Lead Buyer - Steam Turbine Blades

Lead Buyer - Steam Turbine Blades

GE Vernova

Multiple Locations

Job Description Summary

As a Lead Buyer within the Steam Blade Centre of Excellence (CoE), you are responsible for end-to-end procurement activities for steam blade components from internal and external suppliers. You drive supplier performance, support sourcing strategies, and ensure quality, cost, and delivery objectives are met to support global business needs. You act as a primary interface between suppliers and key internal stakeholders, leading issue resolution and contributing to cost-out and continuous improvement initiatives.

Job Description

Roles and Responsibilities (What you will do):

• Own and manage the purchase order (PO) process for steam blade components with internal and external suppliers, ensuring accurate, timely execution in line with demand and inventory plans.
• Lead day-to-day relationships with key suppliers, serving as the primary contact for PO execution, issue resolution, and performance discussions.
• Proactively identify and resolve supply issues, schedule changes, and exceptions, coordinating with Supply, Sourcing, Operations, and Planning to mitigate risk and ensure continuity of supply.
• Ensure full compliance with sourcing policies, quality standards, and contractual requirements across all procurement activities.
• Lead or actively participate in supplier negotiations for pricing, lead times, and commercial terms in alignment with sourcing strategies and cost-reduction objectives.
• Collaborate closely with Supply, Sourcing, Demand, Operations, Engineering, and Quality to align procurement activities with demand, capacity, and technical requirements.
• Support and, where appropriate, lead activities related to supplier qualification, onboarding, and transitions (e.g., dual sourcing, resourcing), working with Quality and Engineering.
• Prepare, maintain, and improve procurement documentation, reporting, and master data in ERP and related systems, ensuring accuracy and data integrity.
• Monitor supplier performance metrics (e.g., on-time delivery, quality, responsiveness, cost) and drive corrective actions and improvement plans; actively participate in supplier performance reviews, business reviews, and internal governance meetings, presenting data, insights, and action plans.
• Lead or significantly contribute to cost-out projects, supplier development initiatives, and process improvement efforts (including Lean and digitization) to improve overall supply chain performance.
• Analyse material cost, lead time, and inventory data to identify risks and opportunities and provide recommendations to management.
• Support the development and standardization of best practices and work instructions for buying processes within the Steam Blade CoE and provide guidance to less experienced team members.

Required Qualifications (What you will bring)

• Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college (preferred: Supply Chain, Engineering, Business)
• Experience: Significant experience in procurement or supply chain planning, including direct experience managing internal and external suppliers.
• Skills: Demonstrated experience with SAP or similar ERP systems in a procurement environment.
• Language: Fluent in English.

Desired Characteristics (What will make you stand out)

• Experience buying engineered components or commodities in an industrial/manufacturing environment, preferably blades or similar precision parts.
• Strong negotiation skills with a track record of delivering cost, lead time, or terms improvements.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, create meaningful reports, and drive decisions based on facts.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Proven problem-solving and decision-making abilities, including handling complex supply issues and escalations.
• Experience working with Lean, continuous improvement, or similar methodologies, with demonstrated contributions to process optimization.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to influence and collaborate across functions and levels in a matrixed environment.
• Ability to work independently with limited supervision, take ownership of results, and provide guidance to less experienced team members.