Vernon Abrahams

Objective

To apply and impart the experience that I have gained within the Supply Chain / Procurement field over the past 30 years into a business that require my skill set. This business should offer opportunities for my career advancement after a period of achievement.

List of positions that I held at the various companies I worked for, starting from the most recent:

Senior Procurement Contract Specialist, Category Specialist, Contract Advisor, Sourcing Specialist, Regional Category Specialist, Business Analyst, Head of Supply Chain, Purchasing Manager, Senior Buyer, Operational Buyer, Material Supply Controller, Assistant Storeman and Stores Clerk.

List of companies that I worked for, starting with the most recent:

Worley South Africa, Astron Energy (Pty) Ltd a subsidiary of Glencore, Chevron South Africa (PTY) Ltd, Chevron Services Company – Africa / Pakistan, Nestle Purina Petcare, Pets Products (Pty) Ltd a Joint venture with Heinz, Tiger Brands (Pets Products), Colman Foods and Reckitt & Colman.

Experience Summary and some other facts

During my tenure at various well-known companies I developed a good skill set and gained sound understanding and experience in the following elements of the Supply Chain / Procurement field, namely: 

People and Stakeholder Management and Influencing Skills, Business Strategy and Planning (including Monitoring and Reporting), Category Management (Category Planning & Contract Plans and Contract Review Committees), Strategic Sourcing (Scope of Work (SoW) creation, addition/revision & finalization), 

Tenders (including Online Bidding), Cost & Pricing Management, Contract Management (Execution, Enablement, Monitoring and Maintenance (linking Terms & Conditions with SoW & Commercial Terms), Interfacing with Internal and External Legal, Supplier Segmentation & Selection, Negotiation, BBBEE (Spend & Compliance) & Preferential Procurement, Supplier Management & Integration (Advanced Supplier Relationships (ASR’s)), Vendor Database Management, Procurement Operations (Buying & Expediting) and Payables, Procurement Project Management, Governance, Ensure adherence to Policies and Procedures, Subject Matter Expert on Procurement and Supply Chain related matters.

Capital Stewardship, Budget Control, Spend Analysis & Benchmarking, Logistics (Shipping – Incoterms) and Transportation, Inventory Management (Rotation, Preservation, Allocation), Warehousing & Cold Storage Management, Materials Requirements Planning (Master Requirements Planning & Scheduling), 

Bill of Materials Management and Catalog Build & Maintenance & Policy & Process Document Control.

Other disciplines that I also gained experience in are as follows:   

Project Management, Compliance, SOX and Audits, Communications, Learning & Development, Operational Excellence (Contractor Health Environmental Safety Management as well as facilitation of Loss Prevention Stewardship meetings), New to Chevron (On boarding Processes) and Training Facilitation. Recipe Rationalization, Packaging Technology and ERP Systems deployment and Integration.

Management, Interpersonal and Organizational skills

• Able to work autonomously, reliably and responsibly, with initiative and drive in a pressurized and demanding environment meeting deadlines and achieving objectives.
• Highly self-motivated, enthusiastic and dedicated.
• Management style is to motivate personnel to higher levels of performance, productivity and professionalism with the ability to build highly efficient and dedicated teams.
• Encourage and facilitate others to maximise their individual and group potential.
• Able to train and develop others in a wide range of Supply Chain / Procurement related skills.
• Excellent communication skills and able to liase and negotiate effectively at all levels.
• Skilled at identifying inefficiencies and implementing solutions within the Supply Chain / Procurement field.
• A good administrator and excellent attention to detail and able to identify cost saving areas.
• Able to build sound business relationships with suppliers, all disciplines and peers based on integrity trust and service excellence.
• Good organizational, scheduling, planning and budgeting skills.
• Able to use a high degree of personal creativity in providing analytical solutions to problems.
• A proactive rather than reactive decision maker.
• Able to project manage new initiatives, do trouble shooting and do scenario planning.

Qualifications and Training

2022      :                Compliance training within Worley – Conflict of interest and code of conduct) LPS - Astron

2021      :             Safety Induction and Onboarding into Worley 

2020       :                Not much training as a result of Covid – Focused more on Glencore Compliance training

2019       :                Critical Negotiation Skills Course (Commerce Edge)

2018       :                Theory & Calc of Contract Price Adjustment Workshop (SEIFSA)

2015      :                International Association for Contract and Commercial Management Certification (IACCM)

2014      :                Contract Formulation Training (Unique to Chevron)                & Influential Leadership Course      

2013      :                Scotwork Negotiating Skills Programme, SDEECC: EE and Diversity Training & Leadership Accountability: Managing Process Safety in Chevron

2012      :                Procurement Operations and Contract Compensation & Enablement Training

2011      :                Category Management Training, Capital Stewardship Organizational Capability CSOC Certification: Leadership Roles & Behaviors Session and Contractor Owner & Contractor p Training

2010      :                Effective Negotiation Skills (Dynamix Learning Solutions), Ariba Contracts Workbench Training

2009      :                Certificate in Basics of Supply Chain (Robert Gordon University)

2008      :                L&D and Contractor Health Environmental & Safety Management Training

2007      :                External courses via Chevron: Microsoft Office (Excel, Word & Access), including   Strategic Sourcing Training via Chevron & Accenture Supply Chain Courses

2006      :                In house Chevron courses: Category Management – Chevron Project Development and Execution Process (CPDEP) & Project Management

1998 – 2005:        Computer literacy– SAP, BPCS, AS400 MS Office: Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

2004       :                Diploma in Purchasing & Supply Management (Varsity College). 

2003     :                 Attended the Nestle Purina Petcare Zonal International Seminar participated by more than thirteen countries. 

1998 – 2003:        Completed various purchasing courses at Cape Purchasing Training Services (Fundamentals of Purchasing, Professional Negotiating Skills, Purchasing & Law, Strategic & International Procurement & Strategic Planning) 

2002     :                 Completed a Disciplinary Hearing course within Nestle.

1993 – 2005:        In-house seminars and training courses (MRP / 20 KEYS / EXPORT COURSE)

1992 – 1994:        Associate of Social Sciences at UNISA.

1986       :                Matriculated from Bonteheuwel Senior Secondary School – Cape Town