Operational Buyer

**Be part of something bigger**:
As the world and the way people live is changing, we at Bekaert believe it’s our responsibility to contribute to finding new solutions for the future. With a 140+ year old heritage of excellence, innovation, and a future-focused mindset, we strive to create value for our customers and society. We aim to do this through innovative solutions and sustainable practices. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of steel wire transformation and coatings whilst also leveraging our expertise to develop innovative solutions with new materials and services in a safe, smart, and sustainable way. Our focus extends to markets such as new mobility, low-carbon construction, and green energy.

As a dynamic and growing company with over 24 000 employees worldwide, 75 nationalities, a retention rate above 90% and almost € 5.3 billion in combined revenue in 2023, we are looking for someone like you to join our team as we continue to shape a safer, more efficient, and connected world

**I. PURPOSE OF THE JOB (On Contract)**:
The role of the Operational Buyer is to manage the commercial terms for a specific commodity and ensure suppliers are capable of meeting Bekaert’s quality, technology, and supply requirements. As a buyer this role is expected to help manage all aspects of the supplier relationship including contract management, target achievement, commodity strategy execution and development. This role shall perform and support local purchasing activities as aligned with category & operational procurement strategy. This role shall monitor local purchasing KPI's, stay close to the business users and create value for the business together with the Operational Procurement Manager.
This role shall be responsible to manage categories like OEM, Utilities and Dies.

**II. ROLE DESCRIPTION**:
**1. Perform a Spend & Demand Analysis**
- Analyze both historical trends and projected business requirements for Bekaert India by retrieving and evaluating localized demand data and conducting market research within the relevant category.
- Assess market dynamics including supply landscape, industry trends, and competitive benchmarking. Identify cross-plant, regional, and global sourcing opportunities to leverage purchasing power and drive value creation.
- Develop and maintain comprehensive category spend analysis, savings tracking reports, and supplier intelligence documentation (Supplier Passport) to support strategic decision-making and ensure transparency and performance monitoring.

**2. Initiate, develop and execute TCO projects**
- Identify Cost Drivers for the specific category and material group
- Preparation of paper or electronic RFQs
- Develop innovative sourcing alternatives to inject competition and mitigate risk in goods and/or services
- Support and execute TCO projects
- Create & Manage tool Content such as catalogs and/or purchase marketplaces, manage the Buying Channels with suppliers

**3. Operational Support**
- Responsible for the timely delivery of materials and services to support uninterrupted plant operations and production continuity.
- Lead commercial negotiations for materials and engineering/maintenance services. Facilitate Early Supplier Involvement (ESI) to optimize procurement outcomes and ensure alignment with technical requirements.
- Support plant-level category strategy execution by engaging with local key users, organizing meetings with stakeholders and Operations Managers, and aligning procurement actions with plant needs.
- Maintain and update local purchasing KPIs and supply performance dashboards to track progress, identify gaps, and drive continuous improvement.
- Act as a liaison by guiding users to appropriate procurement contacts for inquiries or specific project requirements, ensuring effective communication and support.

**4. Tendering & Supplier Selection for global suppliers**
- Identify potential Suppliers, Conduct RFx, Negotiate Agreements and Select the best Supplier to fit the needs taking in account TCO analysis
- Ensure compliance with the purchasing process manual, policies, and procedures
- Research and identify capable vendors or contractors
- Initiate selection and approval of new vendors, while also maintaining the business relationships with the existing suppliers.
- Maintain files and communicate non-conformance issues internally and with vendors

**5. Data Management**
- Manage the effectiveness and integrity of the master data for the category
- Steer the management of specifications for important and critical products or services: ensure that the specifications are clear and available in the system and assure (delegate) the communication to the suppliers

**6. Ensure live Contract**
- Provide support to the project team in contract administration, cost controls, change order management, etc.
- Communicate, follow-up and maintain the commercial agreements in his/her portfolio

**7. Internal Stakeholders**
- Production, Maintenance, Supply C