Senior Strategic Buyer - Direct procurement

GEP Worldwide; Durban; On-site; ZAR 480,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global procurement firm located in Durban, South Africa seeks a Procurement Specialist to support category managers and manage supplier selections. Responsibilities include leading negotiations, communicating with stakeholders, and continuously improving operations. Ideal candidates should have strong negotiation skills and experience in procurement processes.

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement processes and policies.
• Proven ability to lead negotiations effectively.
• Familiarity with supplier selection and management.

Responsibilities

• Support category managers with sourcing execution.
• Establish and validate negotiation strategies.
• Manage supplier selection and procurement activities.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Stakeholder communication

Team leadership

Operational management

Tools

SMART by GEP

ERP systems

Job description

What You Will Do

• Support category managers with category strategy plans, sourcing execution, and strategic sourcing tasks.
• Identify and communicate with a diverse range of stakeholders, including suppliers, project sponsors, end-users, and supporting functions such as HR, Legal, and Finance.
• Leverage the GEP network of Category Experts and tools to deliver insights for projects and clients.
• Provide support regarding Supplier Management and Procurement processes and policies.
• Establish negotiation strategies, develop negotiation levers, validate them with stakeholders, and lead negotiations to ensure savings, timely supply, and other benefits, including business analytics, savings reporting, and tracking as part of the S2C program.
• Discuss with vendors and evaluate their products and capabilities as suppliers.
• Use SMART by GEP technology and client ERP systems for procurement operations.
• Continuously improve operations, manage SOPs, decrease turnaround times, and streamline work processes.
• Manage all supplier selection and procurement activities (e.g., RFI, RFP, RFQ, Scorecard, Bid Analysis).
• Work cooperatively to provide seamless customer service.
• Lead a small to medium-sized team.
• Participate in firm-building activities, including recruitment.

What You Should Bring

• Support category managers with category strategy plans, sourcing execution, and strategic sourcing tasks.
• Leverage the GEP network of Category Experts and tools to deliver insights for projects and clients.
• Establish negotiation strategies, develop negotiation levers, validate them with stakeholders, and lead negotiations to ensure savings, timely supply, and other benefits.
• Discuss with vendors and evaluate their products and capabilities as suppliers.
• Manage all supplier selection and procurement activities (e.g., RFI, RFP, RFQ, Scorecard, Bid Analysis).
• Provide support regarding Supplier Management and Procurement processes and policies.
• Demonstrate continuous effort to improve operations, manage SOPs, decrease turnaround times, and streamline work processes.
• Identify and communicate with stakeholders, such as suppliers, project sponsors, end-users, and supporting functions.
• Recruit and mentor junior colleagues.
• Participate in firm-building activities.
• If managing direct materials, execute operational activities including long-term capacity planning, handling escalations in operational service and quality issues, managing material resilience, price forecasting, and business partnering.
• Ensure accurate master data management to meet quality standards.