Procurement Engineer

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group's entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day.

Overview of the role:

To perform procurement activities of goods and services in accordance with the Group's policies, procedures, and regulations. This role will be responsible to procure quality and cost-effective material and create, negotiate, and finalize subcontracts, rate agreements, and labour supply agreements as per Al-Futtaim Engineering and Technologies (AFET) requirements, with the minimum turnaround time, to enhance the company's profitability, by delivering efficient, professional procurement services. Duties include planning, scheduling, initiating, monitoring, and quality assurance of all procurement and contract activities. Work requires independent and professional judgment and is performed under the general direction of the Head of Procurement.

What you will do: Technical:

• Assist in developing procurement plans and requisition schedules along with Al-Futtaim Engineering and Technologies (AFET)'s various projects, clients, divisions, and businesses. Coordinate with concerned stakeholders for timely updates on requisitions status, in accordance with schedule requirements.
• Provide complete service interface between customers / requesting divisions, the procurement department, and contractors / suppliers / service providers through processing of procurement services in line with budgets, time, and AFET's quality standards.
• Adhere to the centralized procurement policies and procedures to procure goods and services effectively and efficiently. Purchases must always be made at the right price, within budget, from the right source, at the right quality and the right quantity delivered on time as was agreed contractually.
• Prepare requests for Information / Proposal / Quotation / Tenders with pertinent specifications, clear terms and conditions and prepare tender / quotations evaluation reports.
• Prepare technical evaluation on all mechanical items of HVAC, Plumbing and Firefighting equipment and systems and sub-contracting works.
• Add value at each stage of the Procurement function by working cooperatively and jointly to provide quality service. Make the most of departmental interdependencies.
• Process requisitions for engineered and non-engineered goods, in a timely manner and ensure that the best commercial option is selected for company's benefit.
• Conduct techno-commercial negotiations, including price, delivery, payment terms, warranties, etc.
• Prepare Comparison / Purchase Authorization sheets.
• Prepare and issue purchase orders, rate and framework agreements, and labour supply agreements, with clearly agreed terms and conditions to mitigate the company's exposure to various risks.
• Negotiate and conclude labour supply agreements and rates with a multiple of qualified vendors and coordinate and implement the agreed upon strategies with the stakeholders.
• Accomplish cost savings through effective negotiation. Assist with budgeting and meet or exceed all budgeted targets.
• Ensure materials ordered conform to the specifications and to the required quality.
• Conduct pre-qualification process to update vendors' database and introduce reliable and capable suppliers, service providers, and subcontractors.
• Mitigating disputes, if any, with the suppliers and subcontractors.
• Undertake periodic vendor evaluation and spend analysis and maintain a solid vendors base. Manage Vendor relationships and building effective supply chain partnerships.
• Ensure purchasing, expediting and material control functions are performed in accordance with the company's highest standards.
• Review expenditure against approved budgets and maintain strict control on budgets and procurement programs.
• Conduct price analysis, commercial evaluation of proposals in coordination with the technical team.
• Ensure that purchasing and vendor records are fully maintained and updated and assist the Procurement Manager and the Senior Procurement Engineer in the preparation of various reports, at regular intervals, on progress against the baseline procurement program and delivery schedules.
• Participate in quality audits and expedite closeout of any findings.
• Participate in price negotiation for Engineered equipment and significant bulk material orders with a view to achieving substantial savings for the company.
• Ensure that the stakeholders are kept up to date with the current status of the orders.
• Coordinate with the Accounts and Commercial Departments, to avoid any delays arising out of budget allocations, issuing of L / C's and other modes of payments. Assist with associated business requirements and related documents verification.

Process & System:

• Apply the P2P ERP Process for all procurement transactions by creating POs / Contracts via ERP system.
• Implement the set administrative, purchasing, and clerical procedures to maintain efficiency of the Procurement function.
• Ensure approvals are obtained in accordance with the relevant policies and the Delegation of Authority (DOA).

Required skills to be successful:

• Strong and strategic negotiation skills.
• Detailed oriented, with strong quantitative and analytical skills.
• Capable of effective tactics for negotiating costs and contracts.
• Familiarity with purchasing fundamentals and a complete understanding of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Solid knowledge of software licenses' terms and regulations.

What equips you for the role:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum of 5-7 years in a procurement role, specifically within MEP Projects.
• Extensive experience in developing business-specific contracts and agreements.
• Ability to analyse, draw conclusions, and execute appropriate actions in response to data.
• Solid knowledge of ERPs and E-procurement tools, such as ARIBA software.
• User experience in SAP MM module is preferred.
• Must have handled procurement of packaged equipment and engineered systems, bulk orders, rate contracts, lump sum subcontracts, and labour supply agreements.
• Well versed in Incoterm standards.

About Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies:

Al-Futtaim Engineering & Technologies offers customers complete engineering and systems integration solutions.

The Engineering arm operates in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt providing a wide variety of products and services from air conditioning, scaffolding and access solutions, elevators and escalators, control and life safety, facilities management, building products, MEP, Energy Management, Technology Infrastructure and Digital Transformation.

The Technologies division provides complete business solutions to large, medium and small customers that include, contact centre solutions, business applications, business intelligence, data management, advanced analytics amongst others. The IT infrastructure portfolio comprises IP telephony, ELV systems, networking solutions, professional audio-visual solutions and managed services.

These solutions are further complemented by services that include project management, installation, testing, commissioning and after-sales maintenance contracts.