Purchasing Project Manager

Lieu : Herstal, Belgium

Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

Thales Belgium SA, Belgium competence center of Thales, is a company located on 2 sites, one in Tubize (near Brussels) and the other one in Herstal (near Liège). Thales Belgium, which employs more than 280 collaborators, is specialized in the design, development and supply of critical information systems for customers in the sectors of Defense, Security (including Cyber) and Aerospace.

**Mission**:
Working in close cooperation with project managers and bid managers, the Purchasing Project Manager (PPM) consolidates project needs in terms of objectives, resources, planning and budgets.

You will work in close cooperation with the production department in order to provide a clear and consolidated view of the various ongoing projects.

You play a key role regarding the acquisition needs by consolidating them and you are in charge of defining the most appropriate procurement solution. You represent the department towards external stakeholders such as suppliers. Moreover, you provide recommendations during the bid construction phase by providing advices on solution available on the market and identifying potential savings.

You promote design to cost analysis in order to increase the competitiveness across the portfolio.

**Main Responsibilities**:
During bid construction phase:

- To provide recommendations (what solutions are available, is there anything that can be optimize from an acquisition standpoint) to the bid manager
- To streamline procurement needs related to the opportunity funnel.

During project execution:

- To consolidate needs.
- To promote design to cost analysis with the suppliers in order to increase the competitiveness across the portfolio and to define the most appropriate acquisition strategy whilst taking into account:

- The offer available on the market
- The Make or Buy analysis (both structural and project-oriented)
- The prime contract requirements, with an appropriate flow down according to the acquisition context
- The access to Market criteria (KIP, partnership, ToT, )
- The acquisition needs within the Portfolio
- The legal and regulatory requirements (export control, environmental rules, social regulations
- To define the resulting acquisition plan with the support of Buyers
- To execute the acquisition plan in accordance with the allocated targets (Time, Quality, Total Cost of Ownership, Risks & Opportunities)
- To liaise with operational teams and Category Buyers to monitor the execution of the Procurement plan
- To define and monitor the contractual requirements of the acquisition

**Profile**:
**Required level of studies and experience**
- Graduate degree in commercial management or business administration, with at least 5 years’ experience in an international environment.
- An experience working for the defence sector is clearly an asset;

**Knowledge and skills**
- You are a true leader;
- You are business oriented, proactive and autonomous;
- You have excellent communication skills;
- You like to analyze figures and you are particularly familiar with commercial data (pricing and terms and conditions);
- You have strong spoken and written communication skills;
- You are able to work inside matrix teams and you are a real team-player;
- You are fluent in French and English (oral and written communication);
- Interested?_
- Diversity Statement_
We actively support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions. That means that equal opportunities, inclusion and an informal culture are integral to our success. It also means that your well-being and happiness matter to us That’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, remote working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times.