Strategic Sourcing & Procurement Team Lead - Hungary (Jászárokszallás)

Overview

We are looking for an experienced sourcing leader who can combine strong people leadership, commercial judgement, and strategic negotiation skills with the ability to build trust across the business.

This role leads a small, experienced team of Strategic Buyers and plays a key role in connecting Sourcing with R&D, Finance, Operations, and other business functions. You will not be expected to manage every transaction yourself. Instead, you will provide direction, step into the most strategic negotiations and complex supplier situations, support the team when escalation is needed, and ensure sourcing decisions contribute to the overall financial performance of the business.

Responsibilities

 

• You will lead and develop a team of approximately four Strategic Buyers, creating a strong, connected and high-performing sourcing function.

  Your key responsibilities will include:

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of experienced Strategic Buyers.

• Set clear priorities and provide hands-on support in complex or high-impact sourcing situations.

• Step into strategic supplier negotiations where senior leadership, escalation, or commercial strength is required.

• Build strong working relationships across R&D, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, and other key stakeholder groups.

• Translate business needs into effective sourcing strategies and ensure strong alignment between functions.

• Contribute to financial performance through cost management, sourcing productivity, supplier optimization, and P&L awareness.

• Monitor sourcing performance and provide clear reporting to leadership.

• Strengthen supplier performance, commercial terms, and supply resilience.

• Support the team in resolving critical supplier, quality, delivery, and commercial issues.

• Maintain a modern, up-to-date approach to strategic sourcing and procurement practices.

• Ensure effective use of SAP S/4HANA and accurate sourcing and commercial data.

• Travel approximately 25% of the time to support teams, suppliers, and business stakeholders.

Qualifications

We are looking for a credible and experienced leader with a strong understanding of what strategic sourcing is really about.

 

You will ideally bring:

• 10+ years of experience in procurement or strategic sourcing, with substantial leadership responsibility.

• A proven track record of successfully leading and developing procurement or sourcing teams.

• Strong evidence of leadership impact — how you improved a team, developed people, solved difficult situations, or delivered measurable business results.

• Extensive experience in strategic supplier negotiations and complex commercial discussions.

• Strong stakeholder-management skills and the ability to work confidently across R&D, Finance, Operations, and senior leadership.

• Good understanding of sourcing economics, cost drivers, reporting, and P&L impact.

• Experience with SAP S/4HANA or a comparable ERP environment.

• Strong English and Hungarian language skills.

• A leadership style that combines support with confidence — someone who creates trust within the team but is also able to challenge, defend, and take a clear position when required.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to integrate naturally into an established team and business environment.

The type of leader we are looking for

This role requires more than technical procurement knowledge.

 

We are looking for someone who is approachable, credible, and commercially strong — a leader who gives the team a genuine feeling of support, but who also has the confidence to defend decisions, challenge stakeholders constructively, and step forward when the situation becomes difficult.

 

You should be comfortable leading experienced professionals rather than closely supervising them, and capable of creating an environment where people feel connected, supported, and accountable.

 

If you have built successful sourcing teams, led complex negotiations, and know how to turn procurement expertise into business impact, we would like to hear from you.