Local Category Buyer (Marketing & Media, HR & Professional Services) (1 Year Contract)

JDE Peet's; Petaling Jaya; On-site; MYR 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading beverage company is seeking a dedicated professional in Petaling Jaya to manage supplier relationships and drive cost savings across various categories. Responsibilities include developing category strategies, managing supplier selection, and ensuring compliance with internal policies. Ideal candidates should have a strong track record in delivering cost results and experience with cross-functional teams, though fresh graduates are also encouraged to apply. This position is a short-term role for 1 year starting in January 2026.

Qualifications

• Preferably at least 3 years of relevant experience, though fresh graduates are encouraged.
• Successful experience in delivering cost and cash results.
• Must have international experience in global companies, ideally FMCG.

Responsibilities

• Own several categories and manage them effectively.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings and implement plans.
• Manage supplier relationships for cost and cash results.
• Establish and maintain key supplier relationships.
• Contribute to sourcing strategies for regional categories.
• Manage supplier selection and administer contracts.
• Analyze metrics to evaluate supplier performance.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Influencing skills

Ability to thrive with ambiguity

Education

Further degree preferred

Job description

Company Description

JDE Peet’s is the world's leading pure‑play coffee and tea company, with local roots dating back to 1753, and is headquartered in the Netherlands. We unleash the possibilities of coffee and tea in more than 100 countries with a portfolio of over 50 brands, including L’OR, Peet’s, Jacobs, Senseo, Tassimo, Douwe Egberts, OldTown, Super, Pickwick and Moccona.

What’s it like to work at JDE Peet’s?

We are people united by the power and possibility of tea and coffee. At JDE Peet’s, we thrive on the freedom to pursue opportunities, provoking new ideas to make an impact at scale. Our ambition is simple – JDE Peet's: unleashing the possibilities of coffee and tea. We bring action to our intentions, following through on what was agreed, always pushing things forward. We offer our people a range of learning and development programmes to support their personal growth. At JDE Peet’s, we believe it’s amazing what can happen over a cup of coffee or tea.

Job Description

• Own a few categories and manage them as described.
• Identify and prioritise opportunities to deliver total cost of ownership savings in your categories and drive the implementation of the plans to capture those opportunities.
• Proactively manage supplier relationships to deliver cost & cash results, to drive continuous improvement and position JDE as a customer of choice.
• Measure and benchmark performance to ensure that JDE has the most competitive cost base in your category.
• Drive innovation programmes in your category to continually search for cost‑saving opportunities, new technologies, new products and new suppliers that contribute to the overall strategy of the business.
• Contribute on sourcing strategies development for regional categories, working closely with the APAC Regional Procurement Team and execute strategies in the local country.
• Define category strategies for local categories, lead execution and track benefits realization.
• Establish and maintain a portfolio of strategic agreements and key supplier relationships to manage risk in procurement (i.e. pricing, supply, quality, etc.).
• Manage supplier selection for local categories, negotiate & contract key suppliers and administer contracts; PO creation.
• Manage supplier risk assessment (scanning via official tools and databases, financial assessment, etc.).
• Establish and analyse performance metrics to evaluate supplier performance.
• Maintain oversight over set of contracts within the category and ensure contract compliance considering payment terms, prices, discounts & rebates and performance in close collaboration with the business.
• Understand the physical manufacturing process, including visiting plants to ensure guidelines are being followed, to deliver optimal goods & services to production plants.
• Ensure compliance to internal policies & procedures, have a deep understanding of and manage compliance to the Combined Business Model.
• Maintain purchasing records/data and pricing in the system; identify and capitalize on opportunities to improve the organization’s buying patterns and supply channels.

Qualifications

Preference for candidates with a further degree. However, fresh graduates are encouraged to apply.

Additional Information

The position is for a short‑term basis of 1 year, starting from January 2026.

• The successful candidate shall be based in Petaling Jaya.
• Preferably at least 3 years of relevant experience. However, fresh graduates are encouraged to apply.
• An excellent track record of delivering “best in class cost and cash results”.
• Successful experience of leading cross‑functional teams that focus on the lowest total cost of ownership as a key target – international experience in global companies (ideally FMCG).
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• The ability to thrive with ambiguity, change and minimum processes and systems.