Specialist Procurement Support
Job Overview
The Procurement Specialist owns the end-to-end creation, validation, accuracy, and maintenance of procurement contracts within the company’s trading and ERP systems. This role is accountable for ensuring negotiated commercial terms, pricing components, materials, vendors, sustainability premiums, Incoterms, delivery conditions, and compliance requirements are accurately reflected and properly integrated across connected platforms, including trading systems such as iRely/I-21, SAP S/4HANA, and related procurement tools.
The Specialist serves as a key procurement process owner for contract administration and system data integrity, independently managing recurring procurement activities, resolving routine to moderately complex issues, and coordinating corrective actions with Procurement, Materials Management, Supply Chain, Finance, Trading, and IT/System owners to enable smooth purchasing operations.
Key Responsibilities
Contract Creation & Entry
- Own the creation, entry, validation, and ongoing maintenance of procurement contracts in the trading system, ensuring alignment with negotiated commercial terms and approved sourcing decisions.
- Interpret and accurately apply contract data including pricing structures, ratios, futures components, sustainability premiums, Incoterms, delivery schedules, tolerances, vendor details, and other commodity-specific requirements.
- Perform independent quality checks prior to contract release, proactively identifying missing, inconsistent, or inaccurate data fields that could impact downstream purchasing, receiving, invoicing, or reporting processes.
System Integration & Data Flow
- Manage the synchronization of contract data between the trading system and ERP, ensuring accurate data flow and timely resolution of integration exceptions.
- Monitor contract interfaces, including IDoc flows where applicable, analyze mapping or transmission issues, and coordinate corrective actions with system owners and functional stakeholders.
- Investigate and resolve routine to moderately complex integration gaps, including mismatches in pricing, quantities, account assignment, cost categories, material master references, and vendor or contract linkages.
Operational Support
- Serve as the primary point of contact for contract-related procurement queries, updates, and troubleshooting across Procurement and Materials Management.
- Maintain accurate linkage between contracts and transactional documents, including purchase orders, goods receipts, invoices, and related procurement records.
- Execute contract carve-offs, amendments, renewals, and documented contract changes in coordination with Procurement stakeholders, ensuring all updates are complete, traceable, and accurately reflected in the system.
Compliance & Controls
- Apply internal procurement policies, commodity governance requirements, approval protocols, and audit controls when creating, updating, and maintaining contract records.
- Maintain clear traceability of contract versions, approvals, supporting documentation, and changes to support governance, compliance, and audit readiness.
Process Improvement & Reporting
- Identify recurring process gaps, data quality issues, and workflow inefficiencies, and recommend practical improvements to strengthen contract accuracy, cycle time, and stakeholder experience.
- Contribute to system enhancement initiatives, including new fields, configuration updates, template improvements, integration changes, and trading or ERP system releases.
- Develop and maintain SOPs, job aids, process documentation, and training materials to improve consistency in contract entry, contract management, and system usage.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with Commodity Procurement, Finance, Materials Management, Supply Chain, Trading, and IT/System teams to ensure contract data, process expectations, and corrective actions are aligned.
- Participate in UAT and process validation for enhancements impacting contract creation, system integrations, reporting, or procurement workflows.
- Provide clear, timely updates to stakeholders on contract status, data issues, integration errors, corrective actions, and process changes.
Qualifications
Required
- Relevant experience in procurement, commodity trading operations, supply chain, contract administration, or procurement systems support, with demonstrated ownership of recurring procurement processes.
- Proficiency with ERP or trading systems (e.g., SAP S/4HANA, iRely/I‑21, Source‑to‑Pay tools, Ariba).
- Strong attention to detail and data accuracy.
- Ability to interpret commercial terms, pricing formulas, contract conditions, procurement documentation, and downstream impacts across purchasing, receiving, invoicing, and reporting.
- Strong communication skills across cross‑functional teams.
- Ability to work independently within defined guidelines, exercise sound judgment on routine to moderately complex issues, and escalate risks appropriately.
Preferred
- Experience in commodity procurement (e.g., cocoa, oils, ingredients, agricultural inputs).
- Understanding of contract‑to‑pay processes (PO creation, GR posting, invoice matching).
- Familiarity with system interfaces, IDocs, or master data (material, vendor, account assignment).
- Analytical mindset with the ability to troubleshoot data, process, contract, and system integration issues.
Key Competencies
- Accuracy & Detail Orientation
- Process Discipline
- Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis
- Cross‑Functional Collaboration
- Systems & Digital Fluency
- Ownership & Accountability
- Ability to Work in Fast‑Paced, Global Environments
Minimum Education & Requirements
5+ years and strong attention to details