Global Commodity Buyer - Direct Material

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster, and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity set the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the center of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 33 manufacturing sites in 12 countries, we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.35 bn in 2023. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

The Global Commodity Buyer is responsible for managing procurement expenditure as directed by the Commodity Manager, which includes maintaining Strategic Relationships with existing and future Suppliers.

Ensuring requirements are met on time and in accordance with the appropriate quality standards, delivering a highly capable and cost-effective supply base, focus must be on the implementation of the Commodity Procurement Strategy, and support to the commodity management teams and other areas of Supply Chain management when required.

The role entails operating with increasing levels of autonomy at Senior level, whilst being an effective member of the commodity management team, delivering cost-effective solutions for commodity.

A key element of the role is to ensure the commodity strategy is aligned to the individual site and program requirements, whilst ensuring ultimate value generation for the business. There will also be a requirement to support commodity management projects on behalf of the wider GKN Aerospace business, relevant site, and program.

Job Responsibilities

The Global Commodity Buyer will be responsible for supporting strategic sourcing for the relevant commodity to maximize leverage of direct material reporting to the Global Commodity Manager:

• Support the commodity team to meet or exceed objectives related to commodities including: Cost Savings, economics, working capital, quality, supplier rationalization, low-cost sourcing, and other agreed objectives.
• Take Leadership when required for commodity activities in coordination with costing and engineering to drive a competitive advantage for GKN Aerospace.
• Support in the development of commodity strategies
• Ensure self-development in the field of Procurement
• Support and prepare the Make or Buy decisions, prepare data and plans for relevant commodity gate reviews.
• Support efforts concerning supply base rationalization and supplier development.
• Ensure Leveraging synergies across the GKN global network.
• Build RFI/RFP packs and work with Cost Analysts / ME to test value for money.

Job Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management or related fields
• A minimum of 3 years of Commodity experience with 2-3 years in Aerospace industry preferred.
• Must be fluent (speaking and reading) in the English Language

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to interact with people of different levels inside/outside the company and to operate within a team to reach team goals and business objectives
• Ability to empower others to achieve results through motivation, recognition, and performance feedback.
• Ability to express information in a manner appropriate to different levels of people & to lead and close out negotiations.
• Ability to recognize, respond to customer expectations with a sense of urgency.
• Ability to take full responsibility for decisions & results even when all elements are not under individual direct control.
• Experience in implementing industry-leading best practices.
• Proven ability in strategy deployment.
• Proven project management techniques.

Ready to Apply?

Please apply online by sending us your CV and motivation letter. Due to data privacy reasons we do not handle any applications sent by email.

For additional questions, you can contact: Araya Kaur Sabra, Talent Acquisition, via email – araya.kaursabra@gknaerospace.com

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organization that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and by living our five powerful principles, we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique, we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process, please get in touch and let us know.

We are the place where human dreams, plus human endeavor, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.