FLUENT GERMAN SPEAKER - SENIOR BUYER/PURCHASING TEAM LEADER- ENGINEERING & CAPITAL PROJECTS BUYING TEAM

“Exciting continuous improvement role for fluent German Speaking, Degree educated, experienced Senior Buyer to lead Engineering & Capital Projects Buying Team for Global Energy Company”

C€Very Competitive Excellent Blue Chip Benefits

Location: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany – Relocation Assistance available

Our client is a global player within the specialist energy, electricity and power generation sector.

This is a fantastic career development opportunity for a fluent German speaker/German national.

As part of a strategic transformation of the procurement function across its global operating units, our client seeks to strengthen its German team with the appointment of an innovative and creative Senior Buyer and Purchasing Team Leader for its indirect, engineering and capital projects buying team.

This is a key appointment at Country level and you will be based at a large processing plant working closely with senior cross functional stakeholders at executive leader level including Plant Manager and Finance Manager.

In addition, you will also work closely with centralised global category management, project procurement and P2P functions across Europe. The ideal candidate will possess a track record as a Senior Buyer, Category Manager or Purchasing Manager specialising in indirect and engineering categories. Experience of managing a team of Buyers will be essential for success in this role.

Experience will ideally have been gained within a best in class global multinational, matrix organisation. Experience of SAP would be advantageous.

The Role:

• Lead, manage, motivate, coach, develop and empower a team of three Buyers specialising in indirect and engineering based categories.
• Plan, organise, lead and control the work of the German purchasing team to ensure that objectives are achieved and services are delivered to the customers/stakeholders.
• Contribute to purchasing strategy for engineering and capital projects
• Work closely with business leaders to position the business for future growth
• Leverage expertise and know how to improve purchasing’s critical processes
• Define and implement procurement and supply chain procedures and policies in line with group and category strategies
• Shape and manage supplier relationships to ensure value is delivered including value definition, value creation including opportunity development and supply chain execution process; value capture including governance and compliance management and value protection to mitigate risk.
• Management of purchasing, tactical buying, sourcing and supplier management activities to achieve cost efficient, accurate and on time purchases, including compliance to corporate purchasing policies
• Improve value adding capabilities of the indirect and engineering procurement function through best practice, cost savings, cost avoidance and spend control
• Identify, drive, implement and sustain indirect and engineering procurement focused process improvements and cost efficiency
• Actively seek improvements in supply chain activities and performance, primarily through coordination and collaboration with Supply Chain and Category Management team
• Develop reports enabling tracking of Supply Chain performance against KPI's
• Negotiate and implement supplier SLA's to meet business requirements
• Establish, implement and manage system to evaluate, monitor and report supplier scorecard performance
• Manage supplier audits from an operational capability standpoint
• Lead the purchasing team to deliver business reviews with key suppliers
• Lead the purchasing team to manage supplier accreditation activities, customer supplier support and issue resolution related to requisitions, purchase orders and goods receipts

The Ideal Candidate:

• Fluent in German and happy to relocate (with assistance) to North West Germany.
• University Degree educated in Engineering or Science or similar plus Post Graduate level qualification in Procurement and/or Master’s Degree.
• At least 5-7 years consistent, fast track career development within a Senior Buyer, Category Manager or Procurement Management roles focused on indirect and engineering categories.
• At least 18 months leadership experience within procurement in order to manage an experienced team of buyers.
• Experience of working cross functionally within a global multinational matrix environment. This could include oil and gas, energy, utilities, mining and minerals exploration, or capital-intensive industrial manufacturing sectors such as steel or construction materials. FMCG or pharmaceutical sector experience will also be considered if the focus is on indirect, engineering or capital projects focused procurement.
• You be highly motivated to deliver change and transformation and your career to date will be characterised by your ability to engage cross functional teams and global/pan European procurement, engineering and project management colleagues to achieve this.
• You will be confident and experienced in preparing, presenting and justifying business cases to senior executive level.
• Track record of building successful relationships internally and externally to contribute to the development of our client as a world-class procurement organisation
• A knowledge of Procurement systems and technologies and the ability to put operational measures in place to ensure contracts deliver brilliantly.
• Strong purchasing background with proven experience in the areas of project management, supplier readiness and day to day supply base management and demonstrated negotiations capability
• Demonstrated ability to lead in a multinational matrix organisation, work collaboratively with colleagues, and get results through others
• Excellent skills and experience in purchasing operations and strategic sourcing with ability to demonstrate strong project management and negotiation skills in a manufacturing environment
• Must welcome responsibility, challenge and decision making
• Self starter and a team player who will thrive in a regulated environment
• Creates a positive working environment by demonstrating and sharing functional/technical expertise/knowledge
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, emphasising interpersonal, group presentation and team facilitation skills
• Fluent in spoken and written Business English and (native) German language

In return our client offers a very competitive salary and blue-chip benefits package and the opportunity to develop your career within a market leader. Interviews will be held in the UK and Germany as applicable.