leads and provide top quality customer service to the clients. Their job also requires them to travel to multiple countries to monitor company functions. They must also estimate the costs of infrastructure and construction projects.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from procurement engineer resumes include skills like "project management," "cost reduction," "supplier quality," and "supplier selection," whereas a purchasing assistant is more likely to list skills in "purchase requisitions," "customer service," "data entry," and "pos. "
Purchasing assistants make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $41,542. On the other hand, procurement engineers are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $83,858.When it comes to education, purchasing assistants tend to earn lower degree levels compared to procurement engineers. In fact, they're 10.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Procurement engineer vs. Senior agent
Even though a few skill sets overlap between procurement engineers and senior agents, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a procurement engineer might have more use for skills like "project management," "cost reduction," "supplier quality," and "supplier selection." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of senior agents require skills like "right-of-way," "real estate," "sr," and "work ethic. "
Senior agents enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $59,581. For comparison, procurement engineers earn the highest salary in the technology industry.senior agents reach lower levels of education compared to procurement engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 8.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of procurement engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
