Procurement Lead

Alistair Group is one of East and Southern Africa’s fastest-growing service companies, providing a variety of self-delivered logistics solutions across several geographies, aimed with the vision to Make Africa Work Better! With core competencies in road freight, warehousing, commodity trading and operational hire of material handling equipment, the Group strives for continuous expansion of innovative ancillary services to grow the business vertically, complimented by a healthy dose of entrepreneurial flair. The business has gone from strength to strength, growing quickly in both its geographical coverage and variety of services offered to clients. In 2024, the Group exceeded the 1000 employee mark and managed a fleet of well over 1000 trucks. With Alistair’s aggressive and exciting growth strategy, the Group is poised for significant further expansion and a greater impact in Africa.

Core Services

• Freight Forwarding
• Clearance & Forwarding
• Energy Industry Support Services
• Equipment Rental
• Commodity Trading
• Integrated Solutions
• Warehousing
• Ocean Freight

Industries

• Mining
• Oil & Gas
• Agriculture
• Construction
• Explosives
• Renewables

Mission

To make Africa work better.

Company Values

• Honesty
• Customer Focus
• Continual Improvement
• Humility
• Safety

About the Role

The role involves strategic and commercial acumen, data-driven decision making, digital and process transformation experience, supplier relationship and risk management, adaptability and change leadership, and sustainability and ESG awareness.

Responsibilities

• Strategic & Commercial Acumen: Thinks beyond cost: Understands value creation across the supply chain (e.g., supplier innovation, sustainability, time-to-market). Can align procurement goals with broader business strategy. Comfortable partnering with internal stakeholders like finance, operations, and product teams to influence upstream decisions.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Proven ability to analyze procurement data (e.g., spend analytics, supplier performance, TCO). Experience working with or building dashboards or BI tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, even Excel + Power Query). Can translate data insights into actionable strategies (e.g., demand aggregation, renegotiation triggers, risk heatmaps).
• Digital & Process Transformation Experience: Familiarity with modern procurement tech stacks: ERP (SAP, Oracle), e-sourcing tools, contract lifecycle management, procurement automation platforms (e.g., Coupa, Jaggaer, Ariba, GEP). Has led or been part of digital transformation projects (e.g., digitizing vendor onboarding, automating approvals, e-invoicing). Understands process mapping and optimization (Lean/Six Sigma is a plus).
• Supplier Relationship & Risk Management: Skilled in SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) and building partnerships, not just transactional relationships. Experience implementing supplier KPIs, scorecards, or risk mitigation strategies (especially relevant post-COVID/supply chain shocks).
• Adaptability & Change Leadership: Has experience leading teams through change, whether it's systems, processes, or organizational shifts. Strong communicator, able to bring stakeholders on the journey.
• Sustainability & ESG Awareness (Bonus but Increasingly Essential): Understands the role procurement plays in supply chain ethics, carbon tracking, local sourcing, circularity. Can build ESG compliance and reporting into supplier selection and performance.

Qualifications

• 8–12 years experience in procurement or supply chain, with at least 3–5 years in a leadership or transformation-focused role.
• Demonstrable success in leveraging procurement data to drive measurable results (e.g., cost savings, supplier consolidation, risk reduction).
• Experience in digitizing and automating procurement processes.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
• Industry experience in your space (if niche) or proven adaptability across sectors.

Work Hours

Monday to Friday, 7:20 AM – 4:20 PM, and Alternate Saturdays, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM. The Company reserves the right to withdraw from the recruitment process at any time, at its sole discretion. The sharing of any aptitude test, assessment, or invitation to an interview does not constitute an offer of employment or guarantee any future employment with the Company. Candidates acknowledge that progression through any stage of the recruitment process does not imply or ensure an eventual offer of employment.