Procurement Professional

Job Description

You will join the Procurement and Industrial Services Group (PI), the central unit responsible for procuring all supplies and services for the Organisation. As a Procurement Professional in the Supplies (SU) section, you will directly support the landmark High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) project.

You will be responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring procurement strategies for contracts of various sizes for the HL-LHC project. Your work will ensure technical, delivery, and performance requirements are met at the lowest overall cost, while complying with CERN's Procurement Rules and achieving balanced industrial returns for Member States.

Your responsibilities:

• Collaborate with technical teams to define the HL-LHC project procurement needs, set budgetary constraints, and establish delivery timescales.
• Conduct research on market and technological trends that can impact the project, for example, evolutions in raw material prices and currencies, the impact of economic conditions on the financial stability of contractors, and changes in regulatory frameworks.
• Work with technical teams to define an overarching, cost-efficient procurement strategy and policies to ensure project quality and support HL-LHC objectives.
• Identify and source a pipeline of qualified potential suppliers for the procurement strategy.
• Lead specific procurements, including conducting price inquiries, negotiating terms, and placing orders and contracts.
• Provide regular reports to management on procurement progress.
• Document the lessons learned and suggest improvements for future procurement projects.

Your profile:

• Knowledge and experience of procurement of mechanical engineering work and/or indirect purchases.
• Excellent communication, able to challenge constructively, adapt to feedback, and persuade others of your point of view.
• Proficiency leading a negotiation team in commercial, technical, and contractual negotiations.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and conflict.

Skills:

• Commercial and contractual documentation writing.
• Reviewing complex technical specifications.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Working in cross-functional teams.
• Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.

Eligibility criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Engineering, Purchasing, Economics (or a related field) and have either:
• a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
• or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.
• You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.

Additional Information

Job closing date: at 23:59 CET.

Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.

Working hours: 40 hours per week

Job flexibility: Hybrid

Target start date: 01-February-2026

Job reference: IPT-PI-SU GRAP

Field of work: Support Services (Finance, HR, Legal, Procurement)

Benchmark job: 5A0090 - Procurement Professional

What we offer

• A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
• Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
• Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
• 30 days of paid leave per year.
• On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.

About us

At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on

We are on a Quest. A Journey into discovery like no other. Bring your expertise to our unique work and develop your knowledge and skills at pace. Join world-class subject matter experts on unique projects, in a Quest for greater knowledge and deeper understanding.

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Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.