Procurement Assistant

Join CERN's Procurement and Industrial Services Group to support procurement operations by processing purchase orders, liaising with suppliers and technical officers, and ensuring compliance with CERN Procurement Rules. This role offers exposure to international procurement practices in a multicultural environment.

Responsibilities

• Process, place, and follow up on purchase orders up to 3 000 CHF, ensuring compliance with CERN's Procurement Rules.
• Request quotations from suppliers and conduct comparative analysis of offers received, supporting sound and cost-effective purchasing decisions.
• Negotiate commercial terms: payment terms, delivery schedule and transport conditions, and general conditions.
• Liaise with suppliers to resolve delivery delays, non-conformities, purchase order amendments and invoicing issues.
• Liaise with technical officers to resolve discrepancies, inconsistencies, and operational issues arising during/ post purchase order processing, ensuring timely and accurate resolution.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure efficient procurement operations.
• Provide direct support to suppliers throughout the registration process in CERN's supplier database / eProcurement, ensuring the accurate verification, maintenance, and completeness of supplier records.

Requirements

• Experience or exposure to procurement, purchasing, or contract administration (through studies, internships, or initial work experience).
• Prior exposure to an international and multicultural working environment.
• Your studies focused on Engineering, Purchasing, Economics.
• Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.
• You are a national of a CERN Member State or Associate Member State (excluding Pakistani, Lithuanian, Latvian, Cypriot and Croatian nationals due to ceiling limits).
• By the application deadline, you have a maximum of 2 years of professional experience since graduation in the respective field and your highest educational qualification is either a bachelor’s or master’s degree.
• You must have a university degree and can’t hold a PhD.
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Skills

• Procurement Operations
• Purchasing
• Contract Administration
• Supplier Liaison
• Compliance with Procurement Policies
• International Procurement Procedures
• Multicultural Work Environment
• Procurement Documentation
• Purchase Order Processing

Languages

English, French