Business and Financial Operations · Holland code CER

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

Purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Purchase raw or semifinished materials for manufacturing. May negotiate contracts.

Also called: Buyer, Procurement Official, Procurement Specialist, Purchasing Agent, Contract Administrator (Contract Admin), Procurement and Contracting Administrator (Procurement and Contracting Admin), Procurement and Contracting Buyer, Purchasing Administrator (Purchasing Admin).

O*NET 13-1023.00

At a glance

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 65% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
Purchase the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible price and in correct amounts.
Formulate policies and procedures for bid proposals and procurement of goods and services.
Prepare purchase orders, solicit bid proposals, and review requisitions for goods and services.
Write and review product specifications, maintaining a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
Analyze price proposals, financial reports, and other data and information to determine reasonable prices.
Hire, train, or supervise purchasing clerks, buyers, and expediters.
Research and evaluate suppliers, based on price, quality, selection, service, support, availability, reliability, production and distribution capabilities, and the supplier's reputation and history.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.1 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.6 / 5
Law and Government4.3 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.2 / 5
Administration and Management4.0 / 5
Administrative3.6 / 5
Mathematics3.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic42
Investigative14
Artistic3
Social16
Enterprising68
Conventional78

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

purchasing manager · DE Einkaufsleiter/Einkaufsleiterin · FR responsable des achats
leather raw materials purchasing manager · DE Einkaufsleiter für Lederrohstoffe/Einkaufsleiterin für Lederrohstoffe · FR responsable des achats de matières premières cuirs
purchaser · DE Einkäufer/Einkäuferin · FR acheteur/acheteuse
ICT buyer · DE IKT-Käufer/IKT-Käuferin · FR responsable de l’approvisionnement en technologies de l’information et de la communication
set buyer · DE Bühnenbildassistent/Bühnenbildassistentin · FR acheteur-décorateur/acheteuse-décoratrice

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Purchasing managers and directors (1134)61,700 employed
Directors in logistics, warehousing and transport (1140)30,300 employed
Managers in logistics (1243)34,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.51. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1023).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test