Procurement Co-Op - UniFirst

The ideal Supply Chain Intern/Co-op candidate is interested in all aspects of supply chain. Specifically, this candidate should be interested in demand planning and the merchandise required to support our existing and new customers. Inventory optimization, cost savings, and focus on customer service are all key areas of focus for this role. The Supply Chain Intern/Co-op that joins the Demand Planning team, will be an important part of a cross-functional working group focused on analyzing data to support our inventory optimization initiative.

Essential Functions:
• Work with the Head of Planning & a cross-functional team to identify product opportunities to maximize our inventory investments and increase customer satisfaction.
• Build relationships within the organization to understand each department’s processes and objectives within the supply chain related to product lifecycle and inventory optimization.
• Use Microsoft Office skills, mainly Excel and PowerPoint to consolidate data, complete analytics, and develop proposals to share with leadership.

The Procurement Co-Op role is a new position in a quickly growing Procurement Department. This is an opportunity to play a large role in transforming the Procurement function within UniFirst. The Procurement Co-Op will report to the Procurement Manager and will support the manager on procurement initiatives of increasing complexity based on their experience.

This position will be a hybrid work arrangement, with an expectation of 2-3 days per week in the office in Wilmington, MA.

The Procurement Co-Op will support the delivery of savings and contribute to category management through the following work:

• Develop RFIs to qualify vendors
• Develop RFPs that aid in price discovery and vendor selection
• Solicit and qualify potential new vendors for assigned categories
• Research and resolve vendor and product issues which may include issues related to product lead times, availability, quality, and performance
• Provide ongoing Supplier Relationship Management support
• Actively manage vendor price change requests, validate them against existing contract rates, calculate cost impact and update vendor pricing on the UniFirst intranet
• Provide procurement research and analytical support on initiatives led by their Manager
• Routinely validate and update corporate intranet site for assigned categories information
• Maintain the contract database with current agreement information
• Promptly respond to field location product inquiries and ensure field compliance to vendor agreements

• Working towards an undergraduate degree, preferably in Supply Chain
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with the ability to use Excel at an intermediate level or a strong aptitude for learning Excel
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Strong time-management, and problem-solving skills
• Fluent in English

UniFirst is an international leader in garment & Uniform services industry. We currently employ over 16,000 team partners who serve 300,000 business customer locations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

UniFirst is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or employment against any individual on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ancestry, religion, physical or mental disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, citizenship, or any other factor protected by anti-discrimination laws