Buyer

Imagine being the key player ensuring everything flows smoothly between our internal teams and external suppliers. As (Senior) Operational Supplier Coordinator, you will be at the heart of our supply chain, making sure materials are always available to keep production moving. You will be the go-to person for solving issues before they escalate and for keeping suppliers on track. 

In this role, you will actively manage supplier performance, ensuring they meet their commitments and that no delays impact our operations. You will work closely with our internal teams to anticipate potential disruptions, analyze data, and translate insights into concrete actions to optimize our supply processes. Strong communication with suppliers and internal departments will be key to continuously driving improvements and ensuring smooth operations across the board. 

 
Role and responsibilities 
As an Operational Supplier Coordinator your main focus is to ensure material availability for our factories and field teams, while manager supplier performance. Your responsibilities and activities include, but are not limited to: 

• First point of contact for Supply Chain Management towards our suppliers and internal customers. 

• Actively participate in and contribute to cross-functional (procurement) teams, representing our team. 

• Actively manage Masterdata for your supplier categories to ensure smooth supply chain operations.  

• Take up a central role in managing the supplier relationship, partnering with the Sourcing department 

• Secure and assure Materials Availability to the factories and the field by continuously monitoring and following up agreements and performance indicators with the supplier. 

• Resolving, and where possible, preventing possible stagnations and issues. 

• Pro-active Supply Management of a portfolio of items by understanding and clarifying sources and potential impact of demand changes throughout the supply chain. You are able to translate trends at the supplier into concrete actions, targeting weak spots (e.g. supply investigations, optimizing replenishment strategies, logistical engineering). 

• Participation in (supplier) improvement projects together with the Sourcing Manager and Quality Engineer and driving operational improvement plans with suppliers. 

• Coaching and training of suppliers to increase the maturity level and correct use of Vanderlande designed systems, portals, processes, procedures, tools and techniques. 

• Process improvements by applying LEAN methodologies like 4C/A3/8D problem solving techniques and participation in (complex) projects on department level. 

• Analysis and reporting on Materials Availability, while understanding the Materials Requirements Planning logic and dependencies with other processes and departments in the supply chain. Regularly updating key interfaces on status, progress, impact and performance. 
    

Education and Experience 

• Bachelor degree preferably in Logistics or Supply Chain Management (or equivalent) 

• A minimum of 3 years' relevant and proven experience in Ordering / Procurement / supply chain management (ideally in a high-tech, low-volume production environment)   

• Experience in material planning and with ERP Systems, preferably JDE/Oracle