Category Manager

Welcome to Wajer Yachts

Wajer Yachts is a Dutch family business specializing in luxury yacht construction. With more than 400 colleagues worldwide, we work every day on yachts where craftsmanship and attention to detail come together. At our shipyard in Heeg, we build the Wajer 38, 44 and 55. Annually we produce approximately 60 yachts, which we build completely in-house: from hull to finishing. This requires a production process where people, materials and planning align well.

For Procurement, this represents an important responsibility. Materials and components must be available at the right time and suppliers must deliver what we have agreed upon together. At the same time, we look ahead to new technical solutions and further development of our production. As Category Manager, you provide direction to the procurement needed for this.

What will you do?

As Category Manager you are responsible for procurement strategy within your categories. You develop multi-year category strategies and ensure these align with production planning in Heeg and what we will need in the coming years. Within the procurement team of six people, you help set priorities, coach colleagues on substance and ensure strategic agreements are well translated into daily procurement. You report directly to the Supply Chain Manager. You work closely with the rest of the organization. With Production and Warehouse you coordinate what is needed to keep production running. You involve Engineering in new technical solutions so that the right suppliers can be engaged in time.

You also ensure for Wajer Care that the necessary parts are available to keep yachts owned by customers worldwide in top condition. An important part of your work focuses on suppliers and the market in which they operate. You map out the market, identify suitable suppliers and visit and assess them on quality, capacity and delivery reliability, among other things. You perform spend analyses, monitor KPIs and keep track of market developments. You translate the insights from this into concrete actions and advice for the Supply Chain Manager. Where opportunities arise, we actively seek collaboration with our Super Yachts location in Lemmer. We want to further develop this collaboration so that we can increasingly work together towards suppliers and make agreements that add value for both locations. The combination of series production and Wajer's quality standards makes procurement challenging. Not every supplier can meet our requirements or grow with our volumes and innovations. You make conscious choices in this and build collaborations that are suited to what Wajer needs in the long term.

Responsibilities

As Category Manager you are responsible for:

• Leading the commercial process within your categories. You initiate and guide contract negotiations, document agreements and monitor SLAs. You look beyond purchasing price alone. With Total Cost of Ownership you make the real costs over the lifecycle of a component clear and seek savings without compromising quality.
• Selecting, evaluating and developing strategic suppliers. You look not only at their performance today, but also at their ability to grow with our volumes and innovations.
• Using data from the ERP system to make performance visible, support decisions and identify trends early.
• When an existing supplier cannot meet required capacity, quality or delivery reliability, you take action. You map out the market, identify suitable alternatives and visit and assess potential suppliers. You then negotiate commercial agreements and ensure these are well translated into daily procurement. This way you connect strategic choices to continuity on the production floor.
• Acting as a substantive sparring partner within the team. You support colleagues with more complex procurement questions and ensure strategic supplier agreements are clear and properly applied in daily practice. This connects long-term choices in Procurement with operational execution.

What you bring

You can think strategically ahead, but also understand what is needed in a production environment where planning, quality and delivery reliability matter every day. You are analytically strong, negotiate convincingly and know how to bring different interests together. You take responsibility, set priorities and maintain high quality in your work.

You also bring the following:

• A completed HBO education in Supply Chain Management, Technical Business Administration or Business Administration.
• Minimum five years of relevant experience in strategic procurement, category management or supply chain management.
• NEVI 1 and NEVI 2 diplomas or equivalent knowledge level.
• Sound knowledge of ERP systems, data analysis, contract management and TCO methodologies.
• Excellent command of the English language in speech and writing, given our international network of co-makers.

What Wajer offers

You join a family business that operates at world level and is growing rapidly. In this role you will have plenty of room to influence how we procure, which co-makers we work with and how our supply chain develops further. Lines are short and you will see the result of your work literally reflected in the yachts being built in Heeg.

This is what you receive:

• A salary between €3,900 and €5,300 gross per month (CAO Metalektro).
• 8% holiday allowance and a good pension scheme via PME.
• 27 vacation days and 6.5 ADV days.
• Travel expense allowance of €0.25 per kilometer.
• Room to develop yourself through training and courses.
• The opportunity to obtain your boat licenses (KVB 1 & 2), at our expense.

How to apply

Interested in this role? Upload your CV and motivation letter via our website. For questions, you can contact our recruiter, Laurens ten Cate Hoedemaker at 06-34849125.