EU Procurement Manager
Antwerp, Belgium
About James Walker
A private owned global manufacturing organization, supplying a vast range of high performance fluid sealing products and associated knowledge-based services to virtually every industry sector. With state-of-the-art skills in materials technology, particularly relating to elastomers, polymers, composites and engineering plastics plus extensive expertise in precision machining of exotic alloys for metallic seals, and tension control fasteners for bolted joints.
Your Role
You’ll manage the operational procurement activities in Europe leading a team of operational buyers. You will provide a commercially focussed procurement service through effective liaisons with all internal and external stakeholders ensuring improvement in price, quality and delivery performance. Creating and implementing sourcing plans and negotiation processes delivering year on year cost savings. Driving change management processes as a result of the Keystone CSI roll-out throughout Europe.
Key Responsibilities
- Day to Day management of operational buyers
- Driving procurement savings in line with targets set centrally through bidding, negotiations and consolidation of suppliers and sourcing initiatives
- Driving Category Line strategy for a number of product categories sourced in Europe. Lead supplier selection within these categories and reduce overall number of suppliers
- Conduct strategic sourcing initiatives, including fact based negotiations (supplier and industry analyses, benchmarks, cost structure analyses) ensuring process compliance and high level of customer satisfaction. Deliver year on year cost savings.
- Develop mechanisms and metrics to hold suppliers accountable for performance and delivery. Driving results through methods that include competitive bidding, negotiating and analysing data and market trends for the categories. Create supplier scorecards to measure and track supplier performance
- Identify and quantify supplier risk areas and implement risk mitigation actions to avoid any disruption to customer satisfaction
- Track supplier performance in terms of delivery, quality and costs and manage suppliers based on performance and scorecards
- Responsible for driving inventory improvements within Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Norway in line with global targets set
- Responsible for implementing CSI procurement functionality throughout Europe and vendor portals for Key suppliers
- In cooperation with the Supply Chain Director to create annual commodity line strategy for those commodities sourced in Europe.
- Provide procurement budget and forecast for third party products sourced in Europe
- Conduct supplier tender processes and complete contractual documentation with the suppliers
- Contribute to regional and global sourcing activities. Reduce number of suppliers used.
- Ensure compliance to and implementation of Group supply agreements and contracts
- Implement e-procurement and vendor portals if and when applicable
- Support JW Technical teams with New Product Introduction (NPI) and customer quality concerns relating to material supplies
- Achieve supplier OTIF level of 98% on key suppliers
About you
Essential Experience
- Willingness to travel
- Managing and building competent and capable teams
- Contractual exposure within a procurement role, with an understanding of terms and conditions
- Experience of developing and managing budgets
- Strong leadership and management experience leading and motivating high performing operational buyers
- Strategic awareness, with excellent commercial and analytical skills
- Excellent presentation and influencing skills at various levels of a business
- Adaptable to change and able to lead others through periods of change
- Ability to build excellent relationships
- Must be comfortable in working with large amount of numerical data
- Knowledge of engineering terminology
- Ability to lead projects and work independently on own initiatives
- Long term thinker that can drive multiple initiatives at the same time
Preferred Experience
- Understanding of sealing technology and applications across a broad section of industries
- Multi-Lingual (Dutch, English and French)
- Ability to demonstrate an excellent working knowledge of James Walker, its products and the different industry sectors
- An understanding and application of project management methodology
- System experience – CSI
- Understanding of operating and working with different cultures
Qualifications:
Essential Qualifications
- Minimum qualification in Maths and English qualification (e.g. GCSE, Baccalaureate, US High School Diploma)
- CIPS 5 or equivalent and APICS
Preferred Qualifications
- University degree in business administration or equivalent
Application End Date: 10/01/2025
For further information and a full role profile please contact Christopher.Campbell@Jameswalker.biz
