Senior Buyer (Japanese Speaker)

DHL Germany; Selangor; On-site; MYR 30,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dedicated Procurement Specialist to streamline purchasing operations globally. This role involves managing the purchase-to-pay process, ensuring compliance with policies, and building strong relationships with suppliers. You will leverage state-of-the-art e-purchasing tools and provide first-level support to enhance operational efficiency. With a focus on continuous improvement, you'll analyze procurement data and drive tactical purchasing strategies. If you have a passion for procurement and a knack for negotiation, this is your opportunity to make a significant impact in a dynamic environment.

Qualifications

• 3-4 years of experience in purchasing or procurement, especially in P2P operations.
• Proficiency in English and Japanese, with excellent analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage procurement processes and maintain supplier relationships.
• Analyze bids and negotiate contracts to ensure compliance and cost control.

Skills

Purchasing Practices

Supplier Negotiation

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Risk Assessment

ERP Systems (SAP, Oracle)

e-Purchasing

Microsoft Excel

VBA and Macro Automation

Education

Relevant University Degree

Completed Apprenticeship

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Office

PowerBI

Job description

Overall Job Purpose

This role delivers day-to-day purchasing operations to all business divisions across the globe through established, efficient, and user-friendly purchasing processes and systems that provide spend transparency and help control costs. We provide purchasing services through the Purchasing Service Centers, from requisition to purchase order, utilizing state-of-the-art e-purchasing tools, including first-level support, management of e-purchasing catalogs, processing non-catalog requisitions, and second-level support for issue resolution and master data management.

Scope & Portfolio

• Manage buying activities with responsibilities varying by country/region scope.
• Organize and execute the purchase-to-pay process, ensuring compliance with global, regional, and local procedures and policies.
• Explore and capture internal demand; handle non-catalog requests.
• Actively promote the use of procurement catalogs.
• Build and maintain good relationships with suppliers and internal customers.
• Oversee and/or utilize support from purchasing support roles.
• Coordinate team activities and exercise independent technical control over the assigned group, ensuring interdisciplinary coordination, control, and quality assurance of tasks.
• Make extended decisions within the given framework.

Support Role

• Provide administrative support to operational buying activities.
• Assist in day-to-day activities within the purchasing organization.
• Provide first-level support, consulting, and training; interface with second-level support.

Key Tasks

• Execute and ensure procurement processes align with sourcing, purchasing, corporate, and Business Partner policies.
• Collect, maintain, and report data on rates, catalogs, supplier data/performance, and purchase order administration.
• Drive tactical purchasing processes (non-catalog requisitions) and support administrative tasks such as requesting and analyzing competitive bids, selecting suppliers, and defining quality, delivery terms, and specifications.
• Clarify outstanding receipt confirmations, invoices, delivery dates, and manage changes or rejections of purchase orders.
• Negotiate catalog contracts with suppliers.
• Assist in preparing and monitoring tenders, negotiations, and supplier management.
• Analyze and evaluate bids, tenders, proposals, or quotations; negotiate prices and delivery conditions; and commit to purchases within authority limits.
• Follow up on purchase order statuses with vendors to ensure timely delivery and communicate order statuses internally.
• Interpret inventory requests, production schedules, purchase requisitions, and other documents to coordinate purchasing with current and anticipated organizational demand.
• Generate reports, analyze them, and identify opportunities for catalog improvements.

Stakeholders

• Maintain good relationships with suppliers and internal customers.
• Advise internal customers on specifications for low-value goods/services without a framework contract, in cooperation with sourcing.
• Provide feedback to sourcing regarding supplier performance.
• Contribute to effective cooperation between regional/country teams and sourcing.
• Explain relevant policies and practices related to the job area.
• Support and interact mainly with colleagues within the same sub-function.
• Develop a network of contacts to enhance organizational, product, and market knowledge.

Qualifications & Key Requirements

Education Level

• Completed apprenticeship, relevant university degree, or equivalent experience.

Experience Level

• Minimum 3-4 years of relevant experience in purchasing or procurement, especially in P2P operations.
• Proficiency in English and Japanese (reading, writing, speaking).
• Solid experience with purchasing practices and procedures.
• Knowledge of procurement risk types and mitigation strategies.
• Ability to assess supplier risk and define mitigation actions using standard templates.
• Advising colleagues and business partners on applicable laws, rules, and regulations, including compliance implications.
• Experience with ERP systems, especially SAP and Oracle.
• Experience in e-purchasing.
• Proficiency with MS Office, especially Excel, Word, PowerPoint.
• Experience in building reports using PivotTables, Macros, VLOOKUP in Excel.
• Knowledge of VBA and Macro automation and PowerBI is advantageous.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills.