The Area Head of Logistics & Services Procurement – EAA is a strong leader who drives strategic business partnering, cost leadership, and operational excellence across East Africa, while leading digital innovation in procurement and building a highly engaged team.
The role reports to the Regional Head of Logistics and Services Procurement for IMEA, located in Cape Town.
We offer:
- EAA consists of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan and Somalia.
- Managing the Area Procurement team, including team members sitting across several offices within EAA (Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mombasa).
- Working closely in a matrix organization, harmonizing Area procurement efforts with the Regional procurement and Centre Procurement teams in close collaboration.
- Partnering with the Area Product and Global Products (e.g. MCL, MEC, Air/LCL) Sales, Customer Experience and Finance teams on long-term game plans, including growth projects, and ensuring alignment between costs, commercial needs, customer experience and operational execution.
- Leading negotiations, holding senior relationships, and coordinating the right Service Level Agreements between Maersk and its partners.
- Accountable for integrating Maersk Contract Management frameworks to ensure compliance and best-in-class supplier performance.
- Driving a strong digital footprint and agenda within supplier engagements and Area business plans.
- Performing continuous improvement on supplier market analytics, organizing market intelligence and creating a competitive edge for Maersk's book of business through effective supply chains.
- Cooperating closely with colleagues between the Area and the Ocean set-up in the Region.
- Maintaining and growing the relationship with commercial logistics and services Regional directors and supporting Regional strategy through the area.
- Expected travel to strategic vendor sites, owned assets and other areas of strategic relevance.
Responsibilities:
- Drive strategic business partnering with the Area Leadership Team, Local and Global Product, Sales and Finance to align procurement with business growth and customer experience objectives.
- Lead cost leadership and total cost of ownership agenda across Products (Local products, Contract Logistics, Ecommerce, Air/LCL as priority), ensuring procurement decisions are connected to P&L outcomes and budget/RoFo targets.
- Own supplier relationship management for the EAA area, including strategic supplier negotiations, Service Level Agreements, KPIs, and corrective action plans.
- Drive operational excellence through continuous improvement on supplier market analytics, market intelligence, and creating a competitive edge for Maersk.
- Lead digital innovation in procurement, including adoption of e-sourcing platforms (e.g. SourceWise/Keelvar) and embedding AI-enabled procurement capabilities within the area.
- Build and sustain a highly engaged, high-performing procurement team of 3, fostering a culture of accountability, development, and collaboration.
- Ensure full compliance with Maersk Contract Management frameworks, procurement policies, HSSE, and regulatory requirements.
- Cooperate closely with Regional and Global Category Leads, enabling the translation of regional category strategies into effective Area-level execution.
- Represent the Area procurement perspective in the Regional Leadership Team and contribute to pan-IMEA procurement initiatives and best practices.
Primary qualification:
- 10+ years of experience in Logistics, specifically Inland transportation, Warehousing, Cold Chain, Intermodal, Contract Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Engineering, Business Administration or a related field.
- Direct leadership experience, including team capability building, with experience managing multi-location teams.
- Ability to lead digital change and transformation, including adoption of AI-enabled procurement capabilities.
- Solid commercial acumen with the ability to link procurement actions to P&L and business outcomes.
- High proficiency with Microsoft Office products including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Power BI and ERP systems.
- Language: English (fluency required).
Additional qualification:
- Strong understanding of East African landside transportation, warehousing and contract logistics markets.
- Knowledge of sourcing methodologies, contract management frameworks, and supplier performance management.
- Familiarity with digital procurement tools (e-sourcing, spend analytics, AI-enabled procurement platforms).
- Understanding of cost driver analysis, should-cost modelling and total cost of ownership principles.
- Awareness of HSSE, regulatory, and compliance requirements in a EAA context.
Maersk is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace, and we embrace different styles of thinking. Maersk is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applicants without regard to race, colour, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy or parental leave, veteran status, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with all legal requirements.
We are happy to support your need for any adjustments during the application and hiring process. If you need special assistance or an accommodation to use our website, apply for a position, or to perform a job, please contact us by emailing accommodationrequests@maersk.com.
