Procurement Specialist (Buyer)

This role leads procurement for equipment, devices, components and related services used in fusion experiment facilities for research and development and demonstration testing. Working from the development stage with engineers, the procurement specialist builds and operates a global supply chain while balancing quality, cost and delivery schedules.

Responsibilities include planning and executing procurement strategies, including supplier sourcing, selection, purchasing and evaluation. The role also covers purchasing equipment and parts from suppliers in Japan and overseas, ordering services such as logistics, and managing import and export activities. Other duties include obtaining quotations, negotiating prices, discussing contract terms and conditions, placing orders, accepting deliveries, and negotiating improvements to reduce costs, shorten lead times and stabilize quality. The specialist will also promote improvements through standardization and digitalization of purchasing processes.

Required qualifications include approximately five or more years of procurement or purchasing experience in manufacturing or engineering, practical experience negotiating prices, contracts and delivery schedules with domestic and overseas suppliers, and the ability to communicate in English by email and in meetings, with an indicated TOEIC benchmark of 650 or higher. The role also requires coordination skills for involving internal departments such as engineering, quality, logistics and accounting.

Preferred experience includes international procurement, import and export management, contract review, cost analysis, cost-reduction initiatives, procurement in the plant industry, and procurement of equipment for plants. Experience handling flexible responsibilities in a startup or research-and-development-oriented company and TOEIC 800 or higher are also welcomed. The position is intended for hands-on execution rather than organizational management.

The role is part of the Plant Technology division and supports fusion power commercialization through procurement. It involves working with engineering, quality, business promotion, logistics, accounting, management and external suppliers, including overseas locations. The work requires adapting to change, identifying and solving issues, negotiating and collaborating across cultures, balancing cost, quality and delivery, and improving processes.

Domestic and overseas transfers may be required.

Hiring may also be offered as a contract employee. Applicants are asked not to reapply for the same position within six months of a previous application.

Remote work may be discussed for people living within commuting distance.