Long Beach Transit Career Opportunities



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Senior Buyer
CA - Long Beach
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Apply Your Procurement Expertise and Analytical Abilities to Diverse, High Profile Projects at One of U.S.' Foremost Public Transit Agencies

This is an opportunity to combine your goal-orientation and high energy with your extensive knowledge to drive procurements for a diverse array of important, highly visible projects. This is cradle-to-grave procurement/contract administration for multiple projects that fall under the categories of capital improvement and services. 

This work requires the ability to juggle multiple priorities, interact with a wide variety of stakeholders and ensure compliance with numerous rules and regulations that impact the transportation industry. You'll be challenged to expand your skills and this role will allow you to build your resume and continually learn on the job. If you have hands-on procurement experience, strong analytical and listening skills and the ability to think independently, we can't wait to hear from you.

Founded in 1963, Long Beach Transit is nationally recognized as one of the largest and best-run local public transit systems in the U.S. What's the secret to our success? We take pride in serving an essential community need for the residents of Long Beach and surrounding areas. We value our customers, employees, and the service we put out on a daily basis. This pride and sense of value echoes in our organizational style of taking each employee's input into account, and in the unwavering focus we place on customer service.

Pictured: our Transit & Visitor Information Center, in downtown Long Beach, features artistic tensile fabric membrane structures. The Information Center is part of the Long Beach Transit Gallery.

The Requirements

To be a good fit for the Senior Buyer opportunity you should have:
  • A bachelor’s degree from a four-year accredited college or university in a business, engineering, accounting, project management or related field
  • A minimum of four years of experience in procurement, contract management, and/or project management
  • Experience managing internal stakeholder relationships and effective communication skills at all levels throughout the organization
  • Proven analytical skills
  • Innovative problem solving abilities and considerable initiative
  • Proficiency with MS-Office Suite including Word and Excel
  • A high level of integrity and accountability
  • Knowledge of:
    • Public contracting principles and procedures
    • Applicable local, federal and state contracting laws, rules, and regulations governing policies related to procurement
    • Basic accounting, budgeting and cost and price analysis principles
    • Purchasing software solution systems
  • The ability to:
    • Perform complex procurement / contract administration work
    • Analyze situations, identify problems, and recommend solutions
    • Plan, organize, and establish priorities
    • Manage multiple procurements effectively
    • Exercise judgment and creativity in making decisions
    • Communicate effectively, precisely and persuasively both in writing and orally
    • Establish and maintain effective and productive working relationships with internal and external customers
    • Negotiate procurement transactions effectively by developing negotiation strategies
    • Prepare specifications, Invitations for Bids, Request for Proposals, and contracts
    • Plan, organize, and coordinate the procurement work of an integrated project team
    • Prepare written reports, contracts, specifications and correspondence
    • Compile and analyze complex data
    • Perform price and cost analysis
    • Interact professionally with various levels of Long Beach Transit (LBT) employees and external stakeholders including vendors 
  • Valid CA Class C license and a good driving record required

The Role

Reporting to the Manager of Purchasing, you will be the most senior of the staff, which includes two Buyers and one staff intern. The Manager believes in fairness and equity while holding each team member to the highest level of standards and accountability. If you can manage your workload and perform your job duties with minimal supervision, you'd fit in well. 

What it's like to do this job

At any given time, you will be working on anywhere from 6-10 procurements ranging in size and complexity. This is a fast-paced work environment. We are in the process of migrating to an E-Procurement System (PlanetBids) and it will be in place by the time you join us.  

Day-to-day you can expect to be preparing solicitations, finalizing contracts and purchase orders, or in constant communication with staff, vendors, and stakeholders via phone calls, in-person meetings, and written correspondence. You will spend a good deal of your time at your computer creating solicitations and finalizing contracts. 

This is not a role where you can focus on one project at a time. Many organizations ask for the ability to multi-task but we really mean it. For example, you may be at your desk concentrating on putting together multiple solicitations with varying priorities and deadlines but be continually interrupted to respond to various staff and stakeholders requests. 

Examples of Procurements

If you like to be busy and enjoy variety, this role tends to be fun because you get to learn a lot about what a transit organization requires to operate with various needs for materials and professional services.  Projects will be diverse, but to give you an idea, here are just a few examples of projects you may find yourself procuring:
  • Replacement buses and service vehicles 
  • Photovoltaic panels for our facilities
  • Bus shelters and amenities
  • Insurance broker services
  • IT infrastructure
  • Various hardware and software support license agreements
  • A&E services for various construction projects
Once these contracts are executed, we would look to you to oversee their fulfillment acting as intermediary between the vendors and Long Beach Transit, handling contractual issues as they arise, ensuring the project is ultimately fulfilled to specifications. 

