Strategic Sourcing Specialist

📍 Location: Benelux / Italy / France or Germany

Are you a professional with a passion for solving industrial challenges?

At James Walker, we engineer world-class sealing solutions for the most demanding applications across oil & gas, power generation, chemical processing, marine, and heavy industries.

We’re looking for a Strategic Sourcing Specialist who will support James Walker’s objective of improving service levels and reducing the cost of key commodities across the James Walker portfolio. The position sits within the Global Supply Chain team and is based in mainland Europe.

What You'll Do – Your Mission:

As a Strategic Sourcing Specialist, you’ll manage multiple commodities purchased from Europe-based suppliers. This includes identifying, qualifying, and onboarding new suppliers, and developing and executing sourcing strategies for key categories including elastomers, plastics, metals, gaskets, and bought-in finished goods.

Core activities include delivering results through competitive tendering, negotiation, and the analysis of data and market trends. The role works closely with internal stakeholders and acts as a procurement business partner to our European sales companies to help strengthen business performance.

Your key responsibilities include:

• Develop and execute commodity strategies across elastomers, metals, plastics, gaskets, and third-party products.

• Manage assigned commodities and Approved Vendor List (AVL) suppliers.

• Drive annual cost savings through sourcing initiatives, supplier negotiations, and consolidation.

• Source and onboard new suppliers to strengthen category capabilities.

• Monitor supplier performance and maintain strong supplier relationships.

• Analyze category data and market trends to support strategic decision-making.

• Lead strategic sourcing and contract negotiations to ensure value and compliance.

• Optimize the supplier base while mitigating supply and operational risks.

• Support New Product Introduction (NPI) activities and resolve supplier-related quality issues.

• Ensure key suppliers achieve OTIF performance targets of 95%.

• Maintain awareness of global supply markets, supplier capabilities, and industry developments.

• Support indirect sourcing activities for sales companies.

• Collaborate with the global quality team on supplier audits and evaluations.

What You Bring:

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Strong negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.

• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.

• High level of verbal, numerical, and data analysis capability.

• Effective communicator with the ability to influence across all organizational levels.

• Advanced Excel proficiency and confidence working with large data sets.

• Proven ability to lead projects and work independently.

• Strong organizational and time management skills.

• Experience in supplier quality management, audits, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Flexible and collaborative approach when working across international teams and time zones.

• Willingness to travel across Europe for supplier engagement and management.

• Applicants must have professional/native-level proficiency in English and professional knowledge in any other European language

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree

• Supply chain certification – APICS / CIPS

• Quality degree

Why James Walker?

We’re a globally trusted name with over a century of engineering excellence. At James Walker, you’ll:

• Join a market leader trusted by major global industries.

• Work in a role where skills meet innovative solutions

• Get autonomy, flexibility, and real ownership over your job

• Have access to training, support, and career advancement opportunities

James Walker Values and Behaviours

Our values and ethos are central to the way we do business. They help to shape the culture of James Walker by defining the behaviors we expect from each other and guiding us in how we make decisions.

Treat others as they would like to be treated

Share your experiences and always welcome feedback

Earn people’s trust; see things from their point of view

Never stop learning; recognise failure and celebrate success

Understand our customers and what they need

Be an expert in what you do

Give your work the personal touch, showing people, you enjoy what you do

Deliver great service and make someone’s day

If something goes wrong, amaze people with a dazzling recovery

Make things happen and give it your best

Get it right first time and never pass on a fault

Keep your promises

Inspire others by the way you do things

Never be afraid to try something new

Ask yourself, “is this my best?”

🚀 Ready to Elevate Your Career?

If you’re ready to take your experience to the next level in a dynamic, industrial environment, we want to hear from you.

📩 Apply HERE.