Project Buyer

Vitalo, headquartered in Meulebeke, specialises in the design, production and commercialisation of plastic solutions through two separate business lines, namely transparent and non-transparent thin and thick thermoforming on the one hand and technical foams for acoustic and thermal insulation on the other. The company has production and competence facilities located in Belgium, France, Slovakia and China.

Vitalo is looking for a Project Buyer. In this position, you will play a pivotal role for (tender & project) procurement, category management and sourcing within the organisation. This position offers not only the chance to contribute to a sustainable working environment, but also to think strategically and make an impact. Do you enjoy working in a technical environment where strategic procurement is key? Then you might be the Project Buyer we are looking for!

Purpose of the position

Project & Tender Procurement

The Project Buyer will manage the sourcing activities from tender till final payment.

In general, the projects consist of long-term agreements where Vitalo supplies parts for the lifetime of the customer’s end product. This means that the projects evolve from an engineering driven project to a full scale industrialisation where quality, business continuity and cost reduction are of primary importance.

The project buyer will be part of the tender / project team and will assure proper sourcing according to the tender / project needs.

The project buyer does this from a holistic approach, whereby he/she takes in consideration the total cost of ownership.

The project buyer intervenes when sourcing materials, subcontracting or services that are needed for the project(s) assigned.

Category Management

He/she acts as category manager and/or indirect sourcing specialist for the domains assigned.

Perform spend analyse, market research, quantify savings, define & execute category management actions and monitor the results.

The project buyer systematically looks for innovations from the supplier market and contributes to professionalisation, result improvement (P&L) and customer satisfaction within VITALO.

Accountabilities

• Select and manage possible partners in function of the project or category related criteria (quality, safety, environment, design & engineering, planning, price, payment conditions, …)
• Have an in-depth knowledge of the drivers and decisive factors of what needs to be sourced, assuring proper and sound proposals for decision making.
• Establish and manage the contractual relationship with the selected supplier(s).
• Ensure optimal usage of one Vitalo procurement, including ICT related tools that are defined globally.
• Responsible for project procurement budget
• Responsible for the assigned categories and/or indirect spend
• Responsible for adherence to procurement procedures & processes
• Provide data / dashboards in support of business decision making, strategy formulation and strategy implementation.

Key activities

• Project & category procurement management, including the establishment of project or category specific execution plan and procurement strategy, from the initial procurement strategy stage through to contract preparation & award and all the contract management support during execution.
• Contract management, including close cooperation with the project team and main supplier(s), follow-up of all contractual aspects, negotiation, administration and close out activities. Assure a contractual flow down from specific customer requirements into supplier agreements as per Vitalo’s purchasing strategy.
• Set up together with the project team and the internal customers the procurement coordination procedures (task/ roles matrix, approval workflow, hold points).
• In cooperation with the project team, support the development and implementation of the sourcing strategy for each project this from tender to close-out of the project.
• Source raw materials such as Plates (ABS, PP, PET, …), Foam Blocks, Glue, Tape, … and ‘technical products/services’ such as machine tooling or assembly components and MRO from approved suppliers.
• Work with tender / project team to generate request for quotation (RFQ) for materials, subcontracting or services.
• Evaluation of RFQ’s, negotiates price and delivery.
• Negotiation of annual contracts, incl. terms and administrative execution and management of performance reviews against agreed deliverables.
• Ensure that proper documentation of the purchase is included in accordance with policies and procedures. You apply the applicable Vitalo processes and methods and make proposals based on your expertise and experience to improve and innovate where possible.
• You are quality conscious and document your work in the ERP
• Acquire market knowledge and challenge the internal organization with new insights. Understand the strategic details of the market and develop and implement contracting strategy for the assigned sourcing groups / categories.
• You work closely together with your colleagues in your country and across the Vitalo Group when appropriate (Slovakia, France, China)
• Knowledge and continual improvement : you permanently train yourself and share actively this knowledge within Vitalo. You challenge the organisation with new insights and actively do proposals with the view on continual improvement and innovation.

Profile

Mindset & Culture

• Openness and willingness to share information.
• Creates a culture of continuous improvement and delivery.
• Identifies and grows best practices and strengthens system and process controls.
• Fosters a culture with respect for everyone’s identity and follow the guidelines as per the United Nations Global Compact
• Looks beyond the narrowness of budget and cost, but looks for continuous financial improvement and increased predictability from a total cost of ownership and end-to-end perspective.

Competences

Professional behaviour:

• Demystify where necessary. Go beyond the delusion and assumption that so-called unique and risky activities can only be granted to specific (monopolistically inspired and/or strongly preferred) suppliers.
• Demystification is done by objectification of the expected function, contractual obligations (service level), scope and capacity.
• When taking decisions, you are guided by facts and figures (fact based decision).
• Well-structured
• You are stress resistant and flexible in adopting tasks assigned to you
• You want to excel in your job

Mental agility:

• Judgment: drawing correct and realistic conclusions based on the information available.

Leadership & interpersonal skills:

• Results oriented, open-minded, analytical & combining conceptual insight with a hands-on approach

Entrepreneurship:

• International focus and your ‘intellectual curiosity’ is a drive to improve step by step
• Customer oriented : giving high priority to service orientation and client satisfaction.

Cooperation:

• Teamwork : making an active contribution to a joint result or solution, even when such teamwork concerns a matter which is not of immediate personal interest.
• Strong communication and good negotiation skills (internal customers, suppliers).

Education and experience

• Engineer / Master of science in a relevant technical field
• 5 to 10 years of relevant procurement and / or capital project management experience
• Experience in purchasing of raw materials, technical products and services, preferably in an international environment with stringent end customer requirements
• Intermediate to expert contracting skills with relevant experience in negotiations in a project management environment.
• Knowledge of the country languages (Dutch and French) and English is required. Knowledge of any additional language is considered a plus (e.g. : German).
• Willingness to travel occasionally within the geographic area of the different Vitalo sites

Our offer

• The opportunity to show your entrepreneurial spirit to the fullest in a professional and people-oriented environment with international contacts.
• The opportunity to grow with impact and to help shape your role in open consultation
• Attractive salary with a nice package of fringe benefits including a company car.