More specifically, you will:
  • Conduct complex acquisitions that require long-term agreements
  • Ensure scopes of work are closely aligned with performance outcomes and independent cost estimates
  • Conduct evaluations such as price analysis, vendor selection, lease versus buy analysis, operating versus capital lease analysis, sole/single justifications, market surveys, and technical evaluations
  • Perform most efficient and economic purchase analysis to identify opportunities for more economical purchases. This includes reviewing requisitions and past purchase reports to evaluate consolidating procurements, establishing annual contracts, or opportunities for joint procurements
  • Perform acquisition planning and conduct market research in order to provide full and open competition to the maximum extent practicable
  • Develop, review, and amend formal solicitations, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Invitation for Bids (IFB) in accordance with Long Beach Transit (LBT) policies and procedures and applicable state and federal rules and regulations
  • Analyze bids and proposals for responsiveness and responsibility and conformance to specifications
  • Coordinate the evaluation for negotiated procurements and recommend contract awards
  • Negotiate contracts, costs, terms, and conditions
  • Prepare award documentation and contractual agreements
  • Negotiate and approve contract modifications including change orders
  • Attend project progress meetings to review contract issues, perform contract administration duties, and monitor contract compliance
  • Arrange and participate in final inspection and prepare contract closeout documents
  • Work with the company’s software systems creating ad hoc reports
  • Develop and maintain positive working relationships with all stakeholders including staff, vendors, the Executive Leadership Team, Internal Audit, Project Managers, the media and the community at large
  • Work safely and take action to correct and/or report unsafe conditions or actions to the Safety Officer
Pictured: one of our fleet of hybrid busses, the first production hybrid gasoline-electric buses to be introduced into regular transit service in the world.

Why Long Beach Transit

Diverse projects
You can count on a steady stream of unique projects of all scopes and size. No two procurements are the same. Not only are the projects diverse, so are the stakeholders for each; you'll have an opportunity to interact with a number of interesting and knowledgeable professionals.  

Professional development
We know you'll bring vast experience and knowledge. At the same time, it's highly likely that you'll learn plenty of new things as you work on procuring a wide variety of goods and services. As regulations change, you'll learn how to account for them within your procurements.  LBT is committed to offering its employees training opportunities. 

Leading edge technologies
Long Beach Transit is a leader in the latest transit technology. Our entire fleet, for example, has been converted to ultra-low emission fuels, and we operate the country's first and largest gas/electric hybrid fleet. We're introducing battery electric vehicles along with WAVE induction charging. Our TranSmart global satellite tracking system helps us provide state-of-the-art service.

Stability and security
Long Beach Transit is financially stable, backed by more than 50 years of success, and is helping shape the future of the industry. This role can provide you with challenges and opportunities for years to come. In fact, your Manager rose to his current position over the years after starting in an entry-level position in another department. Assuming you achieve goals on a consistent basis, there is every reason to look forward to a long and rewarding career here.

Great environment
We take pride in promoting a balanced personal and work life for our employees, and in turn our people take pride in working diligently together to provide top-notch service to our 28 million annual riders.

Industry leadership
We have a national reputation for performance, community service and our forward-looking approach; in fact, Long Beach Transit is ranked in the top 10 best transportation organizations in the country for our size. We set standards to which other transit agencies aspire.

Community commitment
We're strongly committed to being a responsible member of the communities we serve, and maintain solid relationships with civic and community groups. For example, you'll incorporate public art projects into many of your bus stop projects -- something we've been doing for years. We also are dedicated to minimizing the environmental impact of our operations. We provide free bus service on New Year's Eve to promote public safety, and we create special transit schedules to accommodate major events such as the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Excellent compensation
In addition to a competitive salary we offer comprehensive benefits, including a medical, dental and vision plan for you and your family; a defined contribution plan; modern and clean employee facilities, including a rec room, gym and lounge; and more.

Pictured: LBT's unique Passport is a free bus that connects riders to downtown Long Beach's finest attractions and destinations, including the iconic Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, Pine Avenue, City Place Mall, The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, the Convention Center, Shoreline Village, many downtown hotels and Long Beach Transit's water taxis, the AquaLink and AquaBus.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you will be an experienced procurement professional who can hit the ground running. We're looking for a candidate with proven decision making skills and a drive to succeed. If you're a catalog buyer, this is probably not the role for you. Instead, you should have experience with full lifecycle procurement. Any experience with government entities will also be an advantage.

