The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is a consortium of over 40 US institutions and three international affiliates that operates world-class astronomical observatories. AURA's role is to establish, nurture, and promote public observatories and facilities that advance innovative astronomical research. AURA is responsible for managing the operations of the NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, the National Solar Observatory, and the construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, under cooperative agreements with the National Science Foundation, and for managing the operations of the Space Telescope Science Institute under contracts with NASA.This time AURA has an opening for a **Buyer I** position. The person in this roll will perform routine purchasing functions which involve checking requisitions, obtaining quotations, and processing purchase orders in a timely and cost-effective manner, ensuring that all procurements are performed in accordance with AURA Policy, legal requirements, customer specifications and Chile government regulations as well as the United States. This position is based in La Serena, Chile.**Essential Functions**:- Processes requisitions of basic to moderate difficulty.- Develops and maintains relationships with key suppliers and internal customers.- Ensures all procurements are properly documented as well as performed in accordance with AURA Policy, legal requirements, customer specifications and government regulations of Chile and the United States- Assists and informs requestors regarding procurement practices and systems, contractual requirements, NSF standards, and other matters of concern.- Responsible for safety within the Procurement Office and for reporting any unsafe condition to the appropriate Risk Management Office.**Other Functions**:- Other duties as assigned by the Procurement Manager.- All AURA employees are responsible for the proper management and control of all AURA property within their work area, whether assigned to them or someone else. This responsibility includes reporting any known missing, stolen, or non-working property in their work area to their supervisor or the AURA Property Officer.- Responsible for ensuring compliance with government award terms and conditions assigned to this position or subordinates of this position as defined in the Vela Award Management system.**Required Education/Experience/Skills/Abilities**:- Bachelor's degree in Business, Administration, Engineering, Accounting, or a related field is preferred.- Two to Five years purchasing experience is required. Previous experience as an Operational Buyer position is preferred.- Ability to speak and write fluently in English and to articulate specific points of view to internal and external customers.- Proven prior experience in Purchasing modules of systems such as Deltek Costpoint, SAP, ORACLE, IBM required.- Ability to understand general business mathematics.- Experience with NSF-funded procurements and regulations highly preferred.- Ability to anticipate and resolve basic purchasing problems and assist in developing methods to eliminate them.- Ability to perform and accomplish detailed assignments with moderate supervision.- Must be imaginative, resourceful, and patient, have sound judgment, and be able to make independent decisions.- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office.- Ability to pass a background check, per AURA policy.**Physical Requirements**:The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk or hear.- The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms and stoop; kneel; crouch; or crawl.- The employee must regularly lift and /or move up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds (12 kg).- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.- Must possess - sufficient mobility, strength, or dexterity in both arms and hands and both legs to a) reach upward, sideways, downward to work with paper files; b) sufficient mobility and dexterity to utilize computer systems, fax machines, copiers, and other office machines.- Must possess - 1) ability to read and understand instructions, drawings, safety guides, and other written materials necessary to perform job; 2) sufficient visual capacity to perform the applicable functions without assistance of visual aids other than eye contacts or eye glasses; 3) sufficient spoken aural capacity to hear and understand instructions, warning bells, fire
