Buyer Packaging

Vandemoortele; Belgique; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

50% remote work

Wellbeing activities

Ghent HQ

Job summary

Vandemoortele in Ghent, Belgium is seeking a Strategic Packaging Buyer to lead the flexible packaging category. You will guarantee supply to factories, optimize costs, and define/implement the category strategy while maintaining strong supplier relationships and tracking market trends.

You will manage tenders, price indexations, and budget for flexible packaging, working closely with Legal on framework agreements. The role requires cross-functional leadership and SAP experience.

Qualifications

• Master degree required in Economics, Business Engineering or Engineering.
• 3+ years in a strategic procurement role.
• Independent category lead with ownership over strategy and operations.
• Strong cross-functional communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Willingness to travel 15% for European trips.

Responsibilities

• Own flexible packaging category with annual spend ~€12–13m across Europe.
• Source packaging materials via TCO-focused tenders and negotiations.
• Develop and implement a packaging category strategy aligned to business goals.
• Proficient spend analysis and reporting.
• Identify and translate sustainable packaging solutions; monitor legislation.

Skills

Strategic procurement

Supplier management

Spend analysis

Tender management

Cross-functional leadership

Budgeting

Negotiation

English proficient

Education

Master degree in Economics/Business Engineering/Engineering

Tools

SAP

Job description

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Share our taste for life!
Together with you we want to empower you to achieve this mission with us. We value you as a person and actively support you on your professional journey, while caring for your future. Join our big little family and let’s make products for you and the world to love. Do you share our taste for life?

Your role

Would you like to take an important role in a dynamic environment? Are you ready to have a bottom line impact?

We are hiring a Strategic Packaging Buyer to cover the Flexible packaging category. As Buyer Packaging, you are in charge of your category. You are responsible for guaranteeing supply to the factories, cost optimization and strategy definition/implementation. You maintain supplier relationships, and follow-up on market information/trends, innovation, and sustainability. You report to the Purchasing Manager Packaging, who reports to the Group Procurement Director.

Your key responsibilities and challenges are:

• You are responsible for the flexible packaging category. This represents a yearly spend of roughly 12-13m€. You are responsible for the supply to production plants spread over Europe.
• You source packaging material at the best “Total Cost of Ownership” within the requested timing and according to agreed quality criteria / technical specifications. You are able to run tenders and negotiations independently.
• You develop a purchasing strategy for your packaging category according to the Business Strategy considering cost, sustainability, production, quality, supply and availability, risk,… You are responsible for the implementation of the strategy.
• You are proficient in spend analysis and reporting.
• You screen the market for more sustainable packaging solutions and innovations in general. You are interested to learn more about the upcoming and current packaging legislation, and are able to translate it into concrete actions for your portfolio.
• You establish a sustainable relation and regular contacts with your key suppliers (performance evaluation, vendor objectives, cost reductions, innovations, sustainability, complaints,…).
• You contract packaging material with Framework Agreements / Terms & Conditions in cooperation with Legal.
• You are able to lead cross functional projects
• You follow up and report about market trends and raw material price evolutions. You follow up on price indexations.
• You are responsible for making and following up on the budget for Flexible packaging.
• You take the lead towards suppliers in case of structural/major complaints, claims, corrective measures,…You support the sites with regard to operational problems such as delivery/lead time problems, supplier capacity problems, quality complaints,… The daily operational procurements activities (purchase orders, good receipts, …) are the responsibility of the local procurement employees in the production sites.
• You supervise the development of new packaging designs in web centre.
• You take care of SAP related purchase administration.

What’s in it for you?

• You will join our big little family: Our associates are the beating heart of our company – they bring the flavour to our organisation. We cherish each member, prioritising their well-being and supporting their professional journey. As a global family business, we foster a human-centric approach where everyone feels welcome and valued.
• We value you as a person: At Vandemoortele we value each one of our associates and recognise their unique contributions to team successes. We place great importance in giving our associates the freedom to shape their own professional journey. You will have flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from home 50% of the time. We also invite you to join our sports and wellbeing activities!
• We care aboutyour future and we support your professional journey:We believe in the power of our associates and the value of their actions and support their career aspirations by offering internal mobility and promotional opportunities. We embrace individual ambitions and encourage our associates to create a successful professional journey and entrust them to take ownership.
• We make products for you to love: We are a team of passionate food enthusiasts. In our mission to shape a tasty future we strive to create a wide range of food solutions that connects people, cultures and traditions. You can kickstart your day with a delicious croissant fresh out of the oven and enjoy tasty food in our company restaurant. In our cosy coffee corners, you will find healthy fruit baskets to enjoy your break to the fullest.
• Easy to reach:Our HQ is located close to a bus stop and highway exits. Want to come by bike? Lease a bike at Vandemoortele!

Are you the one we’re looking for?

• You hold a Master degree (Economics, Business Engineer, Engineer).
• You have at least 3 years of experience in a strategic procurement role.
• You are able to work independently as category lead. You take ownership over strategic and operational tasks.
• You are able to work cross functionally. Your excellent communication skills enable you to motivate, drive and engage your internal and external stakeholders.
• You are proactive and stress resistant.
• You are a pragmatic problem solver.
• You have a high level of project management skills.
• You are a team player.
• You were able to train your negotiation skills in your previous role(s).
• You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written and verbal, in English (company language). French and/or Dutch is a big plus.
• Knowledge of SAP is a plus.
• You are willing to travel 15% of your time (European trips and fairs).
• For this exciting role you will be working at our HQ based in Ghent, Belgium.

Join us in making sweet memories!
We look forward to welcoming you to our delicious journey!