Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions (WTS) is a worldwide leader in water recovery, treatment and reuse. We design and supply a range of water systems, from food and beverage applications, to municipal water, to microelectronics ultrapure water and heavy industrial wastewater treatment.
At WTS, we realize diverse teams make smarter decisions, deliver better results, and build stronger communities. We’re an organization that champions diversity and inclusion at every rung of the ladder and are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We offer challenging and meaningful careers, with competitive benefits and flexible work arrangements.
Job Description
The VP - Regional Procurement (North America - NAM) will report into Veolia WTS Chief
Procurement Officer and will be responsible to oversee a team of 60-70 FTEs who are accountable for $1.0BN + of Veolia WTS spend across the NAM Region. In partnership with internal, functional stakeholders and business partners, this role will be responsible for leading overall procurement activities in the NAM region comprising the P&Ls of Projects, Products, Services, Chemicals as well as Direct and Indirect Procurement, P2P and Fulfillment. The person will be accountable for all procurement related deliverables in the overall region. This role will influence and collaborate with global internal stakeholders, regional leadership and supply base to develop/deploy a holistic
regional procurement strategy.
As we are working to shape and implement a global procurement function for the Water Tech Zone (WTS + VWT), NAM is the biggest region for WTS and VP NAM Regional Procurement will play an instrumental role in this process, helping shape the global organization adapted to support our ambition to increase the strategic impact of the procurement and support the WT growth . She / He will lead the implementation for NAM.
Key Characteristics
Strategic thinking with multi-disciplinary collaboration
Analytical with problem-solving skills
People management and communication skills
Specific Responsibilities
Deliver financial results, manage and reduce risk
Develop and implement regional procurement strategies and tactical processes to support the competitiveness of the NAM businesses and drive sustainable year on year structural cost reductions to improve variable margin.
Working capital: Drive improvements in supplier payment terms & consignment.
Responsible for conducting exceptionally difficult negotiations with all levels of U.S. and
global supplier management.
Systematically reduce supply risk and eliminate single sources.
Build Competitive Advantage
Develop and maintain in-depth regional and global knowledge of the markets and the
supplier base for the entire raw materials and energy portfolio. Understand and anticipate
market trends.
Advise businesses of key market trends, risks & opportunities. Monitor strategic activity of key suppliers & competitors.
Prioritize and support internal customers through business planning and development of
customized procurement strategies.
Develop and execute creative sourcing strategies and purchase agreements to secure supply and build value and sustainable competitive advantage for VWTS.
Ensure regional strategies are aligned with BU needs and with global purchasing strategies for materials and suppliers and ensure strong ongoing communication with peers outside from other regions.
Actively support the Multifacet Performance Plan for NAM.
Supplier and Customer Relationships
Build strong relationships with stakeholders. Ensure team has deep engagement and clear understanding of BU strategies and plans for growth, innovation and variable cost/margin improvement. Ensure that raw material & packaging strategies are well aligned with these plans. Support global purchasing framework for BU coordination.
Develop and support all internal reporting requirements as required (functional, BU and
corporate).
Build good working relationships with all functional partners (Supply Chain, Legal,
Operations, Finance).
Build high, wide and deep relationships with key suppliers.
Support and align with global Procurement transverse processes.
Monitor supplier performance and quality.
People and organization
Recruit, develop, manage, recognize and reward staff. Plan organizational evolution to adapt to internal/external context and design/implement succession paths for individuals in the function/company.
Build and maintain an organizational environment that cultivates the broad development of a best in class, engaged and effective regional procurement team.
Serve as an active contributor to Management Team and Procurement Leadership Team as well as other regional and global teams as assigned or requested.
Improve Systems and Processes
Ensure the function’s compliance with code of conduct and global regulatory frameworks.
Drive & support Veolia’s Sustenability’s Initiatives for NAM.
Own the regional wing to wing procurement execution, with strong capacity to analyze
existing situations, identify failures and gaps and lead improvement plan
Contribute expertise to special projects as necessary (acquisitions and divestitures,
purchasing digitization, ERP integrations).
Drive and enable continuous improvement of digital tools.
Qualifications
Hard Skills
Proven strategic thinker with strong financial and business acumen, in addition to strong
execution.
Track record of acting as a change agent and of transforming organizations (evolution,
restructure, etc.), as well as integrating teams created through mergers and acquisitions
Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Skilled at influencing and negotiating with parts of the organization where formal authority
is not held.
Excellent commercial negotiation skills and track record of delivering results through
innovative procurement programs and tactics.
Strategy development and implementation.
Soft Skills
Possesses unquestioned integrity and strong business ethics and leads by example
Demonstrates a firm commitment to the company’s values (Solidarity, Performance,
Simplicity, Empowerment and Inclusion) and culture.
Advanced interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills. Open, objective and
transparent communication, listening, proactive,
Demonstrated experience in building and leading high-performing teams, with effective
talent management, pipelining and building of partnership across sub-teams
Team player with peers to share and implement the best practices
Required
Education & Experience
Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Engineering, or similar field. MBA is strongly preferred.
Fifteen (15) years’ experience in Procurement, Supply Chain function or an equivalent
function with knowledge of business strategy, procurement strategy & processes, category
management and overall execution of procurement KPIs.
Previous business experience with P&L responsibility.
Preferred
Experience in working in different cultures and environments, in a matrixed organization.