Supplier Specialist

About VAT Group

At VAT, we change the world with vacuum solutions. As the world’s leading supplier of high-performance vacuum valves, we have been driving innovation for more than 60 years. With over 3,200 employees worldwide, we operate from our headquarters in Haag, Switzerland, with manufacturing sites in Switzerland, Malaysia and Romania, as well as sales and service hubs around the world. We are guided by our passions integrity, teamwork, customer centricity, and innovation – always working together as #oneVAT.

Joining us means becoming part of a passionate, international team where your voice is heard, your ideas matter, and your career growth is supported.

Purpose of the role:

• The Supplier Specialist is responsible for monitoring, analyzing, and improving supplier performance with a focus on On Time Delivery (OTD), quality, responsiveness, and overall supply reliability.
• The role drives corrective actions, supplier development initiatives, and cross functional alignment to ensure stable and optimized supply performance.
• The role is strictly linked to Swiss suppliers and is fully limited to operational execution, including performance monitoring, escalation, and coordination of improvement actions. The role does not have authority for strategic sourcing decisions, supplier selection, contract terms, negotiations, or imposing commercial requirements on suppliers.
• All governance frameworks, escalation rules, and sourcing decisions are fully defined and owned in Switzerland.
• There is no strategy or final decision making authority in Romania.
• Activities are limited to execution, preparation, analysis, and coordination within the defined Swiss governance framework.

Responsabilities:

• Track and report supplier KPIs (OTD, lead time adherence, quality PPM, responsiveness, capacity utilization, etc.)
• Maintain supplier performance dashboards and scorecards
• Conduct regular performance reviews with key suppliers
• Identify performance gaps and risk areas
• Provide input to Swiss Strategic Sourcing based on supplier performance data
• Analyze root causes of delivery delays (capacity, planning mismatch, logistics, quality issues, etc.)
• Coordinate recovery plans with suppliers
• Implement structured improvement actions (8D, CAPA, containment)
• Monitor effectiveness of corrective actions
• Escalate chronic underperformance according to Swiss escalation rules
• Escalează neperformanța cronică conform regulilor de escalare elvețiene
• Work with Supply Chain Planning, Supplier Quality, Logistics, and Strategic Sourcing
• Align demand forecasts with supplier capacity
• Support ramp up planning to prevent supply disruptions
• Share performance insights with Swiss Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Development
• Identify supply risks proactively (financial, operational, geopolitical)
• Maintain supplier risk assessments
• Act as 2nd escalation level for plant supply planners
• Escalate to Swiss Strategic Sourcing when mitigation measures are required
• Prepare materials for management escalations

Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or related field
• 3+ years in procurement, supply chain, or supplier management, ideally in semiconductor industry
• Strong analytical skills (Excel, BI tools preferred)
• Experience with KPI dashboards and performance tracking
• Strong understanding of planning and advanced inventory management concepts, as well as material flow processes
• Knowledge of ERP systems (D365 preferred)
• Root cause analysis methodology (5 Why, Fishbone)
• Lean / Continuous Improvement mindset
• Strong communication skills with internal teams and suppliers
• Ability to manage difficult supplier conversations
• Conflict management in a complex environment
• Structured problem solving approach
• Data driven decision making
• Independent, resilient, and proactive personality with strong assertiveness, negotiation skills, and organizational talent; demonstrates a highly structured and process oriented working style
• Languages: Very good German and very good English (written and spoken)

Our commitment to inclusion, fairness and equal opportunities

We believe in meaningful careers, continuous learning, and equal opportunities for everyone to drive our innovation and success. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace. If you have concerns, our compliance channel is available at our website. All reports are handled with strict confidentiality and in accordance with our Code of Conduct.