Eliminator of supply risk sought

A flexible person with a good sense of humour, able to thrive in changing and hectic environments, is sought to fill this role with a world leader in diabetes care.

Strategic Sourcing Asia, part of Novo Nordisk's corporate strategic sourcing unit, is inviting applicants for the role of senior procurement manager for Asia.

Responsible for the sourcing objectives of Novo Nordisk, in direct and indirect spending, the firm seeks suppliers in the Asia region with a high level of reliability, quality, and environmental and social soundness. The main aspects are to eliminate risks at the lowest possible total supply chain cost.

The key role of the job is to support ongoing strategic processes of updating the supplier base from being mainly in the United States and Europe to becoming global with a focus on Asia-Pacific.

'The role is important because we are a company that's continuously improving our manufacturing equipment and continuously trying to make everything we do better and this creates the need for doing professional procurement,' S?ren Bock, director of Strategic Sourcing Asia, said.

Duties include procurement to capacitate investment projects worldwide, updating the supplier base, involvement in major manufacturing investment projects, such as new pharmaceutical factories and production lines, screen suppliers and ensure compliance.

Mr Bock said: 'This is a high-level impact role meaning we will make high-level contracts and the challenge would be to find the right suppliers because there are many suppliers out there who would like to supply to us. However, do they fit the Novo Nordisk standard?'

The company, which has a strong commitment towards social and environmental soundness, only engages suppliers who have the same outlook.

'Our whole vision is about being responsible in the broadest term possible,' he said.

'So being a part of Novo Nordisk is much linked to being a part of wanting to help people, wanting to actually make a difference for diabetes patients.'

The company is looking for someone with substantial experience in project or procurement management in engineering projects.

Technical know-how and experience in moulding injection tools, mechanical machinery or construction projects and the plastic industry would be preferred.

'The ideal candidate would be a hard-working executor,' he said. 'We need to execute contracts, which means things need to be done now and done quickly, properly and the correct way.

'We want a person who has the capability of having a holistic view, and has the authority of a senior person but is still a team player.'

The candidate must expect to travel 80 to 100 days a year including periods at the Novo Nordisk site in Tianjin, in the mainland.