Regional Category Buyer

We are currently looking for a Category Buyer to join the Thales team in Irvine, CA The Regional Category Buyer supports one or several procurement categories for the entire region in which the operate. He/she works in close relation with the Product / Project Procurement organizations and the relevant stakeholders. He/she will have regular feed back with them, and their main tasks are as follows: Focus- Software Engineering and applicaiton purchasing and negotiating. Key Responsibilities: Ensure regional needs are met and enforce standardization for procurement categories in close cooperation with B&P and Products Procurement organization if relevant. Monitor the market for their category, including key actors and suppliers, economic evolutions, innovations, technology, in order to propose the most up-to-date solutions to businesses Provide business with insights as to how products / projects could be more competitive, based on their monitoring Performance Management vis-a-vis entities / regions Guarantee the level of performance expected by the entities / regions (monitor performance, communicate on best practices, define SLA...) Propose and implement corrective actions in the case of a shortfall in performance Organize competitions, assess and select best suppliers for their category / commodity, in close collaboration with entities / regions and with regular feedback loops Negotiate contracts Supports the compliance of the purchase contracts with the laws, the Thales regulations and the customers requirements. Monitor and control performance of category's suppliers, based on data provided by Supplier Performance Managers Assess and manage suppliers risks Identify the suppliers who have to be developed and set up the improvement plan with the Supplier Performance Manager Lead P0 & P1 Projects (Up to (USD)300k spend and Low to High Risk) Support P2 Projects (Greater than (USD)300k spend and Low Risk) Support P3 Projects (Greater than (USD)300k spend and Medium to High Risk) Skills and Experience: Bachelors Degree or 5 years of Procurement/Purchasing experience Min 2 years leading P0 & P1 sourcing projects up to (USD)300k spend Have a good knowledge of the regional market for their commodity Knowledge of value analysis methods and commercial law, insurance and export control Understand the customer's needs and program issues Know how to evaluate financial performance, risks and propose a mitigation plan Ability to travel internationally up to 15% Top 3 Challenges: Managing priorities Pressure - cost savings and reporting Process not in place- being implemented
Contract negotiation SOW Negotiations with suppliers Spend- (USD)300K and under SW Licencing Reinforcing global strategy Direct Spend Selling Directly to customers Excel, PPP, SAP or any ERP system Looking for someone that is able to operate without a process in place and can pick up and run on the fly Someone who is able to communicate to stake holders push back if needed. Will work with manager onsite in Irvine as well as a team in Melbourne, FL. Min 2-3 years of experience as a buyer Looking for an energetic person that is willing to be creative on getting answers and has good instinct