Administration
EMBL Heidelberg
We are looking for a dedicated, highly energetic Purchase Officer with the right mindset to join and strengthen our team (5 members in the Purchase team and 4 members in the Stores team) located at the EMBL headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany.
Within the Administration, the EMBL Purchase Department deals with all purchase related activities according to the best-value-for-money principle and provides state-of-the art service to the scientific and administrative community.
This position reports to the Head of Purchase Department and is based at the Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany. The candidate will be the contact person for external partners and also have a key function within the institute by interacting with the scientific community and all major departments: Finance, Legal, HR, IT services, Facility Management.
Your role
The successful candidate will be in charge of the sourcing and procurement of a wide range of products: scientific equipment, consumables, services and consultancies.
Main duties:
- guarantee cost-effective and timely purchase of all materials, equipment and services
- whilst ensuring compliance with the EMBL policies and procedures
- monitor purchase orders
- seek and partner with reliable suppliers, request quotations, negotiate effectively
- while maintaining mutually beneficial relationships
- collaborate with internal stakeholders to determine consultancy requirements/
- specifications and support contract drafting
- conduct contract negotiations, of routine and complex contracts and other business
- agreements
- identify key areas for spend consolidation and cost saving opportunities
- provide first-rate customer service to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction and
- alleviate the scientific community from all procurement-related administrative tasks
- participate in the improvement of purchasing processes and actively engage in the
- procurement digitalization project (implementation of a new ERP system)
Additional functions and occasional tasks:
- support and assist administrative assistants from other duty stations with purchasing
- related issues
- train new colleagues
- draft templates, desk instructions and operational procedures in English
- occasionally present purchase related topics in front of the EMBL user community in English
Closing date: 6 October 2023
- Contract duration: 3 years (renewable)
- Grading: 4 or 5; depending on experience and qualifications (depending on experience and qualifications (monthly salary starting from 3.7k EUR after tax + other paid benefits)
- Reference number: HD02456
Related
You have
To perform the job successfully, the candidate should demonstrate the ability to:
- manage multiple tasks simultaneously, have a concise and clear thinking
- work independently under minor supervision, be self-motivated with a positive and
- enthusiastic approach
- work with integrity with diverse cultural backgrounds, contribute to building a positive
- team spirit and create a harmonic and fruitful work environment
- approach others in a tactful and constructive manner
- deal positively with change and adapt to new situations
The inividual should also possess strong written and verbal communication skills to deal with various levels of management and staff within the organization and with vendors.
A high level of engagement, trust and reliability, friendliness, helpfulness and service-oriented personality is required for this position.
The ideal applicant should have a sound and adequate hands-on work experience in procurement (at least 6 years) preferably in a dynamic, challenging and international academic research environment.
A University degree in Business, Procurement, Supply chain management or equivalent commercial education is demanded. Distinctive commercial understanding and a high sense of service is expected.
The candidate should have proven experience in working with an ERP system (SAP, Oracle or Workday and with MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint).
A high degree of flexibility, team spirit and service readiness are essential, combined with the ability to interact with a professional and advanced level of English.
You might also have
First experience in leading small-scale projects and familiarity with procurement-related digitalization efforts and technology solutions, experience in integrating and managing punch-out catalogues within procurement systems would be an asset.
Good knowledge of German would be an advantage.
Why join us
EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture – one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.
EMBL offers attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family-friendly working environment. Competitive salary and social security benefits, financial support for relocation, a relaxed culture, professional development, an on-site nursery, canteen and other staff facilities make EMBL a great place to work.
** Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.
What else you need to know
We are Europe’s research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1900 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.
Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.