Job Description

About the Voith Group

The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, the company today has around 20,700 employees, sales of € 4,8 billion and locations in over 60 countries worldwide and is thus one of the larger family-owned companies in Europe.

 

 

Voith Hydro is hiring for:
 

Head of Procurement
York, PA

 

 

 

 Summary:

The Head of Project Procurement is responsible for leading the Project Procurement organization and the Project Logistics & Transport Management function for complex engineered-to-order (ETO), hydroelectric, energy, infrastructure, and capital equipment projects.

The position provides strategic and operational leadership across the complete project supply chain lifecycle, from Sales-to-Project handover through final project closeout. The Head of Project Procurement establishes and executes project procurement and logistics strategies to ensure that materials, equipment, subcontracted services, and project cargo are sourced, manufactured, transported, and delivered safely, on time, within budget, and in accordance with contractual, quality, HSE, regulatory, and commercial requirements.

The role leads two key functions:

  • Project Procurement Management – responsible for project sourcing, supplier selection, commercial negotiations, purchase orders, subcontracting, supplier performance, contract administration, expediting, procurement risk, and procurement cost management.
  • Logistics & Transport Management – responsible for project logistics planning, transportation strategy, heavy-haul and specialized transportation, route and transport feasibility, freight providers, ports, customs, permits, shipment execution, logistics risk, and transportation cost management.

Working within a matrix organization, the Head of Project Procurement serves as the senior procurement and project supply chain leader for project execution. The position works closely with Project Management, Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, Commodity Management, Manufacturing, Quality Assurance, HSE, Finance, Legal, Sales, suppliers, subcontractors, logistics providers, and customers.

The position is accountable for establishing a unified project procurement and logistics strategy, ensuring alignment between procurement decisions, supplier commitments, manufacturing readiness, transportation requirements, project schedules, cash flow, project profitability, and customer commitments.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Project Procurement & Logistics Leadership

  • Lead the Project Procurement and Logistics & Transport Management organizations, establishing clear objectives, priorities, accountabilities, and performance expectations.
  • Provide strategic direction and operational leadership for project procurement and logistics activities across the project portfolio.
  • Establish an integrated project procurement and logistics operating model from Sales-to-Project handover through project closeout.
  • Ensure procurement, supplier management, logistics, and transportation activities are fully integrated with project execution strategies and master schedules.
  • Establish appropriate organizational structures, staffing levels, competencies, processes, and resources to support project execution requirements.
  • Develop and maintain standardized processes, procedures, governance, tools, and best practices for project procurement and logistics.
  • Ensure effective coordination between Project Procurement Managers, Logistics & Transport Managers, Strategic Sourcing, Commodity Management, Project Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, HSE, and Legal.
  • Provide leadership and escalation support for critical supplier, procurement, logistics, commercial, and transportation issues.
  • Ensure consistent application of procurement and logistics policies, governance, delegated authorities, and project contractual requirements.

2. Project Procurement Strategy

  • Establish and approve project-specific procurement strategies aligned with overall project objectives, contractual requirements, schedules, budgets, and commercial targets.
  • Ensure procurement strategies address long-lead equipment, critical materials, major subcontractors, engineered components, services, and project-specific supply chain constraints.
  • Review and approve Project Procurement Plans and procurement schedules for major projects.
  • Establish procurement priorities based on project critical path, engineering maturity, manufacturing capacity, supplier lead times, logistics requirements, and customer commitments.
  • Ensure sourcing and procurement strategies consider total landed cost, schedule, quality, technical capability, capacity, financial stability, risk, and logistics requirements.
  • Provide strategic direction for make/buy decisions, subcontracting strategies, supplier allocation, localization, and alternative sourcing where appropriate.
  • Ensure procurement strategies support project profitability, cash flow, working capital, and overall commercial objectives.

3. Project Logistics & Transportation Strategy

  • Establish and oversee project-specific logistics strategies for complex, oversized, overweight, high-value, and critical-path equipment.
  • Ensure logistics requirements are incorporated into procurement decisions, supplier selection, equipment design, packaging, manufacturing, and project schedules.
  • Provide strategic direction for multimodal transportation involving road, rail, ocean, inland waterway, and air transportation.
  • Ensure early identification of route restrictions, transportation feasibility requirements, port limitations, site access constraints, heavy-lift requirements, permits, customs, and specialized transportation needs.
  • Establish appropriate strategies for heavy-haul transportation, SPMTs, hydraulic trailers, cranes, heavy-lift operations, port handling, warehousing, staging, and specialized cargo movements.
  • Ensure logistics strategies are aligned with supplier manufacturing schedules and project installation requirements.
  • Provide escalation and executive support for critical transportation disruptions, major logistics risks, and high-value cargo movements.

4. Supplier & Strategic Partner Management

  • Provide executive oversight of major project suppliers, subcontractors, logistics providers, freight forwarders, heavy-haul carriers, crane companies, ports, terminals, and other strategic service providers.
  • Establish supplier performance expectations and governance mechanisms for strategic and critical suppliers.
  • Review and approve supplier qualification, selection, performance improvement, and recovery strategies for critical suppliers.
  • Ensure supplier capacity, financial stability, manufacturing capability, quality performance, and delivery risks are appropriately assessed and managed.
  • Lead or participate in negotiations for strategically significant supplier agreements, major purchase orders, subcontracts, logistics contracts, and commercial commitments.
  • Establish escalation processes for significant supplier performance issues, commercial disputes, claims, and contractual non-compliance.
  • Build and maintain strategic relationships with key suppliers and service providers to support long-term project execution capability.

