Category Buyer (German speaking)

Location: Cluj, Romania

Our client is a diverse, creative team of people passionate about procurement. They invest themselves in their client’s success, creating strong collaborative relationships that deliver extraordinary value year after year. Our clients include market global leaders with far-flung international operations, Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises, and leading government and public institutions. They deliver practical, effective services and software that enable procurement leaders to maximize their impact on business operations, strategy and financial performance.

Responsibilities:

• Supporting category managers with category strategy plans, sourcing execution, supporting category planning and strategic sourcing tasks

• Identifying and communicating with a diverse range of German-speaking stakeholders, such as suppliers, project sponsors, end-users and other supporting functions such as HR, Legal and Finance.

• Leveraging the company network of Category Experts and tools, to deliver insights to any project/client.

• Providing support concerning Supplier Management/ Procurement processes and policies.

• Establishing negotiation strategies, identifying and developing negotiation levers, validating them with stakeholders and leading negotiations to ensure savings, timely supply and other benefits for purchases, business analytics, savings reporting and tracking, and stakeholder interaction as part of the S2C program

• Discussing with German vendors and evaluating their products and capabilities as suppliers;

• Using client ERP system for procurement operations;

• Demonstrating continuous effort to improve operations, manage SOPs, decrease turnaround times and streamline work processes;

• Managing all German supplier selection and procurement activities (e.g. RFI, RFP, RFQ, Scorecard and Bid Analysis)

• Working cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service;

• Participating in firm-building activities, including recruitment.

• Mentorship and guided junior team members.

Requirements:

• 3-5 years of expertise in strategic sourcing
• Proficiency in English and German(both written and spoken)
• Experience with managing and mentoring small to medium-sized teams, both from an operational and career perspective is preferred
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of large-scale centralized purchasing
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in order to comfortably engage with all levels of management in client organizations
• Strong analytical, reporting and presentation skills i.e. regarding creating baselines, performing market tests/analyses, summarizing the key points succinctly by email/in presentation
• Experience with leading and executing negotiations
• Ability to manage multiple procurement projects at once and assess new purchase requirements based on spending risk etc.
• Knowledge of a variety of categories would be advantageous (trends, suppliers, industry specifics and terminology, legal frameworks)
• Advantage: Any business process improvement methodology such as TQM, Six Sigma, APEX etc

Benefits:

• Recognition programs
• 25 days holiday, pro-rated with your starting date + public holidays
• Annual leave balance increases with years of service:
• Meal vouchers – 30 lei/each worked day
• Transport allowance (bus/car gas reimbursement) at your choice – up to 100 lei (net)/month
• Discounts program designed for employees through external partners
• Flexible work schedule & Short-term absenteeism policy (with approval)
• Fruits in the office – 2 times/week
• Sweets day in the office – 1 time/month
• Coffee & tea unlimited at the office
• Gift vouchers – on Edenred gift card for different events/holidays
• HEALTHCARE Medical consultations at over 25 medical specialties, annual set of tests for    routine health check-ups and over 313 laboratory investigations once a year and different discounts
• EAP – Employee Assistant Program with Health Assured
• Provides a complete support network that offers expert advice and compassionate guidance    24/7, covering a wide range of issues
• Life situations support (psychological), legal, financial advice
• Onboarding program with good support from your team
• Training & development – granted access to internal trainings on our L&D platform
• Ongoing language & tools trainings to put you up to speed and upgrade your skills
• Competitive salary with annual review based on individual performance and company’s financial results