Sr. Strategic Buyer with Logistics category

Company OverviewGEP is a diverse, creative team of people passionate about procurement. We invest ourselves in our client’s success, creating strong collaborative relationships that deliver extraordinary value year after year. Our clients include market global leaders with far-flung international operations, Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises, leading government and public institutions. We deliver practical, effective services and software that enable procurement leaders to maximize their impact on business operations, strategy and financial performance. That’s just some of the things that we do in our quest to build a beautiful company, enjoy the journey and make a difference. GEP is a place where individuality is prized, and talent respected. We’re focused on what is real and effective. GEP is where good ideas and great people are recognized, results matter, and ability and hard work drive achievements. We’re a learning organization, actively looking for people to help shape, grow and continually improve us.#What You Will DoWhat you can expect to be responsible for as a Senior Strategic Buyer: Supporting category managers with category strategy plans, sourcing execution, supporting category planning and strategic sourcing tasksIdentifying and communicating with a diverse range of stakeholders, such as suppliers, project sponsors, end-users and other supporting functions such as HR, Legal and Finance.Leveraging the GEP network of Category Experts and tools, to deliver insights to any project / client.Providing support with respect to Supplier Management/ Procurement processes and policies. Establishing negotiation strategies, identifying and developing negotiation levers, validating them with stakeholders and leading negotiations to ensure savings, timely supply and other benefits for purchases, business analytics, savings reporting and tracking, stakeholder interaction as part of the S2C program Discussing with vendors and evaluating their products and capabilities as suppliers; Using SMART by GEP® technology and client ERP system for procurement operations; Demonstrating continuous effort to improve operations, manage SOP’s, decrease turnaround times and streamline work processes; Managing all supplier selection and procurement activities (e.g. RFI, RFP, RFQ, Scorecard and Bid Analysis) Working cooperatively and jointly to provide quality seamless customer service; Leading a small/medium sized team; Participating in firm building activities, including recruitment. What You Should BringFitting expertise for the role would be:5-7 years of expertise in strategic sourcingProficiency in English and Arabic on a business levelExperience with Logistics category (strategy development, building project pipeline, conducting discussions on the topic with dedicated stakeholder)Experience with managing and mentoring small to medium sized teams, both from an operational and career perspectiveKnowledge of the principles and practices of large-scale centralized purchasingStrong verbal and written communication skills in order to comfortably engage with all levels of management in client organizationsStrong analytical, reporting and presentation skills i.e. regarding creating baselines, performing market tests/analyses, summarizing the key points succinctly by email/in presentationExperience with leading and executing negotiationsAbility to manage multiple procurement projects at once and assess new purchase requirements based on spend risk etc.Knowledge of variety of categories would be advantageous (trends, suppliers, industry specifics and terminology, legal frameworks)Advantage: Any business process improvement methodology such as TQM, Six Sigma, APEX etc.