Global Commodity Senior Buyer - Direct Material

Global Commodity Senior Buyer - Direct Material

Date: Apr 10, 2026

Location:Papendrecht, NL

Company: GKN Aerospace Careers

Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 33 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.35 bn.in 2023. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

Due to our continued success and our ambitious growth plans we’re looking for a Global Commodity Senior Buyer to join our Global Commodity Team, based in Papendrecht.
You’ll be responsible for the end to end management of our suppliers including taking the lead on our sourcing strategy, supplier sourcing and on boarding, supplier performance and purchasing negotiations.  You’ll have a strong focus on managing a portfolio of suppliers to reduce risk and optimise cost.  

 
You'll work within the Global Commodity Team based in Papendrecht, collaborating with Site Procurement  & Stakeholders to deliver cost-effective solutions, contributing to value generation across GKN Aerospace Globally and shaping the future Aerospace supply chain.

Job Responsibilities

The Global Commodity Senior Buyer will be responsible for supporting strategic sourcing for the relevant commodity to maximize leverage of direct material reporting to the Global Commodity Manager: 

• • Support the commodity team to meet or exceed objectives related to commodities including: Cost Savings, economics, working capital, quality, supplier rationalization, low-cost sourcing and other agreed objectives.
  • Take Leadership when required for commodity activities in coordination with costing and engineering to drive a competitive advantage for GKN Aerospace. 
  • Support in the development of commodity strategies
  • Ensure self-development in the field of Procurement
  • Support and prepare the Make or Buy decisions, prepare data and plans for relevant commodity gate reviews.
  • Support efforts concerning supply base rationalization and supplier development.
  • Ensure  Leveraging synergies across the GKN global network.
  • Build RFI/RFP packs and work with Cost Analysts / ME to test value for money.

Job Qualifications

Required Qualifications:
•    Bachelor’s degree in business economics or Supply Chain Management or related fields
•    A minimum of 5 years tactical/strategic procurement in direct material – Experience in Aerospace industry a pre 
•    Must be fluent (speaking and reading) the English Language
•    As this is a global role there is a requirement to travel abroad on regular basis (Max 25%)

 
Preferred Qualifications:
•    Strong ability to collaborate across all levels, internally and externally, to achieve team and business goals.
•    Proven capability to motivate, empower, and collaborate effectively
•    Clear and adaptable communicator, able to lead and conclude negotiations.
•    Flexible customer‑focused mindset with a strong sense of urgency.
•    Willingness to take full ownership of decisions and outcomes.
•    Experience applying industry best practices.
•    Demonstrated success in strategy deployment.
•    Solid project management skills
Perform in Dynamic environment, quickly adapting and reprioritizing to keep momentum en deliver results.

What's in it for you?

Besides an innovative and international work environment that offers you a good work-life balance
We offer you opportunities to learn and grow, a competitive salary (Grade L2-M) pension plan, 29 vacation days / 13 ADV days and travel allowance (from 10 km single journey) as well.

How to appy?

Please apply online by sending us your CV and motivation letter. Due to data privacy reasons we do not handle any applications sent by email.

For additional questions you can contact: Koen van Stigt, Talent Acquisition, via email –View email address on careers.gknaerospace.com

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further.  And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN.  We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute.  It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’.  By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know.

We are the place where human dreams, plus human endeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.​
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