In order to be an outstanding Senior Buyer, you will need to:
  • Build strong relationships with the internal stakeholders and external stakeholders for each procurement you oversee 
  • Be unafraid to stand your ground when circumstances call for it 
  • Prioritize multiple demands 
  • Increase competition
  • Pay strong attention to detail and maintain accuracy in your documentation
  • Reduce costs and increase efficiency
  • Have excellent organizational skills and the ability to keep a lot of balls in the air
  • Have exceptional follow through
  • Bring the motivation to continue learning on an ongoing basis
  • Leverage your leadership and interpersonal skills to influence and motivate others
  • Employ a creative and analytical approach to solving problems
  • Remain flexible as priorities and work demands change

About Long Beach Transit

The story of Long Beach Transit has been filled with challenges, accomplishments, and lots of excitement. Long Beach Transit has earned an excellent reputation since its formation in 1963, for everything from its good on-time record, safety for its passengers and the public, and cleanliness and reliability of the bus fleet, to the popularity of its bus operators. Together, all these things have contributed to the building of a good image for a growing transit system. Not only do we carry more than three times the number of riders as in 1963, but we also have not lost a single day of service for the community. That's over thirteen thousand days without missing a beat!

LBT maintains a fleet of 258 buses, which includes 60-ft. articulated coaches and a growing number of hybrid gasoline-electric engine coaches. LBT has two operating facilities in the city of Long Beach and has nearly 800 employees.

Through the years, with the leadership and guidance of our Board of Directors, Long Beach Transit has continued its tradition of responsiveness to our riders and the community. We have followed conservative policies, expanding services at a pace commensurate with the demand and our financial limitations.

With everyone working together, our future is bright. As we look back on 50 years of progress, we see the firm foundation that Long Beach Transit's future success is built on.

Long Beach Transit is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Pictured: AquaLink is a 68-foot catamaran that comfortably ferries passengers to the most popular attractions in Long Beach Harbor and on down to Alamitos Bay Landing during the summer months. AquaLink, AquaLink Express and AquaBus stops include The Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, Belmont Pier and Alamitos Bay Landing.

This announcement is for general information purposes only. It is not intended to be a job description. Information provided is subject to change. Hiring decisions are not based solely on the above information. Successful candidate must pass company physical, drug and alcohol tests.

Apply Your Procurement Expertise and Analytical Abilities to Diverse, High Profile Projects at One of U.S.' Foremost Public Transit Agencies

This is an opportunity to combine your goal-orientation and high energy with your extensive knowledge to drive procurements for a diverse array of important, highly visible projects. This is cradle-to-grave procurement/contract administration for multiple projects that fall under the categories of capital improvement and services. 

This work requires the ability to juggle multiple priorities, interact with a wide variety of stakeholders and ensure compliance with numerous rules and regulations that impact the transportation industry. You'll be challenged to expand your skills and this role will allow you to build your resume and continually learn on the job. If you have hands-on procurement experience, strong analytical and listening skills and the ability to think independently, we can't wait to hear from you.

Founded in 1963, Long Beach Transit is nationally recognized as one of the largest and best-run local public transit systems in the U.S. What's the secret to our success? We take pride in serving an essential community need for the residents of Long Beach and surrounding areas. We value our customers, employees, and the service we put out on a daily basis. This pride and sense of value echoes in our organizational style of taking each employee's input into account, and in the unwavering focus we place on customer service.

Pictured: our Transit & Visitor Information Center, in downtown Long Beach, features artistic tensile fabric membrane structures. The Information Center is part of the Long Beach Transit Gallery.

The Requirements

To be a good fit for the Senior Buyer opportunity you should have:
  • A bachelor’s degree from a four-year accredited college or university in a business, engineering, accounting, project management or related field
  • A minimum of four years of experience in procurement, contract management, and/or project management
  • Experience managing internal stakeholder relationships and effective communication skills at all levels throughout the organization
  • Proven analytical skills
  • Innovative problem solving abilities and considerable initiative
  • Proficiency with MS-Office Suite including Word and Excel
  • A high level of integrity and accountability
  • Knowledge of:
    • Public contracting principles and procedures
    • Applicable local, federal and state contracting laws, rules, and regulations governing policies related to procurement
    • Basic accounting, budgeting and cost and price analysis principles
    • Purchasing software solution systems
  • The ability to:
    • Perform complex procurement / contract administration work
    • Analyze situations, identify problems, and recommend solutions
    • Plan, organize, and establish priorities
    • Manage multiple procurements effectively
    • Exercise judgment and creativity in making decisions
    • Communicate effectively, precisely and persuasively both in writing and orally
    • Establish and maintain effective and productive working relationships with internal and external customers
    • Negotiate procurement transactions effectively by developing negotiation strategies
    • Prepare specifications, Invitations for Bids, Request for Proposals, and contracts
    • Plan, organize, and coordinate the procurement work of an integrated project team
    • Prepare written reports, contracts, specifications and correspondence
    • Compile and analyze complex data
    • Perform price and cost analysis
    • Interact professionally with various levels of Long Beach Transit (LBT) employees and external stakeholders including vendors 
  • Valid CA Class C license and a good driving record required

