Purchasing Order Clerk at Beta Academy in Houston, TX

Job description

• Beta Academy is a Title I Schoolwide campus. I understand that part or all of this job could be funded with federal funds.
• Position Classification: Hourly / Non-Exempt
• Reports To: Chief Business Officer
• Department: Finance / Procurement
• Position Type: 12-Month
• The mission of the Purchasing Order Clerk is to provide accurate, timely, and organized processing of district-wide purchase requisitions and purchase orders. The Purchasing Order Clerk serves as the primary processor of day-to-day purchase order activity and helps ensure district purchases are properly documented, coded, approved, and processed in accordance with Beta Academy procedures.
• This position works closely with staff, campus and department leaders, Procurement, Finance, Accounts Receivables, and Accounts Payable to maintain an efficient purchasing process from requisition through purchase order completion.

Responsibilities

• Purchase Requisition & Purchase Order Processing
• Manage the district's daily purchase requisition and purchase order queue.
• Review requisitions submitted by staff for completeness, accuracy, appropriate documentation, and required approvals.
• Create and process purchase orders accurately and timely within the district's financial management system.
• Verify that requisitions include appropriate vendor information, quotes, bid numbers, pricing, quantities, account coding, shipping information, and supporting documentation.
• Verify vendor quote numbers are included on purchase orders when applicable.
• Ensure applicable cooperative purchasing, bid, RFP, RFQ, or contract information is properly referenced on purchase orders when provided or required.
• Return incomplete or incorrect requisitions to the requestor with clear instructions regarding needed corrections.
• Monitor requisitions throughout the approval process and follow up on items that are delayed or incomplete.
• Maintain accurate documentation associated with each purchase order.
• Process purchase order changes, corrections, cancellations, and closures in accordance with district procedures.
• Maintain an organized system for tracking outstanding and open purchase orders.
• Follow up with departments regarding purchase orders that remain open and assist with year-end PO cleanup and closeout.
• Purchasing Documentation & Compliance
• Ensure required purchasing documentation is attached to or maintained with each purchase order before processing.
• Verify purchases follow established district purchasing procedures and approval workflows.
• Identify transactions that require additional Procurement review and route them to the Procurement Director before processing.
• Assist in maintaining documentation necessary for internal reviews, external audits, federal program monitoring, and financial audits.
• Maintain purchase order records in accordance with district records-retention requirements.
• Assist with monitoring purchasing thresholds and notify the Procurement Director when cumulative or proposed purchases may require additional procurement procedures.
• Ensure purchases are not processed outside established district purchasing procedures without appropriate authorization.
• Protect confidential financial, employee, scholar, and vendor information.
• Staff Purchasing Support
• Serve as a primary point of contact for staff regarding routine purchase requisition and purchase order questions.
• Assist employees with properly completing requisitions and submitting required supporting documentation.
• Provide clear communication when a requisition cannot be processed and identify what is needed to move the request forward.
• Provide routine guidance regarding district PO procedures, documentation requirements, and purchasing timelines.
• Assist with purchasing and PO training for new employees and staff as directed by the Procurement Director.
• Communicate professionally and respectfully while consistently enforcing district purchasing procedures.
• Help reduce purchasing delays by proactively identifying missing information or documentation.
• Vendor & Order Support
• Verify vendors are established in the district's financial system before processing purchase orders.
• Coordinate with the Procurement Director when new vendor setup or vendor information updates are required.
• Assist Finance and Procurement Director with communicating with vendors regarding routine PO documentation, order status, pricing discrepancies, or other transactional matters.
• Assist all departments with resolving routine discrepancies between purchase orders, quotes, invoices, and received items.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable when PO corrections or supporting documentation are needed before an invoice can be processed.
• Escalate significant vendor, pricing, contract, or performance concerns to the Procurement Director.
• Financial System & Record Accuracy
• Maintain accurate purchase order information within the district's financial management system.
• Verify account codes, purchase descriptions, quantities, pricing, vendor information, and supporting references before final processing.
• Assist with correcting purchasing transactions when errors are identified.
• Run routine purchase order reports and provide information regarding open, pending, completed, or outstanding purchase orders to the Chief Business and Finance Officers.
• Assist Procurement and Finance with fiscal year-end purchasing deadlines, PO liquidation, rollover, and closeout activities.
• Maintain electronic purchasing records in an organized and audit-ready manner.
• District Purchasing Operations
• Support a high-volume purchasing environment serving multiple campuses and departments.
• Prioritize purchase requests based on established procedures, deadlines, operational needs, and direction from the Procurement Director.
• Maintain accurate records of the status of purchase requests and provide timely updates when requested.
• Assist with special purchasing projects, large orders, campus openings, summer purchasing, and beginning-of-year purchasing activities.
• Support Procurement and Business Office operations during peak purchasing periods.
• Perform other purchasing, procurement, and Business Office duties as assigned.
• Process purchase requisitions and purchase orders accurately and within established departmental timelines.
• Maintain a high level of accuracy in account coding, pricing, quantities, and documentation.
• Ensure purchase orders are not issued without required approvals and supporting documentation.
• Maintain an organized and current PO queue with timely follow-up on outstanding items.
• Provide responsive customer service to district employees while consistently enforcing purchasing procedures.
• Maintain complete, organized, and audit-ready purchasing records.
• Proactively communicate purchasing issues, unusual transactions, missing documentation, or potential compliance concerns to the Chief Business Officer.
• Demonstrate strong attention to detail while managing a high volume of transactions and competing deadlines.

Requirements

• Required
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Strong computer skills and ability to learn financial and purchasing software.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace.
• Strong data-entry skills with a high degree of accuracy.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage a high volume of transactions and multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability to review documentation carefully and identify missing, inconsistent, or inaccurate information.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate professionally with employees at all levels of the organization and with outside vendors.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle sensitive financial and organizational information.
• Ability to follow established procedures while recognizing situations that require supervisor review.
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to work independently within established procedures.
• Ability to manage repetitive transactional work without sacrificing accuracy.
• Ability to appropriately prioritize urgent and routine purchasing requests.
• Strong customer-service skills.
• Ability to respectfully enforce procedures and return incomplete requests for correction.
• Ability to recognize unusual purchasing activity and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Ability to work collaboratively with Procurement, Finance, Accounts Payable, campus administrators, department leaders, employees, and vendors.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced school environment with frequent interruptions and changing priorities.
• Minimum of two years of administrative, purchasing, accounts payable, bookkeeping, finance, or related office experience.
• Experience processing purchase orders or purchase requisitions.
• Experience with Skyward Q or another school district financial management system.
• Experience working in a Texas public school, charter school, governmental entity, nonprofit organization, or other regulated environment.
• Experience with government account coding (FASRG), purchasing documentation, vendor records, and Accounts Payable and Receivable processes.
• Familiarity with cooperative purchasing, quotes, bids, RFPs, and public-sector purchasing procedures.

Skills

Required

• Strong organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Strong customer-service skills
• Microsoft Office
• Google Workspace
• Skyward Q (preferred)
• Financial management systems
• Data entry

Benefits

• Compensation is determined according to the Beta Academy compensation schedule.