Assistant Buyer

We have an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Buyer in the Nasrec, Johannesburg area for an Assistant Buyer. The ideal candidate will have experience with Procurement of Oils and fats commodities.

Requirements: 

• Highly ethical
• CA(SA) with 2-5 years post article experience will be very beneficial (but not essential)
• Grade 12 / Matric
• Tertiary qualification: BCom degree
• 5+ years Procurement experience (with Oils and Fats)
• Exposure to the oils and fats industry, including commodity hedging/price setting, is ideal
• Proficient in English (speaking, writing and reading)
• Significant experience in bottom line profitability analysis with a strong understanding of financial principles.
• Excellent human interaction, communication and organizational skills.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Ability to multi-task and deal with multiple deadlines

Responsibilities:

• Carry out the procurement function across oils and fats commodities under the mandates and guidance of the department head.
• Maintain the position (short/long) for priced and unpriced oils and fats commodities across the group in line with board mandates. Alert management as to when there are potential problems and provide solutions.
• Ensuring prices are adjusted appropriately to protect both margin & volume balance as per the budget & forecast targets.
• Ensure that procurement is performed strategically to remain competitive in the market and beat monthly market average pricing. Keep up to date with market movements across all commodities and dollar currency.
• Liaise carefully with department Head to ensure that budgeted & forecast margins are achieved across all SKU’s. Review margins and provide business insight.
• Perform the approval process of all sales orders received, reviewing for margin achievement and reasonability, attain guidance from department head on strategic customer retainment initiatives.
• Probe the department head to negotiate the best conversion rates with suppliers and bring in baseline savings after attaining an understanding of charge structures from the relevant suppliers applicable.
• Provide support to the department head/customers on market movements/trends and advise on pricing strategy and invoice and shelf/customer level.
• Provide technical and commercial support to the sales team and the ELT/Board on market trend analysis on commodities and currencies and assumptions for the annual budget.
• Assist with the review of the valuations monthly with the FM to ensure that stock is carried at the lower of actual cost/NRV.
• Serve on the Extended Leadership Team.
• Negotiate & maintain open book pricing models with corporate customers.
• Keep accurate record of forward sales and apply hedging principles with no room for speculation.
• Maintain proper record keeping of weighted average cost per commodity after excluding forward sales using the FIFO method.
• Regularly interrogate costing schedules to ensure correct bombs are being applied for correct margin management.
• The ability to drive tasks end to end & manage projects efficiently.
• The ability to make sound business decisions in day to day activities with little supervision in the best interests of business.

Key Performance indicators:

• Procurement at the right price at the right place at the right time
• Margin management
• Hedging strategies
• Building relationships with internal and external stakeholders

Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted