Senior Buyer (Technical) South Africa - Farming at COFCO International

PURPOSE OF ROLE :

• Support strategic sourcing initiatives to deliver long term programs for services and goods categories which support the business requirements of Farming Operations in South Africa.
• Responsible for leveraging negotiation skills to secure beneficial terms, employing data analytics for strategic decision-making, and ensuring the alignment of procurement activities with our company’s operation and financial objectives.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external key stakeholders to align procurement strategies.
• Utilize deep industry knowledge to forecast market trends and assess their potential impact on procurement strategies.
• Lead complex negotiations with vendors, focusing on total cost of ownership (TCO), innovation, and flexibility to adapt.
• Design and implement procurement strategies that mitigate risks, enhance supplier performance, and support sustainability objectives.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholder and legal departments to ensure contracts comply with regulatory requirements and company policies, with a strong focus on data security and intellectual property rights.
• Act as an escalation point for contractual and performance issues, demonstrating advanced problem-solving skills and effective dispute management.
• Consolidate and analyse global procurement spend data/ KPIs for the preparation of monthly global procurement reporting, using data analytic skills.
• Ensure that all administrative and regulatory requirements regarding procurement have been met and align with Company Policies and be able to resolve any potential items that, due to the nature of Farming Operations, are difficult to align with current Company Policy, thereby enhancing the hands-on nature of the Policy to be industry specific and effective.
• Place Purchase Orders and Contracts on SAP

KEY RESULTS AREAS :

• Deliver year on year total cost efficiencies - a mix of cost, quality, and speed improvements for the spend/vendor relationships,
• Internal client satisfaction,
• Create consistent and accurate global reporting data,
• Savings / Cost Avoidance,
• Payment terms optimization,
• Increase contract coverage,
• Procurement Cycle time.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE : 

• Bachelor’s degree, post-graduate in Agricultural Economics, 
• Bachelor of Commerce Marketing Management, Risk management / Accounting / Finance.
• Masters in related qualification an advantage.
• 5 – 10 years working experience in the Agricultural Industry, and more specifically featuring in functional areas focusing on evaluating different products to select the best options.
• Experience in the grains and oilseed environment will be an advantage.
• Experience in SAP/ERP Procurement solutions (S/4HANA MM, Ariba…) will be beneficial,

 SKILLS  

• Ability to work in a cross functional international complex corporate environment,
• Stakeholder engagement skills, coupled with a customer-oriented profile,
• Fluent in Afrikaans and English.
• Any other European languages will be an advantages.
• Communication, analytical and presentation skills
• Open-minded self-starter with the ability to adapt, improvise and solve problems.
• Negotiation skills.

COMPETENCIES

• Relating and Networking
• Deciding and initiating action
• Persuading and Influencing
• Planning and Organising
• Adapting and responding to change
• Delivering and meeting customer expectations
• Analysing and Interpreting
• Entrepreneurial and Commercial Thinking

GENERAL

• Reports to the Procurement Lead: SSA
• Salary and Benefits: Market related salary, Provident fund and medical aid benefits