Req ID: 142211

Remote Position: Hybrid

Region: Asia

Country: Malaysia

State/Province: Kedah

City: Kulim

General Overview

Functional Area: Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Career Stream: Purchasing (SCM_PUR)

Role: Associate

Job Title: Buying Associate

Job Code: ASS-SCM-BUY

Band: Level 06

Direct/Indirect Indicator: Indirect

Summary

The Buyer is responsible for executing day-to-day purchasing activities and material control to ensure the seamless supply of materials for Celestica's Songdo Factory in Korea. While based in Malaysia, this role operates as a key local purchasing liaison, managing suppliers across Malaysia and Singapore, handling order fulfillment, tracking logistics, and resolving quality issues (DMR/RMA) in close daily collaboration with the Korea SCM and Engineering teams.

Detailed Description

Purchasing Execution & Order Management

PO Execution: Review Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Purchase Requisitions from the Korea team; issue, confirm, and maintain Purchase Orders (POs) in the ERP system in a timely manner.
Open Order & Delivery Tracking: Monitor Open Order Reports (OOR) daily and ensure suppliers maintain target On-Time Delivery (OTD) schedules aligned with Songdo's production plan.
Shortage & Expediting: Proactively identify material shortages; expedite urgent orders and determine optimal logistics routes (Air/Express/Ocean) to prevent production line stoppages in Korea.
System Integrity & Invoice Resolution: Maintain accurate ERP data (lead times, ETD/ETA); collaborate with Accounts Payable (A/P) and suppliers to resolve invoice discrepancies and prevent credit holds.

Supplier Management & DMR Replacement (MY & SG Region)

Local Supplier Alignment: Oversee purchasing performance and delivery schedules for assigned suppliers in Malaysia and Singapore.
DMR / RMA Processing: Handle non-conforming materials reported by Korea IQC/IPQC; issue Discrepancy Material Reports (DMR), request Return Material Authorizations (RMA), track replacement shipments, and ensure prompt issuance of Credit Notes (CN).

Cross-Border Collaboration (Korea Headquarters Support)

Daily Communication: Serve as the primary purchasing bridge between local Southeast Asian suppliers and the Korea SCM/Engineering teams via email, chat, and video meetings.
Risk & ECO Communication: Immediately escalate potential delivery delays, component shortages, or Engineering Change Orders (ECO) to Korea stakeholders to adjust production schedules dynamically.
Inventory Control: align purchasing activities with inventory turnover goals; ensure materials are available without carrying excessive stock.
System Integrity: Maintain accurate data in the ERP system (delivery dates, quantity, price) to ensure the Korea team has real-time visibility of material status.
Invoice Resolution: Work with Accounts Payable (A/P) and suppliers to resolve payment issues or invoice discrepancies to prevent credit holds.

Cross-Border Collaboration (Korea Support)

Remote Collaboration: Act as the primary purchasing liaison for the Korea Engineering/Manufacturing team. Bridge the geographical gap through proactive communication via email, chat, and video calls.
Risk Communication: Immediately notify the Korea team of any potential delays, supplier issues, or risks that may impact their production goals.
Coordination: Attend regular meetings with the Korea team to review material status, engineering changes (ECO), and urgent requirements.

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies

Purchasing Expertise: Strong operational knowledge of the complete PO lifecycle, MRP processes, inventory management, and basic DMR/RMA handling.
Cross-Border / Remote Collaboration: Ability to work independently with an overseas team in Korea; highly responsive and self-motivated.
Communication & Negotiation: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to resolve conflicting supplier priorities and negotiate push-ins/expedites.
System Proficiency: Hands-on experience with ERP systems (Epicor/SAP/Oracle) and MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint).
Attention to Detail: High precision in PO details, shipping document verification, and ERP data entries.

Qualifications & Requirements

Experience: 2 to 4 years of relevant purchasing, buyer, or material planning experience, preferably in electronics manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, precision machining, or metal fabrication industries.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Logistics, or a related field.
Language Skills:

English: Fluent (Verbal & Written) – Mandatory.
Korean / Mandarin: Proficiency is a strong advantage for seamless communication with the Korea SCM team and regional supplier networks.

Working Conditions:

Standard office environment in Malaysia with flexible time zone adjustments when urgent operational alignment with Korea is required.

Attention to Detail: Accuracy in data entry and PO details is critical to prevent shipping errors to the Korea site.

Typical Education

Bachelor's degree in related field, or consideration of an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Educational requirements may vary by geography.

Typical Experience

Qualifications & Requirements
Experience: 2 to 4 years of relevant purchasing, buyer, or material planning experience, preferably in electronics manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, precision machining, or metal fabrication industries.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Logistics, or a related field.
Language Skills:

English: Fluent (Verbal & Written) – Mandatory.
Korean / Mandarin: Proficiency is a strong advantage for seamless communication with the Korea SCM team and regional supplier networks.

Notes

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.

Celestica is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on any protected status (including race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran or disability status or other characteristics protected by law).

At Celestica we are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment, where all employees and customers feel valued, respected and supported. Special arrangements can be made for candidates who need it throughout the hiring process. Please indicate your needs and we will work with you to meet them.

Company Overview

Celestica (NYSE, TSX: CLS) enables the world's best brands. Through our recognized customer-centric approach, we partner with leading companies in Aerospace and Defense, Communications, Enterprise, HealthTech, Industrial, Capital Equipment and Energy to deliver solutions for their most complex challenges. As a leader in design, manufacturing, hardware platform and supply chain solutions, Celestica brings global expertise and insight at every stage of product development – from drawing board to full-scale production and after-market services for products from advanced medical devices, to highly engineered aviation systems, to next-generation hardware platform solutions for the Cloud. Headquartered in Toronto, with talented teams spanning 40+ locations in 13 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia, we imagine, develop and deliver a better future with our customers.

Celestica would like to thank all applicants, however, only qualified applicants will be contacted.

Celestica does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies or fee based recruitment services.

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