Buyer Planner

About the Role

As an Inventory Planner, you'll play an important role in ensuring KARL STORZ has the right products, in the right place, at the right time. You'll manage a portfolio of finished goods and oversee supply planning activities that balance product availability, customer service, inventory levels, and cost.

Working across Demand Planning, Marketing, Product Management, Logistics, Quality, Customer Service, and our supplier network, you'll turn demand requirements into actionable supply plans while helping identify opportunities to improve service and reduce waste.

What You'll Do

• Manage supply planning and inventory for an assigned portfolio of finished goods, maintaining appropriate stock coverage and customer service levels.
• Collaborate with Demand Planning, Marketing, and Product Management to develop and execute demand and supply plans.
• Create and manage purchase orders, considering lead times, order quantities, pricing, volume discounts, and supplier capabilities.
• Monitor supplier commitments and proactively expedite or adjust deliveries as demand and inventory needs change.
• Partner with Transportation, Warehouse, Quality, Customer Service, and Accounts Payable to resolve shipment, receiving, product, order, and invoice issues.
• Monitor key inventory and supplier performance measures including fill rates, days of coverage, backorders, excess and obsolete inventory, inventory turns, and supplier performance.
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities that increase efficiency, improve service levels, and reduce waste.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's degree in a related field and 2–4 years of relevant experience with direct or transferable skills, or 8 years of directly related experience in lieu of a degree.
• Strong analytical, organizational, mathematical, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong computer and systems skills with the ability to work effectively with data.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt quickly as business and supply requirements change.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate across functions and with suppliers.
• Results-oriented, self-motivated approach with strong time-management skills.

What Will Make You Successful

• Ability to balance customer service needs with inventory and financial objectives.
• Strong cross-functional communication and relationship-building skills.
• Sound judgment and a proactive approach to identifying and resolving supply, inventory, and supplier issues.
• Ability to translate demand and inventory data into timely purchasing and supply decisions.
• Flexibility and composure when priorities, demand patterns, and supply conditions change.

Nice to Have

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Experience working with Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems.
• SAP experience.

Travel: Up to 10%.