# Procurement Officer

Location: Lebanon (on site)
Reports to: Procurement Manager / Supply Chain Manager
Department: Supply Chain
Industry: FMCG (import and distribution)

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## About the Company

A well established Lebanese FMCG company with more than 35 years in the market. The company imports fast moving consumer goods from international principals and distributes them across Lebanon through a wide retail, wholesale and modern trade network. Company name is disclosed to shortlisted candidates.

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## Purpose of the Role

The Procurement Officer manages the buying cycle for imported finished goods, from placing the order with the principal to landing the container in the warehouse at the right cost and the right time. The job sits between the international suppliers, the freight and clearance agents, Finance and the Sales team. Success is measured by availability on the shelf, healthy stock cover, and no money lost to expiry, demurrage or a badly timed order.

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## Key Responsibilities

### Purchasing and Order Management
- Prepare purchase orders for imported goods based on sales forecasts, stock cover, minimum order quantities and container optimisation.
- Consolidate orders across brands and SKUs to reduce freight cost per unit and avoid part loaded containers.
- Confirm proforma invoices, order acknowledgements, production and shipping dates with each principal.
- Track every open order from confirmation to arrival, and flag delays to Sales and management before they become out of stock situations.
- Follow up on short shipments, damaged goods, wrong SKUs and quantity discrepancies, and pursue credit notes or replacements.

### Supplier and Principal Coordination
- Serve as the daily operational contact with international principals and their export teams.
- Maintain supplier records: price lists, agreed terms, MOQs, lead times, product codes and barcodes.
- Escalate repeated service failures, and support management in the annual review with each principal.
- Source and qualify suppliers for non trade purchases: warehouse consumables, packaging for repacking or bundling, promotional material, fleet parts, office and general supplies.

### Imports, Shipping and Clearance
- Own the import file end to end: proforma invoice, commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, health and conformity certificates, and any Ministry approval required.
- Coordinate with freight forwarders on booking, routing, transit time and freight rates, and compare options before committing.
- Work with the clearance agent on customs declaration, HS classification, duty and VAT settlement, and inspection.
- Push files through clearance fast enough to avoid demurrage, storage and detention charges, and report on any charge incurred with the reason.
- Coordinate arrival timing with the warehouse so receiving capacity matches the schedule.

### Cost and Terms
- Calculate landed cost per SKU: goods value, freight, insurance, duty, clearance, transport and any other charge, and hand a clean figure to Finance and Pricing.
- Support Finance on letters of credit, transfers and payment scheduling, and supply the documents the bank asks for.
- Negotiate freight rates, clearance fees and terms with local service providers.
- Track price changes from principals and currency impact, and alert management early when landed cost is moving.
- Identify savings: better incoterms, consolidated shipments, alternative routing, improved payment terms.

### Stock, Expiry and Planning
- Monitor stock cover by SKU against agreed targets, and adjust order timing when sales trends shift.
- Balance MOQ and container economics against shelf life. Never buy a quantity the market cannot sell before expiry.
- Track incoming production dates and remaining shelf life on every shipment, and reject or renegotiate short dated stock.
- Watch slow moving and near expiry inventory with Sales, and support clearance or promotion decisions early enough to matter.
- Work with Sales, Brand and Demand Planning on forecasts, new listings, promotional buys and seasonal peaks.

### Documentation, Systems and Compliance
- Maintain complete and auditable procurement and import files for every shipment.
- Process all transactions through the ERP and keep master data clean: item codes, supplier codes, prices, units of measure, barcodes.
- Ensure imported products meet Lebanese labelling, registration and regulatory requirements before shipment, not after arrival.
- Follow the company procurement policy and approval matrix, and support internal and external audit requests.

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## Requirements

### Must Have
- 3 to 6 years of procurement, purchasing or import experience, ideally in FMCG import and distribution or trading.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Economics or a related field.
- Hands on experience with import files, shipping documents, incoter