Commodity Strategy Leader

**Job Description and Responsibilities**:

- Create and develop strategies to plan, control, organize and motivate the activities of staff working in the General Purchasing area to purchase goods and services in the most efficient manner to achieve set objectives and in accordance with VWSA requirements.
- Create and develop sourcing strategies for General Purchasing by aligning within the cross-divisional team prices and terms, service delivery and quality whilst maintaining regulatory and quality standards
- Engage with other CSL’s to achieve cross-commodity optimizations in all areas (cost, strategies, suppliers, presentations,)
- Assume responsibility for large value projects assist buyers with technical work where necessary and monitor and evaluate all commercial, specification, legal and delivery aspects of such work to avoid consequences of financial/contractual errors
- Establish business plans through action timelines, which will ensure achievement of objectives (MBO) and take corrective action where necessary
- Assisting the Line Manager to organize and control the work process by developing objectives and the subsequent measurement, evaluation and correction of the work performed to achieve set objectives.
- Provide support and train buyers by using existing training material with the sourcing process, supplier negotiations, project implementation, whilst always considering BBBEE and AITF requirements and general struggling points in order to support the achievement of the objectives.
- Prevent potential line stoppages by providing specialist know how in assisting buyers with immediate and remedial actions to secure production.
- Prepare departmental reports by recording all required statistical data to track progress against key objectives and identify corrective measures where necessary.
- Action or assist buyers with negotiations/arbitration with suppliers and/or internal departments where there are disputes or failures to comply with required standards
- Preparation of High Level presentations, for Global, Internal and external use
- Analyse large volume of data and find synergies to improve savings and better management of low value orders

**Education and Experience**:

- A Degree/National Diploma in the following disciplines - Purchasing, Logistics, Commerce, IT, Finance or Business Management
- Significant knowledge of Purchasing policies, procedures and legal requirements in respect of the General Purchasing
- Minimum 5 years of Purchasing experience in the automotive or related industry
- General Purchasing (non-production buying) experience would be beneficial

**Skills, Attributes & Other requirements**:
ESSENTIAL:

- Advanced strategic and critical thinking skills.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving and project management skills
- Excellent planning and prioritization capability
- Understanding of the economics of capital invested in inventory
- Advanced negotiating competence and fact based decision making skills
- Customer Interface and Conflict Management skills
- Advanced Commercial, Technical and Legal knowledge and understanding
- Good communication skills, written and verbal
- Excellent, organizational and presentation skills
- Excellent computer literacy, especially MS Office package, SAP R/3 Prod (PowerPoint essential)
- Ability to interpret technical data
- Self-motivated and driven
- German language proficiency advantageous
- Advanced inter personal co-ordination skills
- Have a valid Driver’s License