Senior Strategic Buyer - Direct Materials

Senior Strategic Buyer - Direct Materials

Join to apply for the Senior Strategic Buyer - Direct Materials role at Rolls‑Royce Power Systems AG

Location:

East Grinstead
Full time:
Hybrid

At Rolls‑Royce we are proud to be a business that has truly helped to shape the modern world and are committed to always being a force for progress; powering, protecting and connecting people everywhere.

By joining Rolls‑Royce, you'll have the opportunity to work on world‑class solutions, supported by a culture that believes individuality is our greatest strength, and all perspectives, experiences and backgrounds help us innovate and enable our high‑performance culture.

The Senior Strategic Buyer will play a significant role in supporting the Operations team to achieve several key business objectives including, but not limited to, customer satisfaction, on time delivery and optimised inventory levels/lead times. Collaborating closely with teams throughout the business, the Senior Strategic Buyer has the responsibility for ensuring an adequate flow of direct materials is maintained to ensure reliable on‑time delivery of finished goods for all customers.

• Develop and lead sourcing activities from proposal to contract signature, including negotiation, performing cost analysis by creating Total Cost or Acquisition/Product Cost Lifecycle Models, and building business cases to select high performing suppliers that meet the Rolls‑Royce cost, quality, delivery, sustainability, management, and technology objectives.
• Conduct market analysis to identify potential suppliers and assess market trends.
• Lead contract management, including drafting, negotiating, and finalising agreements with suppliers to ensure compliance and optimise terms.
• Manage the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating commercial risks within the supply chain to ensure continuity and resilience.
• Develop & implement continuous improvement/cost optimisation programmes for key (direct material) suppliers.
• Work with the relevant functions and stakeholders to lead and contribute to building and maintaining category strategies within the designated category to draw value for Rolls‑Royce, whilst keeping up to date with key market trends and technologies.
• Experience of managing supplier relationships and contract supplier management, including supplier performance management, leading cost reduction activities, and resolving commercial issues.
• Evaluate supplier performance and implement improvement plans as necessary.
• Develop and coordinate measures to address disruptions in procurement (delivery delays, discontinuations, market shortages, obsolescence).
• Support global sourcing activities.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to align procurement strategies with business goals.
• Work closely with engineering, production, and quality teams to ensure material specifications and requirements are met.
• Assist and support HSQE/3rd party auditors with desktop and supplier audits as and when required.
• Lead new strategic procurement activities / E2E processes of new parts (with other internal stakeholder’s support) up until release of parts.
• Good understanding of quality standards.
• Defence standards, contracts and awareness of Defence requirements.

• Successfully completed studies in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a comparable qualification (Certification in supply chain management such as CPSM, CIPS) with minimum 5 years experience of working as a Senior Strategic Buyer in a regulated or complex industry demonstrating strong experience in strategic sourcing as well as managing supplier relationships and in‑contract supplier management.
• A strong understanding of risk management and building a resilient supply chain.
• Proven track record of successful negotiations, coupled with strong commercial and financial skills with an understanding of Total Cost of Acquisition/Product Cost Life cycles and associated levers/analytics.
• Experience of reviewing and drafting contracts as well as good technical understanding.
• Highly proficient in IT systems, including Microsoft Office, SAP, MRP and…