5. Commercial & Contract Management

  • Provide leadership for procurement and logistics commercial strategies across the project portfolio.
  • Establish commercial objectives for major procurement and logistics packages, including pricing, payment terms, delivery commitments, warranties, liability, insurance, escalation mechanisms, and contractual protections.
  • Provide oversight of major purchase orders, subcontracts, logistics agreements, freight contracts, and service agreements.
  • Ensure procurement and logistics decisions support project margin, cash flow, working capital, and overall financial performance.
  • Oversee major change orders, claims, commercial variations, supplier disputes, transportation claims, cargo damage claims, and contractual issues.
  • Partner with Legal, Finance, Project Management, and Strategic Sourcing on significant contractual and commercial matters.
  • Ensure appropriate commercial controls are established for cost exposure, accessorial charges, freight costs, supplier claims, and project variations.
  • Support project financial reviews, forecasts, estimate-at-completion (EAC), and margin improvement initiatives.

6. Project Schedule & Delivery Management

  • Ensure procurement and logistics schedules are fully integrated with project master schedules and critical-path activities.
  • Establish governance for monitoring supplier manufacturing milestones, inspections, FATs, shipment readiness, transportation activities, and final delivery.
  • Ensure critical procurement and logistics milestones are visible to project leadership.
  • Establish recovery strategies for supplier delays, manufacturing constraints, transportation disruptions, permitting issues, customs delays, and other supply chain events.
  • Ensure appropriate expediting resources and escalation mechanisms are available for critical projects.
  • Review major schedule risks and recovery plans with Project Management and executive leadership.
  • Ensure procurement and logistics activities support on-time project delivery and customer commitments.

7. Supply Chain Risk Management

  • Establish and maintain an integrated project procurement and logistics risk management framework.
  • Identify and monitor supplier, market, capacity, financial, geopolitical, regulatory, transportation, customs, infrastructure, weather, and business continuity risks.
  • Ensure critical suppliers and logistics activities have appropriate mitigation and contingency plans.
  • Establish escalation thresholds for risks that may impact project schedule, cost, quality, safety, or contractual commitments.
  • Monitor supplier financial health, capacity, production constraints, and business continuity risks.
  • Ensure alternative suppliers, transportation solutions, routing options, and contingency plans are developed for critical supply chain exposures.
  • Provide executive-level visibility of significant project supply chain risks and mitigation actions.

8. Cost Management & Value Optimization

  • Establish project procurement and logistics cost-management strategies.
  • Monitor procurement commitments, transportation costs, forecasts, actual expenditures, cost variances, claims, and commercial exposures across the project portfolio.
  • Identify opportunities for cost reduction, value engineering, logistics optimization, supplier consolidation, alternative sourcing, and total-cost-of-ownership improvements.
  • Establish appropriate cost and performance targets for Project Procurement and Logistics teams.
  • Review major procurement and logistics cost variances and establish corrective actions.
  • Support project profitability improvement initiatives in partnership with Project Management, Finance, Engineering, Strategic Sourcing, and Manufacturing.
  • Ensure procurement and logistics decisions consider total landed cost rather than purchase price alone.

9. Procurement & Logistics Governance

  • Establish and maintain governance standards for project procurement and logistics execution.
  • Ensure compliance with corporate procurement policies, delegated authorities, project contracts, customer requirements, applicable laws, regulatory requirements, and company standards.
  • Ensure procurement documentation, contracts, purchase orders, logistics agreements, supplier records, claims, and project records are complete and audit-ready.
  • Establish appropriate approval processes for major sourcing decisions, supplier awards, commercial commitments, changes, claims, and exceptions.
  • Monitor compliance with procurement and logistics procedures and implement corrective actions where required.
  • Partner with Legal, Finance, Quality, HSE, and Internal Audit as appropriate.

10. Performance Management & Executive Reporting

  • Establish and maintain KPIs for Project Procurement and Logistics & Transport Management.
  • Provide executive leadership with consolidated reporting on procurement commitments, supplier performance, logistics performance, project risks, cost performance, schedule adherence, and forecasted activities.
  • Establish performance dashboards and management reporting for the project portfolio.
  • Monitor key metrics including:
    • Procurement milestone achievement
    • Supplier on-time delivery
    • Critical supplier performance
    • Purchase price and cost variance
    • Procurement savings / cost avoidance
    • Supplier claims and commercial exposure
    • Logistics cost

Voith US Inc. is an EEO/AA/VEVRAA compliant Federal Contractor and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law. We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in the industry including people of color, LGBTQI+ community, women, individuals with disabilities (both seen and unseen), Veterans, people of any age or family status. We embrace the competitive advantage that diversity brings and we strive to create a working environment that is inclusive of thought and talent.
Apply now