Category Manager

Welcome to Wajer Yachts

Wajer Yachts is a Dutch family business in luxury yacht building. 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, this involves approximately 60 yachts, which we build entirely in-house: from hull to finishing. This requires a production process in which people, materials, and planning are well-aligned.

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

What will you do?

As Category Manager, you are responsible for the procurement strategy within your categories. You develop multi-year category strategies and ensure they align with the 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 content, and ensure that strategic agreements are well-translated into daily procurement. You report directly to the Supply Chain Manager. In doing so, you work closely with the rest of the organization. You coordinate with Production and the Warehouse to determine 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 safeguard that the necessary parts are available for Wajer Care to keep owners' yachts in top condition worldwide. A significant part of your work revolves around suppliers and the market in which they operate. You map the market, identify suitable suppliers, and visit and assess them on, among other things, quality, capacity, and delivery reliability. You perform spend analyses, monitor KPIs, and keep an eye on market developments. You translate the insights gained from this into concrete actions and advice for the Supply Chain Manager. Where this offers opportunities, we also explicitly seek collaboration with our Super Yachts location in Lemmer. We want to further expand this collaboration so that we can increasingly act together towards suppliers and make agreements that add value to both locations. The combination of series production and the quality level of Wajer makes procurement challenging. Not every supplier can meet our requirements or grow with our volumes and innovations. You make conscious choices in this regard and build collaborations that also fit Wajer's needs in the long term.

As Category Manager, you are responsible for:

You manage the commercial process within your categories. You initiate and lead contract negotiations, record agreements, and monitor SLAs. In doing so, you look beyond just the purchase price. With Total Cost of Ownership, you bring the actual costs over the lifecycle of a part into view and look for savings without compromising quality. You select, evaluate, and develop strategic suppliers. In doing so, you look not only at their performance today but also at their ability to grow with our volumes and innovations. You use data from the ERP system to make performance transparent, substantiate choices, and identify trends early.

When an existing supplier cannot meet the required capacity, quality, or delivery reliability, you take action. You map the market, identify suitable alternatives, and visit and assess potential suppliers. Subsequently, you negotiate commercial agreements and ensure they are well-translated into daily procurement. In this way, you link strategic choices to continuity on the production floor. You are also a substantive sparring partner within the team. You support colleagues with more complex procurement issues and ensure that strategic agreements with suppliers are clear and well-applied in daily practice. With this, you connect the long-term choices within Procurement with operational execution.

What do you bring?

You can look ahead strategically, 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 a high quality of work.

Furthermore, you bring the following:

• A completed HBO degree in the direction of Supply Chain Management, Technical Business Administration, or Business Administration.
• At least five years of relevant experience within strategic procurement, category management, or supply chain management.
• NEVI 1 and NEVI 2 diplomas or a comparable level of knowledge.
• 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 plays at a global level and is growing rapidly. In this role, you will have plenty of room to exert influence on how we procure, which co-makers we work with, and how our supply chain further develops. The lines are short and you will literally see the result of your work in the yachts being built in Heeg.

This is what you get:

• A salary between €3900 and €5300 gross per month (CAO Metalektro).
• 8% holiday allowance and a good pension scheme via PME.
• 27 vacation days and 6.5 ADV days.
• Travel allowance of €0.25 per kilometer.
• Room to develop yourself through education and training.
• The possibility to obtain your boating licenses (KVB 1 & 2) at our expense.

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