Tactical Purchaser, Struers

Struers is the world’s leading manufacturer of equipment, consumables, and services for metallographic examinations. With subsidiaries and offices in 24 countries and a presence in 50 countries worldwide, Struers is a growing international company. Struers has close customer relationships established worldwide with leading industrial companies, prestigious universities, and respected research institutions. You will become a part of our Danish headquarters in Ballerup, where we have 200+ employees. Struers takes pride in delivering high-quality solutions while working in an informal environment. For the headquarters in Ballerup, we are seeking a new:

Tactical Purchaser

Are you eager to expand your operational and theoretical knowledge about procurement and find it exciting to work closely with suppliers? Are you motivated by ensuring that critical components are available in the right quantities and at the right time through optimizing forecasts and inventory levels? If so, a job at Struers could be your perfect career move.

In this role, you will report to Purchase and Planning Manager, Ann Borg, and, along with the rest of the purchasing team, manage a range of procurement categories. The large and important category for which you will have tactical procurement responsibility is Consumables, covering items such as grinding and cutting discs, foil and paper, polishing fluids/cloths, metals, sprays, chemical products, powders, etc.

In your daily work, you will develop close relationships with other tactical buyers, strategic procurement, production planning, engineering, and the warehouse. Your responsibilities will include ensuring effective collaboration with a range of suppliers both in Denmark and abroad. You should be able to manage supplier relationships, follow up on agreed KPIs, identify areas for improvement, and ensure these improvements are implemented. There is a strong focus on compliance, inventory turnover, forecast, and efficiency.

Additional responsibilities include:

• Organize and lead supplier collaboration meetings with key suppliers to foster strategic partnerships, identify opportunities for innovation, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure tailored order processes in the ERP system, focusing on customizing the process for strategically important suppliers.
• Manage the in- and out-phasing of components and increase inventory turnover for raw materials.
• Analyze dashboards and other data sources to assess suppliers’ ability to deliver the right quality on time and in full.
• Participate in implementing the Annual Wheel, and work with performance review meetings, forecast updates, master data review, segmentation, and updates of safety stock.

You will be evaluated on your ability to contribute to the team, ensure good collaboration with your suppliers, and improve our tactical procurement processes.

Your Experience and Skills

We imagine that you likely have a master’s degree in Supply Chain or Logistics combined with 2-3 years of experience. However, you can also be considered for this position if you have a background in procurement and several years of experience. You have worked with supplier follow-ups, defining KPIs, procurement processes, and how to reduce inventory in close collaboration with suppliers.

It will be an advantage if you have experience from a manufacturing company, where you have worked at the intersection of planning, suppliers, and production. Experience with LEAN and, for example, stand-up meetings will also be beneficial. You speak and write English proficiently and are willing to travel 10-15 days a year.

As a person, you work independently and are proactive in your approach to solving tasks. You are analytical and think in processes to streamline your area of responsibility in close cooperation with your colleagues and suppliers. You have some analytical skills, are comfortable working with big data sets, and have the ability to establish structured and good relationships with suppliers and internal partners.

Why is this position attractive?

Struers is a market-leading global company, financially sound and resilient with strong ownership. You’ll have the opportunity to work for a global manufacturing company, where you can influence and develop your part of the organization. You will hold a broad and significant role in a company undergoing change, and we promise lots of professional challenges and fun with colleagues. We have a culture of helping each other across functions, and we are always eager to improve. We have an informal and flat structure, and focus on providing the best solutions for our customers.