Purchasing Team Lead
Job Purpose
As a purchasing team lead, you will be responsible for handling the procurement process, sourcing suppliers and managing vendor relationships to ensure a seamless supply chain and optimize costs. You will also collaborate with cross-functional teams, make strategic decisions, and implement best practices within our procurement function.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
Supplier Management: Evaluate vendors based on price, quality, speed of delivery, and reliability, while maintaining long-term supplier relationships.
Contract Negotiation: Negotiate prices, delivery schedules, and contract terms with suppliers on behalf of the organization.
Forecasting: Analyze market trends and evaluate consumption patterns to anticipate supply needs and minimize procurement risks across projects. Support project forecasting with procurement insights.
Strategy & Planning: Develop sourcing strategies and procurement schedules for major spending categories and long-lead equipment. Ensure material availability aligns with project milestones.
Team Leadership: Manage, train, and oversee a team of purchasing agents and buyers to ensure efficient, ethical day-to-day operations. Plan & supervise the work of the team to track progress against priorities.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with the finance, operations, and legal departments to align purchasing with budget constraints and compliance regulations. Coordinate purchasing activities with project managers and engineering.
Business Process & Standardization: Develop the organization’s procurement rules, procedures, and regulations. Support ERP development and process improvements.
Qualifications
Education: A Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business administration, or a related field is typically required.
Experience: 5+ years of progressive experience in procurement, supply chain, or a related field, often with previous experience as a purchasing agent. Experience in a project-based, industrial, manufacturing, engineering, or construction environment is preferred but not required.
Skills: Strong analytical capabilities, advanced negotiation skills, financial acumen, and proficiency in procurement and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
Desired Skills And Knowledge: Relevant certification in procurement or supply chain management. Strong organizational and time-management skills. Ability to understand technical documentation and communicate technical information clearly. Proficiency with productivity software (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite) and ERP software (e.g., Odoo). Knowledge of collaboration tools (e.g., Microsoft Teams, SharePoint).
Competencies
Effective Communication: Ensures that regular, consistent, and effective communication takes place. Ensures that important information is shared with others, on a timely basis as appropriate, in their organizational unit. Proactive in keeping their manager informed, on a regular basis, about progress and problems to avoid surprises.
Analytical Thinking: Approaches problems using a logical or sequential approach, systematically comparing two or more alternatives. Notices discrepancies and inconsistencies in available information. Identifies parameters and considerations needed to analyze situations and make decisions. Conducts decision-based cost/benefit or risk/success analyses. Prioritizes tasks.
Results Oriented: Focuses on the desired result of one’s own actions/performance, sets challenging goals and focuses appropriate effort on meeting or exceeding them. Persistent and effective at overcoming obstacles. Tracks performance against goals and identifies shortfalls on a timely basis. Identifies and employs ways to address and correct problems. Maintains commitment to achieving goals even in the face of obstacles and frustrations. Exerts unusual effort over time to achieve a goal. Demonstrates a sense of urgency about solving problems and getting work done.
Collaboration: Develops, maintains, and strengthens partnerships with others inside or outside of the organization who can provide information, assistance, and support. Recognizes and appreciates the business concerns and perspectives of others. Provides valuable and needed assistance and support to others.
Presentation Skills: Is effective in a variety of formal and informal presentation settings: one-on-one, small, and large groups. Communicates effectively, both inside and outside the Company, on both simple and complex topics. Commands attention and manages group process during the presentation. Is cognizant of audience response and able to adapt content and style accordingly.
Initiative: Identifies what needs to be done and takes action before being asked or required. Does more than what is normally required in a situation. Seeks out others involved, in a situation, to learn their perspectives.
Carefulness: Monitors the quality of one’s own work. Acts to verify information and checks the accuracy of own work. Develops and uses systems to organize and keep track of information or work progress. Organizes information or materials for others. Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports provided to management and others.