Assistant Manager - Category Buyer

John Cockerill, enablers of opportunities

Driven since 1817 by the entrepreneurial spirit and thirst for innovation of its founder, the John Cockerill Group develops large-scale technological solutions to meet the needs of its time: facilitating access to low carbon energies, enabling sustainable industrial production, preserving natural resources, contributing to greener mobility, enhancing security and installing essential infrastructures. 

Its offer to businesses, governments and communities consists of services and associated equipment for the sectors of energy, defence, industry, the environment, transports, and infrastructures. With over 6,000 employees, John Cockerill achieved a turnover of € 1,046 billion in 2023 in 29 countries, on 5 continents.

www.johncockerill.com 

Your New Company

John Cockerill Hydrogen is a leader in Green Hydrogen Industry, continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation and sustainable solutions. As part of our mission, we are expanding our procurement department to support our rapidly growing project needs. Our core focus is on the strategic sourcing of goods and services essential to our operations.

Your New Role

As a Category Buyer, you will play a major role in defining and executing the sourcing strategy for our key product categories (Power Conversion Units, Automation and Electricals ). You will work closely with our engineering and project teams to secure the necessary materials and services, ensuring they align with both technical specifications and business requirements. This role demands a proactive approach in negotiating supplier agreements and optimizing procurement processes to meet budget, quality, and project timelines.

You will be part of a dynamic team where collaboration, strategic thinking, and a hands-on approach are key to achieving success.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Responsibilities

In close collaboration with Global sourcing Manager

• Develop and implement sourcing strategies for your designated product/service categories, aligned with company priorities.
• Lead strategic sourcing initiatives to drive procurement objectives.
• Identify and evaluate new suppliers in collaboration with key internal stakeholders.
• Rationalize the existing supplier database for efficiency.
• Negotiate and establish long-term framework agreements with key suppliers in line with corporate procurement policies.
• Ensure supplier performance meets ISO 9001 standards and regularly assess their capabilities.
• Set up KPIs to continuously monitor and evaluate supplier performance.

2. Project and Operational Responsibilities

• Collaborate with our project teams and engineering teams to develop tender packages, identify suppliers, and ensure alignment with technical specifications.
• Negotiate pricing, assess negotiation margins, and secure cost-effective solutions for materials, equipment, and services.
• Prepare and present comparative analysis for decision-making and initiate purchase orders.
• Renegotiate contracts during project execution to optimize costs (TCO/TCP).
• Oversee the issuance of purchase orders by local buyers, ensuring compliance with internal procedures.
• Monitor supplier performance to ensure adherence to delivery schedules and quality standards.
• Manage the close out of the POs
• Highlight procurement gains at the end of each project to improve future performance.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in procurement, preferably as a lead buyer or category manager in an international industrial environment.
• A Master's degree in Engineering and Procurement is mandatory, experience in international project management is a plus.
• A good knowledge of Power conversion market, Automation and Electrical market is a plus
• Strong knowledge of sourcing, supplier qualification, and strategic vendor management.
• Expertise in drafting and negotiating supplier agreements and framework contracts.
• Strong negotiation and analytical skills.
• High ethical standards and integrity.
• Excellent cross-functional leadership abilities, with the capacity to communicate effectively across all levels of the international organization.
• Team-oriented with strong interpersonal skills, adaptable, pragmatic, and assertive when necessary.
• Well organized, flexible and be stress resistant.
• Proficient in English (oral and written), with the ability to negotiate complex agreements in English (level B2 to C1 is requested).
• Competent in SAP, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Share Point,..) and Power BI .

This is an exciting opportunity for a self-motivated individual to take on a critical role within a dynamic, forward-thinking company.

John Cockerill offers you career and development opportunities within its various sectors in a friendly working environment. 
Do you want to work for an innovative company that will allow you to take up technical challenges on a daily basis?
We look forward to receiving your application and to meeting you!
 

<span 72="">Discover our job opportunities in details on www.johncockerill.com