Purchasing Manager in Nivelles, Belgium
Objectives
- Under the supervision of the General Manager OPC, to define and implement the company’s product and transport purchasing strategy
- Guarantee the availability of the technical products needed to satisfy customers and ensure the company’s long-term future
- Research, evaluate and select suppliers, carrying out assessments to ensure that they meet quality, cost and performance standards
- Lead sourcing projects, identifying cost reduction opportunities and implementing cost-effective purchasing practices
- Manage and optimise flows and stocks of raw materials and finished products, by developing and analysing performance indicators
- Actively contribute to the search for improvement solutions as part of the continuous improvement policy (ISO 9001)
- Ensure regular reporting of activities and actions carried out by the Purchasing department to line management
Responsibilities
Tasks
- Ensures that the company’s purchasing strategy is implemented by the product buyers and the transport buyer
- Identifying the company’s technical supply requirements and prospecting or analysing the supplier and product market
- Update data in the ERP tool (market trends, new products, supplier listings, etc.)
- Draw up invitations to tender or specifications for suppliers and service providers. Analysing responses to invitations to tender and assessing suppliers’ ability to respond adequately to requests. Negotiate prices and product delivery times with suppliers.
- Ensuring that the purchasing team selects and communicates the best offers to the company’s internal customers and subsidiaries, within the deadlines set out in the internal procedures.
- Evaluate suppliers, products (audits, satisfaction surveys), and their quality of service periodically with the Purchasing and Quality team and propose areas for improvement
- Proactively manage day-to-day commercial relations with the company’s entire panel of technical suppliers, with the aim of defending the company’s interests as effectively as possible
- Supervise the recording and monitoring of purchase orders to suppliers in accordance with the negotiated terms and conditions. Manage the purchasing team on a day-to-day basis
- Supervising supplies to internal and external shops, managing stock levels and coordinating annual stocktaking operations
- Create and monitor supplier disputes (claims where suppliers are held liable) and ensure the implementation of related improvement actions
- Take charge of the entire purchasing process for new products, from active participation in drawing up specifications, finding new sources of supply, evaluating and approving these sources, negotiating commercial terms and conditions and, if necessary, concluding commercial agreements.
- Communicating effectively with all company contacts linked to the Purchasing Department in order to facilitate the successful completion of the various projects
- Participate in the implementation of an SRM tool and make proposals for its use in coordination with the Group Operational Efficiency Expert
- Setting up dashboards and performance indicators, monitoring and analysing them in order to provide regular reporting to line management
- Oversee the purchasing department’s working documents in line with the company’s Quality Assurance policy, and propose and support continuous improvement initiatives
Contacts
Externe
Fournisseurs, prestataires
Interne
Service Commercial, Technique, Qualité, Customer Support, Filiales
Skills
Technical
- Basic technical knowledge of the purchasing areas in which the company is active (mainly steel-based products)
- Reading of technical drawings and ability to spot anomalies
- Basic knowledge of customs and freight regulations
Linguistics
- French (mother tongue) with a very good knowledge of English (daily work with foreign suppliers and colleagues)
- Any other language would be an asset
IT
- Proficiency in Windows office software (Word, Excel, Access)
Knowledge of ERP D365 (Dynamics) or technical drawing software (AutoCAD, PTC Creo Parametric, SolidWorks, Catia, etc.) is an asset.
Behavioural
- Dynamic, motivated, autonomous, intellectually curious
- Analytical, pragmatic, organised, rigorous, able to work in a team, capable of taking decisions
- Communication skills, stress resistance
- Excellent negotiating skills
- Occasional travel abroad is to be expected (10 to 15%, in Western Europe and internationally).
Profile
Education
Holder of a higher education diploma with a technical (construction, mechanics, electromechanics, etc.) or commercial orientation.
Experience
- 5 years’ experience in a similar role in an international technical industrial environment (e.g. mechanical or electronic)
- Good overview of the supply chain with good managerial skills