The Role

Reporting to the Manager of Purchasing, you will be the most senior of the staff, which includes two Buyers and one staff intern. The Manager believes in fairness and equity while holding each team member to the highest level of standards and accountability. If you can manage your workload and perform your job duties with minimal supervision, you'd fit in well. 

What it's like to do this job

At any given time, you will be working on anywhere from 6-10 procurements ranging in size and complexity. This is a fast-paced work environment. We are in the process of migrating to an E-Procurement System (PlanetBids) and it will be in place by the time you join us.  

Day-to-day you can expect to be preparing solicitations, finalizing contracts and purchase orders, or in constant communication with staff, vendors, and stakeholders via phone calls, in-person meetings, and written correspondence. You will spend a good deal of your time at your computer creating solicitations and finalizing contracts. 

This is not a role where you can focus on one project at a time. Many organizations ask for the ability to multi-task but we really mean it. For example, you may be at your desk concentrating on putting together multiple solicitations with varying priorities and deadlines but be continually interrupted to respond to various staff and stakeholders requests. 

Examples of Procurements

If you like to be busy and enjoy variety, this role tends to be fun because you get to learn a lot about what a transit organization requires to operate with various needs for materials and professional services.  Projects will be diverse, but to give you an idea, here are just a few examples of projects you may find yourself procuring:
  • Replacement buses and service vehicles 
  • Photovoltaic panels for our facilities
  • Bus shelters and amenities
  • Insurance broker services
  • IT infrastructure
  • Various hardware and software support license agreements
  • A&E services for various construction projects
Once these contracts are executed, we would look to you to oversee their fulfillment acting as intermediary between the vendors and Long Beach Transit, handling contractual issues as they arise, ensuring the project is ultimately fulfilled to specifications. 

More specifically, you will:
  • Conduct complex acquisitions that require long-term agreements
  • Ensure scopes of work are closely aligned with performance outcomes and independent cost estimates
  • Conduct evaluations such as price analysis, vendor selection, lease versus buy analysis, operating versus capital lease analysis, sole/single justifications, market surveys, and technical evaluations
  • Perform most efficient and economic purchase analysis to identify opportunities for more economical purchases. This includes reviewing requisitions and past purchase reports to evaluate consolidating procurements, establishing annual contracts, or opportunities for joint procurements
  • Perform acquisition planning and conduct market research in order to provide full and open competition to the maximum extent practicable
  • Develop, review, and amend formal solicitations, Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Invitation for Bids (IFB) in accordance with Long Beach Transit (LBT) policies and procedures and applicable state and federal rules and regulations
  • Analyze bids and proposals for responsiveness and responsibility and conformance to specifications
  • Coordinate the evaluation for negotiated procurements and recommend contract awards
  • Negotiate contracts, costs, terms, and conditions
  • Prepare award documentation and contractual agreements
  • Negotiate and approve contract modifications including change orders
  • Attend project progress meetings to review contract issues, perform contract administration duties, and monitor contract compliance
  • Arrange and participate in final inspection and prepare contract closeout documents
  • Work with the company’s software systems creating ad hoc reports
  • Develop and maintain positive working relationships with all stakeholders including staff, vendors, the Executive Leadership Team, Internal Audit, Project Managers, the media and the community at large
  • Work safely and take action to correct and/or report unsafe conditions or actions to the Safety Officer
Pictured: one of our fleet of hybrid busses, the first production hybrid gasoline-electric buses to be introduced into regular transit service in the world.

Why Long Beach Transit

Diverse projects
You can count on a steady stream of unique projects of all scopes and size. No two procurements are the same. Not only are the projects diverse, so are the stakeholders for each; you'll have an opportunity to interact with a number of interesting and knowledgeable professionals.  

Professional development
We know you'll bring vast experience and knowledge. At the same time, it's highly likely that you'll learn plenty of new things as you work on procuring a wide variety of goods and services. As regulations change, you'll learn how to account for them within your procurements.  LBT is committed to offering its employees training opportunities. 

