Head of Procurement (f/m/d) at GEA Group

Responsibilities / Tasks

Definition of Strategies & Procedures

• Responsible for the development, implementation and on-going management of the Procurement Strategy for GEA Africa to influence legal compliance of procurement policy and supporting legislation across the institution and to generate value for money for GEA Africa
• Develop excellent and effective collaborative relationships with key stakeholders and external providers to ensure strategic and operational needs are fully understood and incorporated
• Lead the development and implementation of procurement policies and system strategies to support tendering, contracts management, spend analytics and supplier performance management
• Drive continuous improvement, best value and quality improvements within the team and departments in challenging existing practices and actively seek ways to achieve better outcomes, contributing to ensure key performance and financial targets are met and corrective action taken where necessary
• Derive, plan and communicate individual impact of cost optimization initiatives along with company’s budget and forecast process
• Maintain and enforce procedures to support the procurement and supply chain strategy

Implementation of Strategies

• Develop long term relationships and agreements with suppliers, representing GEA Africa towards key suppliers in terms of all relevant aspects, if required together with other functions
• Continuously work on decreasing the supplier base where duplicated while increasing competition of suppliers and utilization of preferred suppliers e.g. based on GEA Group references
• Continuously benchmarking key supplier prices and conditions versus local and international market conditions and competitiveness
• Negotiate and sign off major contracts and agreements with suppliers filing of all contracts
• Develop local general terms of purchasing and establish those as minimum standards for business with suppliers
• Implement process standards according to the procurement handbook
• Coordinate actively the optimization of non-product related spend together with other parts of GEA Group represented in South Africa (National Procurement

Management, Coordination and Control

• Taking full accountability of the strategic part of the procurement function and the improvements associated incl. annual price negotiations for major commodities
• Initial support with the allocation of tactical procurement functions
• Audit of procurement procedures: Ensure the procurement procedures are followed through regular reviews and improvement workshops
• Assisting and coordinating with major supplier claims i.e. as part of an escalation process
• Parts Database management: Educate responsible functions to ensure that correct protocol is used when creating parts and database on parts and suppliers are maintained; make deviations transparent consequently
• Price Database management: Ensure that only authorized personnel maintains or modifies purchase price information in ERP; ensure that preferable supplier/prices are used by all buyers through information and follow-up e.g. based on spend reporting

Operational

• Coordinates all cross-functional activities related to strategic procurement
• Promote importance of procurement across the organisation and best practice through continuous improvement
• Analyse raw material price, fx-rate, freight rate developments to ensure best fit of supply chain
• Solicits and evaluates proposals for the requested commodity as part of strategic sourcing exercises or annual commodity reviews
• Advises company functions on the appropriate supplier to be used and on how to reduce total cost e.g. by minimizing expediting fees
• Assures that the suppliers adhere to agreed-upon schedule, price and quality

Procurement Department

• Lead the creation of new supply chain structure to support/deliver operational requirements and meet procurement strategies
• Staff development: Conduct Staff fit analyses
• Identify and address procurement training needs across GEA Africa for individual and organizational development.

Your Profile / Qualifications

The function should:

• Excellent negotiating skills with experience
• Be comfortable dealing with all levels of suppliers and clients
• Be fluent in both English and Afrikaans
• Be assertive, a self-starter, a self-motivator and able to operate without regular supervision
• Superior planning skills
• 5 years’ experience in procurement
• Sound financial and technical background
• 4 years’ experience in a management function
• Diploma / Degree in Procurement / Purchasing or
• Diploma / Degree in Procurement and Logistics Management