Deputy Expediting Manager

Deputy Expediting Manager – John Cockerill Energy

Are you ready to contribute to high-impact, international energy projects shaping the future of low-carbon industry?

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, and installing critical infrastructures.

Its offer to companies, States and communities consists of services and associated equipment for the sectors of energy, defense, industry, the environment, transports, and infrastructures.

With over 8,000 employees, John Cockerill achieved a turnover of €1.417 billion in 2024, operating in 28 countries across 5 continents.

John Cockerill Energy is a global technology leader with over 200 years of expertise in steam generation and thermal engineering, specializing in the design and supply of heat recovery steam generators, cooling towers and air-cooled condensers under the Hamon® brand. Leveraging strong engineering capabilities, the company also delivers high-value after-sales services such as re-engineering, technical assistance, inspections, upgrades and lifetime assessments. Committed to the energy transition, John Cockerill Energy develops integrated, engineer-driven solutions combining renewable generation, energy storage and advanced Energy Management Systems (EMS).

John Cockerill Energy, The Power to Change the World.

Why join John Cockerill Energy?

• Meaningful impact: contribute to energy projects directly supporting decarbonization and energy efficiency.
• Global reach: collaborate with multicultural teams and international suppliers on complex projects worldwide.
• Supportive environment: benefit from a culture of flexibility, autonomy, collaboration and work-life balance.
• Engineering & decision centers on the same site: evolve in an agile, engineering-driven environment enabling fast and informed decisions.
• Technical expertise: develop your expertise within a highly technical procurement environment and become a key reference for your purchasing portfolio.

Because the energy transition requires reliable, efficient and sustainable technologies, John Cockerill Energy continuously innovates to deliver solutions combining performance, safety and environmental responsibility.

Your role

As a Deputy Expediting Manager, you will play a key role within the Supply Chain of the John Cockerill projects. The Deputy Expediting Manager is the right-hand (wo)man of the Expediting Manager who ensures that products and equipment purchased for international projects are delivered on time by our suppliers.

This role includes managerial support for the Expediting Manager and regular travel to suppliers to ensure good progress and coordination with the project teams.

The Deputy Expediting Manager takes in charge scopes of material supplies for the internal stakeholders. The Deputy Expediting should work in close collaboration with lead buyers, project management department, QA/QC teams, HSE teams, Engineering dept., etc.

Your key responsibilities

As a Deputy Expediting Manager, you will

• Ensure that our suppliers execute correctly the purchase orders placed by John Cockerill in accordance with contracts terms and conditions, following our procedures and quality requirements
• Be responsible for the follow-up of all the steps of orders fulfilment by the suppliers and their sub-contractors
• Ensure to obtain all information regarding updating of progress documents, the allocation and distribution of the tasks, the schedule and you will keep track of the real time progress of the manufacturing status and delivery status of the scopes assigned to you
• Anticipate the risks of possible delays by analyzing information received from the suppliers, obtained by yourself or all other stakeholders
• Take necessary measures that will ensure suppliers and subcontractors keep or get back on track and make sure that the essential project deadlines are met. This will include follow-up visits to suppliers/sub-suppliers or progress meetings
• Provide managerial support occasionally to the Expediting Manager: organization of team meetings, workload forecast, structural improvement of dunning processes, negotiation with key partners, documents management, etc.
• Evaluate suppliers on several criteria on performance and assist new suppliers in their integration for a sustainable partnership
• Contribute to improvement of the suppliers’ evaluation process and take the lead of it
• Organize external third-party visits through worldwide agents
• Give feedback to all different departments at John Cockerill (project teams, QA team, procurement teams, etc.) but even to the suppliers
• Protect John Cockerill’s interests by ensuring compliance with contractual terms and conditions.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of procurement & expediting processes and their interaction with other business processes.
• Ensure compliance with John Cockerill’s governance, ethics and sustainable development principles.

Your team

You will join a small team of expeditors included in an approximately 20-person supply chain team

The team is organized around projects and purchasing specialties, with buyers taking responsibility for specific technical equipment categories such as valves, piping, instrumentation, mechanical equipment, cables and other components.

You will work closely with colleagues based in Belgium and India and interact regularly with international suppliers and stakeholders.

The team operates in a collaborative, open and supportive environment, where knowledge sharing and teamwork are highly valued. At the same time, the position offers significant autonomy in managing your own portfolio, priorities and supplier relationships.

You will be based in Seraing, Belgium.

Your profile

• You have a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, or equivalent professional experience in procurement and follow-up on manufacturing for industrial construction projects
• You have a minimum of 7-10 years of relevant experience in a project-oriented industrial environment.
• You are a team player, initiative taker and are willing to take and carry responsibilities.
• You have excellent social and communication skills
• You can understand technical documentation, specifications and plans and assess how technical characteristics can influence cost and supplier selection.
• You have a strong understanding of procurement processes and stakeholder coordination.
• You have skills for people management and conflict handling.
• You have tact, diplomacy, respect and ability to adapt to people at all levels in an organization and/or with different cultural backgrounds  
• You can manage your own priorities and agenda in a dynamic, sometimes fast-paced project environment.

• You have excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• You are transparent, open-honest and have a high level of integrity
• You are willing to travel regularly and available for short-term temporary assignments abroad

Languages

• Fluent English & French are mandatory, both written and spoken.
• Knowledge of another language is considered an asset.
• International openness is essential.

International mobility

You are willing to travel regularly for supplier visits, audits and face-to-face meetings, including internationally.

What we offer

At John Cockerill, we deeply value your contribution:

• Attractive salary package with many extra-legal benefits: company car, meal vouchers, flat-rate expenses, hospitalization/life/death/guaranteed income insurance, variable remuneration ranging from 0–25% of your gross annual salary, profit-sharing scheme based on progress and results.
• Flexible work arrangements, with 1–2 days of remote work per week after training.
• Comprehensive onboarding and training with plenty of learning opportunities.
• Career development: regular reviews, large catalogue of training, and career progression.
• International opportunities: potential to evolve within your sector, across different sectors or businesses, and across different regions.
• 31 days off.