Leading edge technologies
Long Beach Transit is a leader in the latest transit technology. Our entire fleet, for example, has been converted to ultra-low emission fuels, and we operate the country's first and largest gas/electric hybrid fleet. We're introducing battery electric vehicles along with WAVE induction charging. Our TranSmart global satellite tracking system helps us provide state-of-the-art service.

Stability and security
Long Beach Transit is financially stable, backed by more than 50 years of success, and is helping shape the future of the industry. This role can provide you with challenges and opportunities for years to come. In fact, your Manager rose to his current position over the years after starting in an entry-level position in another department. Assuming you achieve goals on a consistent basis, there is every reason to look forward to a long and rewarding career here.

Great environment
We take pride in promoting a balanced personal and work life for our employees, and in turn our people take pride in working diligently together to provide top-notch service to our 28 million annual riders.

Industry leadership
We have a national reputation for performance, community service and our forward-looking approach; in fact, Long Beach Transit is ranked in the top 10 best transportation organizations in the country for our size. We set standards to which other transit agencies aspire.

Community commitment
We're strongly committed to being a responsible member of the communities we serve, and maintain solid relationships with civic and community groups. For example, you'll incorporate public art projects into many of your bus stop projects -- something we've been doing for years. We also are dedicated to minimizing the environmental impact of our operations. We provide free bus service on New Year's Eve to promote public safety, and we create special transit schedules to accommodate major events such as the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Excellent compensation
In addition to a competitive salary we offer comprehensive benefits, including a medical, dental and vision plan for you and your family; a defined contribution plan; modern and clean employee facilities, including a rec room, gym and lounge; and more.

Pictured: LBT's unique Passport is a free bus that connects riders to downtown Long Beach's finest attractions and destinations, including the iconic Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, Pine Avenue, City Place Mall, The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, the Convention Center, Shoreline Village, many downtown hotels and Long Beach Transit's water taxis, the AquaLink and AquaBus.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you will be an experienced procurement professional who can hit the ground running. We're looking for a candidate with proven decision making skills and a drive to succeed. If you're a catalog buyer, this is probably not the role for you. Instead, you should have experience with full lifecycle procurement. Any experience with government entities will also be an advantage.

In order to be an outstanding Senior Buyer, you will need to:
  • Build strong relationships with the internal stakeholders and external stakeholders for each procurement you oversee 
  • Be unafraid to stand your ground when circumstances call for it 
  • Prioritize multiple demands 
  • Increase competition
  • Pay strong attention to detail and maintain accuracy in your documentation
  • Reduce costs and increase efficiency
  • Have excellent organizational skills and the ability to keep a lot of balls in the air
  • Have exceptional follow through
  • Bring the motivation to continue learning on an ongoing basis
  • Leverage your leadership and interpersonal skills to influence and motivate others
  • Employ a creative and analytical approach to solving problems
  • Remain flexible as priorities and work demands change

About Long Beach Transit

The story of Long Beach Transit has been filled with challenges, accomplishments, and lots of excitement. Long Beach Transit has earned an excellent reputation since its formation in 1963, for everything from its good on-time record, safety for its passengers and the public, and cleanliness and reliability of the bus fleet, to the popularity of its bus operators. Together, all these things have contributed to the building of a good image for a growing transit system. Not only do we carry more than three times the number of riders as in 1963, but we also have not lost a single day of service for the community. That's over thirteen thousand days without missing a beat!

LBT maintains a fleet of 258 buses, which includes 60-ft. articulated coaches and a growing number of hybrid gasoline-electric engine coaches. LBT has two operating facilities in the city of Long Beach and has nearly 800 employees.

Through the years, with the leadership and guidance of our Board of Directors, Long Beach Transit has continued its tradition of responsiveness to our riders and the community. We have followed conservative policies, expanding services at a pace commensurate with the demand and our financial limitations.

With everyone working together, our future is bright. As we look back on 50 years of progress, we see the firm foundation that Long Beach Transit's future success is built on.

Long Beach Transit is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Pictured: AquaLink is a 68-foot catamaran that comfortably ferries passengers to the most popular attractions in Long Beach Harbor and on down to Alamitos Bay Landing during the summer months. AquaLink, AquaLink Express and AquaBus stops include The Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, Belmont Pier and Alamitos Bay Landing.

This announcement is for general information purposes only. It is not intended to be a job description. Information provided is subject to change. Hiring decisions are not based solely on the above information. Successful candidate must pass company physical, drug and alcohol tests.
Long Beach Transit is an equal opportunity employer and in compliance with federal and state laws, does not discriminate in employment practice on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic group ancestry, religious creed, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender expression or sex.
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