Swisslog Americas is seeking a Head of Purchasing to manage and steer all direct material spend within the Americas region. This Director level position will lead a team of Project Purchasers and Operative Purchasers.
Short Facts
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Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America -
Swisslog -
Procurement -
Permanent Position
Responsibilities
Direct Materials Spend Management - Project purchasing
Supplier Management
Collaboration with Global Purchasing
- Manage & steer all direct material spend (third party) used in projects for the whole Americas region
- Manage the Source-to-Purchase process for the region Americas from Strategic sourcing to ordering
- Enable a proven project calculation for third party materials in projects in order to ensure the project margin and requested EBIT contribution
- Contribute to profitable projects with optimized price / performance ratio by selecting competitive suppliers in combination with benchmarking and hard negotiation principles
- Realize savings on the budget volume for New Business projects (in 2024: 4%)
- Active role to manage project supply (RFQs, offer comparisons, supplier negotitions, contracting) at all sites
- Assure the governance for key materials (Rack, AGV, Monorail, Robots): benchmarking of suppliers, price/ performance rating of offers, having minimal two competitive quotes prior signing of purchase order
- During Sales phase (early involvement): to align with the Sales project manager which materials have to be sourced from 3rd party
- Supply base: to define the suppliers to be requested together with peers as a) Global Purchasing reg. supplier & category strategy; b) Local Project Team; c) Product Center if applicable (e.g. for CycloneCarrier Racking and PowerStore Racking)
- Harmonization of the processes within the region by following global standards
- Exception: internal supply from our Product Centers does not have to be benchmarked and negotiated reg. pricing and terms & conditions
- It is intended to build-up a regional category mgmt. for the main material groups, such as Autostore and Installers. Target of category mgmt.: strategic supplier relationship mgmt., ensure competitive pricing and benchmarking, support project purchasing throughout all phases in provision of pricing and resilient supplier portfolio.
Supplier Management
- Ensure and develop the supply base for Americas in close collaboration with the Division and global Purchasing
- Realize best price / performance ratio: to achieve competitive pricing in combination with low risk (reducing the risks for non-supply resp. financial losses; reducing currency risks; reducing the risks for nonperformance)
- In the lead of supplier negotiation and contracting and to act as purchasing key contact of the region
- Manage the comprehensive supplier evaluation and approval process
- To ensure supplier compliance with legal obligations and regulations (e.g. Sustainability)
- Perform supplier performance rating according defined process
- To share the ratings with the supplier and organize a review; to manage the corrective actions together with peers (e.g. Quality mgmt. team)
- To support the supplier audits, define and follow-up corrective actions with the supplier
Collaboration with Global Purchasing
- Regional execution of the respective category strategy
- Compliance to processes & tools and guidances
- pro-actively contribute to continuously improve processes & tools
- Close collaboration with the Americas Management team and key persons at all sites in Sales, Realization and Customer Service
- Lead the Americas purchasing team
- Manage the organizational readiness to fulfill the required purchasing service levels for direct and indirects materials management
Application Requirements
Essential:
- Engineering degree or commercial degree with good technical knowledge
- Minimal ten years experience in operative and strategic purchasing
- Supply Chain Management experience in comparable industries and project oriented solutions:
- discrete manufacturing industries; not in process industries (chemical, pharma, nutrition); not in pure service companies (as e.g. banking, insurance)
- Good knowledge of contract regulations
- Good negotiation skills
- Fluent communication in English (ideally mother language); in written and spoken
- Good and proven knowledge of MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
- SAP R3 MM (Material Management) with focus on purchasing transactions
- Diploma in Purchasing (e.g. CIPS certificate)
- MBA; ideally in Supply Chain Management
- Every other language besides English & German is beneficial
- Working experience in an international company with multiple sites
- Work experience in project business comparable to intralogistics projects (size of projects; technology in HW, SW and automation)
- Experience as Project Manager to manage trans-regional projects with multiple sites
Our promise
Swisslog provides you with the possibility to grow while working with us to deliver a game changing mission: to shape the future of intralogistics by introducing an era of robotic and data-driven automated solutions that create exceptional customer value. We are proud of our Swiss roots, while the opportunities we offer stretch across the globe. We don't expect perfection, but we do expect Collaboration, Commitment, Clarity, and Competence (our Core Values) from all our colleagues. In return, we offer you the chance to be part of the driving force behind solutions that are shaping the future, while we develop the leaders that will shape ours.
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Onboarding -
Learn & Grow -
Flexible Working Options -
Diversity & Inclusion -
Great Team Spirit
About Swisslog
Swisslog is shaping the #future of #intralogistics. As part of the KUKA Group, we are at the forefront of technology that is changing the world. Serving some of the biggest and most exciting brands across the globe, we're a team of 2,000 professionals and 50 nationalities, working together to transform intralogistics with smart minds and fresh perspectives. With our flexible, #robotic and #data-driven automated solutions, we are powering the supply chain and taking the industry forward. #JoinOurTeam and bring ideas to life!
