Purchasing Specialist

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see

As a Purchasing Specialist on Cengage's Global Procurement (GP) team, you will have the opportunity to work closely with teams company-wide to ensure the timely purchase of goods and services. This is a highly collaborative role that requires you to understand the many purchasing scenarios across our departments and teams and complete purchases quickly and accurately.

This position requires working several hours each week that overlap with the United States business day.

• Assist the Global Procurement and Accounts Payable teams in all aspects of PO creation, monitoring, processing, facilitation, and maintenance, including resolution of PO issues
• Ensure data integrity within Cengage's SAP ERP Purchase Order (PO) System, from initial PO creation through invoice and goods receipt
• Ensure that appropriate approvals are secured for POs
• Perform weekly and monthly administrative reporting tasks

• Create POs for all Indirect procurement categories (i.e., all non-manufacturing-related purchases), using information provided by requesters across our business (e.g., goods/services needed, ship dates, quantities, and item costs)
• Provide basic SAP navigation and process guidance to others in our business who want to create their own POs
• Issue final POs to vendors and Cengage requestors
• Interact with vendors regarding POs issued to them, including securing their acknowledgment of PO receipt, providing guidance on proper invoice format, and resolving questions that they raise quickly and efficiently
• Ensure that POs accurately and completely capture all required information per Cengage guidelines for data integrity
• Amend purchase orders and re-issue to vendors as needed
• Monitor PO status, as well as compliance with Cengage PO policy, using SAP reporting or other tools
• Collaborate daily with PO requestors, Global Procurement team, and Finance to resolve data validation errors and PO discrepancies that prevent the receipt of goods or services or the processing of invoices
• Triage and troubleshoot vendor record discrepancies, investigate and identify appropriate invoice recipients and owners, and support teams with new vendor set-up and onboarding
• Create and distribute weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual data integrity reports (e.g., accruals, GR/IR, open PO, and PO purge)
• Collaborate with Accounts Payable team on regular PO audits
• Independently and continually maintain an up-to-date working knowledge of SAP, attending available training
• Actively participate in working groups focused on improving SAP ERP at Cengage, working on updates in best practices, process, and documentation
• Provide training to new employees in the use of SAP ERP for purchasing
• Provide resolution for sales tax questions and audits
• Other duties as assigned

• BA/BS in Business Administration or equivalent work experience
• 1-2 years' purchasing or procurement experience, or relevant roles
• Extensive experience using SAP ERP/ S4/HANA
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to think strategically and act tactically
• Excellent judgment and decision-making skills
• Very strong organizational and time-management skills
• Attention to detail and strong numerical and mathematical skills
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel
• Ability to collect and analyze data efficiently
• Ability to maintain focus and productivity in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to self-manage and adapt to changes, delays, or unexpected shifts in priorities
• Ability to work in a "remote first" environment with team-mates located around the globe

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at or at

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Note: Selected candidates are requested to enter their Official Name exactly as per Aadhar and UAN records (along with last name) during the hiring process. This is essential to ensure accuracy and avoid any discrepancies during onboarding.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location.  Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.