Senior Buyer
Description
To provide strategic procurement leadership across multiple commodity groups, engineered products and specialist services, supporting the organisation’s commercial, operational and bid objectives.
The role is responsible for developing sourcing strategies aligned to global category management strategies, evaluating commercial and supply chain risk, supporting bids and proposals, negotiating contractual and commercial arrangements, and providing analytical decision support to improve profitability, supply continuity and competitive advantage.
The Senior Buyer role is focused on commercially significant procurement activities, supplier strategy, risk management and bid support. The role retains accountability for procurement delivery, purchase order management and supplier performance whilst supporting the ongoing development and transition of appropriate transactional and administrative procurement activities to designated procurement support functions. The primary focus shall remain on activities that directly influence profitability, risk reduction, supply assurance and business competitiveness.
Support Bids & Proposals activities through development of sourcing strategies, commercial evaluations and supply market intelligence.
Review customer contractual requirements and identify procurement, commercial and supply chain risks associated with proposed work scopes.
Interpret contractual flow-down requirements and ensure appropriate supplier obligations, compliance requirements and risk mitigation measures are incorporated into sourcing strategies and procurement documentation.
Conduct supplier and procurement risk assessments using probability and impact methodologies and support development of mitigation plans.
Quantify commercial exposure using methodologies such as risk-adjusted cost modelling, DARIO assessments and Expected Monetary Value (EMV) analysis where appropriate.
Ensure procurement activities comply with company policies, contractual frameworks, and applicable regulatory requirements, while acting as a trusted commercial partner to internal stakeholders across operations, engineering, and finance.
Demonstrate strong business acumen with the ability to understand market dynamics, anticipate industry trends, and translate strategic objectives into actionable plans.
Support supply chain strategies and initiatives that contribute towards global goals and objectives.
Demonstrate strong analytical skills with the ability to access and interpret commodity market data (e.g., London Metal Exchange (LME), Foreign exchange (FX), COMEX, FRED etc.) for demand planning, supplier negotiations, and production scheduling.
Deliver year-on-year cost reduction and value improvement initiatives against project budgets in line with procedures and KPIs.
Develop, lead and manage procurement activities for project-specific materials and safety stock requirements.
Forecast long lead-time procurement requirements and communicate demand forecasts to suppliers to ensure business requirements can be met whilst identifying and mitigating supply chain risks.
Maintain fixed pricing schedules, maximise long-term agreements and ensure global requirements are considered.
Actively support the development of less experienced team members through mentoring, coaching, and knowledge sharing, contributing to capability uplift, consistency of execution, and overall procurement performance.
Support stage gate reviews as required.
Lead supplier selection and negotiations, including terms and conditions, Incoterms, payment terms, pricing and service levels.
Create, analyse and distribute procurement performance, commodity intelligence and market trend reports.
Participate in AFE projects, including commercial and contractual negotiations, to help ensure projects are delivered within budget and agreed timescales.
Participate in HSE Awareness – Observation Cards, HSE Safety Suggestions.
Support Quality in the management of vendor-related non-conformances and supplier development activities, ensuring lessons learned are effectively implemented.
Identify and eliminate waste promoting the use of more environmentally friendly substances and practices and contribute to the continuous improvement of the environment.
Demonstrate high levels of engagement and a positive can-do attitude while consistently supporting the Oceaneering culture of Safety, Quality, continuous learning and continual improvement.
Manage the end-to-end procurement lifecycle for assigned commodities, materials, services and project requirements, including sourcing, supplier selection, commercial evaluation, purchase order placement and contract administration, working in conjunction with procurement support functions where appropriate.
Undertake any other duties as reasonably required to support business needs, including carrying out work in accordance with the Company's Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality Management Systems.
REQUIRED
MCIPS qualified, working towards MCIPS, or degree-qualified in Supply Chain, Procurement, Business, Engineering or another relevant discipline.
OR
Extensive experience operating at Senior Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Category Buyer or equivalent level within a highly regulated manufacturing, engineering or new product development environment.
Examples include Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Defence, Pharmaceutical, Nuclear, Medical Device.
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
Demonstrable experience supporting bids, tenders or major projects.
Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel capability including Pivot Tables, Lookups, SUMIFS, data analysis, forecasting techniques and procurement reporting. Candidates may be required to demonstrate competency through practical assessment.
Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret data and communicate commercially sound recommendations to stakeholders.
Competent ERP system experience.
Oracle Fusion/SAP experience would be advantageous.