Purchasing Team Lead / Material Readiness Planner

Responsibilities & Authorities

1. Team Leadership – Purchasing Operations

• Lead and coach the Purchasing / Operational Buying team
• Allocate supplier and commodity responsibilities
• Develop team capability in PO management, supplier communication, and escalation
• Establish standard work and follow-up cadence for buyers
• Conduct regular performance reviews and workload balancing

2. Material Readiness & MRP Execution

• Work with Material Planners to translate MRP output into actionable purchase requirements
• Ensure material readiness for the frozen production window
• Validate supplier commitments versus planning priorities
• Maintain visibility of shortages and delivery risks

3. Supplier Delivery Performance

• Own supplier PO confirmation, rescheduling, and expediting discipline
• Track delivery commitments and escalate chronic under-performance
• Drive OTD (On-Time Delivery-to-request) improvement with suppliers
• Support supplier segmentation and communication cadence

4. Shortage & Risk Management

• Chair or co-chair shortage review meetings
• Classify shortages by root cause (supplier, data, planning, engineering)
• Develop recovery plans and preventive actions
• Provide clear communication to Production Planning and Master Planning

5. Cross-Functional Integration

• Work closely with:

  • Master Planner (MPS priorities)
  • Material Planner (MRP and demand signals)
  • Production Planning Manager (execution protection)
  • Engineering (BOM and change impacts)

• Ensure that purchase actions reflect true production priorities

6. Process & System Improvement

• Improve PO management workflows and automation
• Enhance Navision (or ERP) usage for buying and material tracking
• Contribute to Supply Chain Excellence initiatives
• Support development of dashboards for material readiness visibility

Education & Experience

• Bsc, Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations
• 5–10 years’ experience in purchasing, materials planning, or supply chain operations

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Experience leading a small team preferred
• Strong knowledge of MRP, PO management, and supplier follow-up
• Experience in HMHV / HMLV manufacturing advantageous
• ERP proficiency (Navision or equivalent)
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Calm under pressure; execution-focused mindset