Alfiya Alawadhi

Providing strategic leadership to the Procurement Department of the entire group of 30+ entities with diverse spend portfolio of AED 300M, ensuring delivery of large-scale project initiatives and providing outstanding Procurement Services that supports the vision, mission, and goals of Aldar Education group.

• Managing procurement for the entire Group with continuous monitoring of performance and identifying further opportunities for enhancement of the process and end user experience
• Defining and managing timely fulfillment of the Groupwide Procurement Plan
• Defining and implementing effective Procurement Strategies for the group, streamlining the processes
• Negotiating, Reviewing and Endorsing/Approving Award Recommendations for all the engagements with third parties, and securing proper approvals as per agreed DoA and processes
• Strengthening Procurement Governance Framework:
o Drafting, approval and defending of Procurement Policy before the committee
o Establishment of procurement processes: variation process, sourcing request, contract management, etc.
o Continuous monitoring for compliance with DoA and enforcement of company policies
• Establishment of Contract Management process, building central database for agreements, enhancing Agreement templates, reviewing and negotiating the agreements to minimize the risks to the company
• Leading a team of 10 procurement professionals to achieve assigned objectives, providing regular feedback on performance, developing, training, and motivating the team.
• Project Management of the procurement activities for expansion projects: leading the curation and tracking of project schedules, deliverables, identifying critical path items ensuring the successful delivery of all the new projects (integration of up to 10 new entities per annum, including greenfield projects)
• Management committee member for multiple projects, secretary of the tender opening committee.
• Providing regular Procurement Reports

Achievements:
• Designed, tested new ERP System - SAP Ariba for upstream and downstream modules, which drastically improved end user experience while providing improved controls, transparency and accountability.
• Worked within tight timeframe and resource shortages, delivering a contracting project for all services and goods for the opening of 19 new schools, ensuring fully functioning operations.
• Led a comprehensive change management across the function, transitioned into centralized procurement with robust processes, tools and controls in place.
• Awarded over 300 tenders for major contracts with 100% fulfilment of the Procurement Plan.
• Covered over 80% of the procurement spend under Framework Agreements.
• Accomplished significant cost savings across major categories and increased company revenue for commission-based agreements while providing the best value for the organization and its stakeholders.
• Established and nurture excellent stakeholder relationships to ensure the procurement function continues as a valuable business partner, meeting needs and supporting strategic goals and growth plans.

On my current role, reporting to VP Procurement & Commercial Operations, I provide support to all 50 schools of GEMS located in the MENA region.

• Sourcing of Suppliers for special projects and Analysis of Commercial Proposals considering the total cost of the project, projected savings, ROI, insurance coverage, financial guarantees of supplier, etc.;

• Defined Negotiation Strategy as per the best market practices to optimize cost and improve operational efficiency for contracts worth up to AED 100 mln.

• Managing delivery of companywide projects aimed to drive significant value to organization through cost-savings, streamlining the processes and improving compliance. Some of the projects include:
• Energy Saving Project: lead the project and ensured its timely delivery by 2 sub-contractors. This project resulted in substantial savings on utility bills which averaged about 45% among Schools.
• Teacher Optimization Project which resulted in savings of AED 80 mln.
• VAT Implementation Project for Procurement, Operations departments, and ERP.

• Contract Management for all the schools:
• Contract Review of contractual terms and key commercial elements, Risk Management, Contract Negotiation, Making appropriate Changes to the Agreements;
• Ensuring that Suppliers deliver all the financial and non-financial obligations as per the Contract and Performance Management;
• Working with stakeholders on the development of comprehensive Scope of Work and implementing SLAs & KPIs in the Agreements.

• Developing and revising procedures and systems to improve the process and results;

Reporting to the Regional Head of Procurement I handled Procurement, Contract Management, Vendor Management within given categories in MENA & Turkey regions.

Categories: IT (Hardware, Software, Telecommunication Services, Hotlines), HR related (Health & Life Insurance, Recruitment, Trainings), Marketing and FM related services.

• Developed and implemented procurement strategy for given categories and managed these categories within 7 entities in GCC (UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar) and within additional units in Turkey;
• Developed strategic relationships with vendors and internal teams to determine projects for further cost reductions (price projects, scope change projects) while meeting requirements for timely delivery of high-quality goods and services and continuously improving processes;
• Made Strategic Sourcing of goods and services by in-depth analysis of subject matter, baseline, market analysis, cost breakdown, total cost of ownership, competitive bidding, e-sourcing, price negotiation, etc.;
• Vendor Management and Vendor Development. Developed SLA's with stakeholders, made regular evaluations and meetings with key suppliers, a detailed discussion of performance and resolved issues;
• Developed Budget for given categories, prepared RFP/ RFQ/ RFI;
• Contract Review and Contract Negotiation for all my categories.

Achievements:
• Saved over AED 500K on telecommunication services; Saved over AED 300K in the region on printer lease services by analyzing printer usage of different offices and supplier consolidation;
• Saved AED 2 mln. on group medical insurance and enhanced the benefits and the network;

Company Profile: Armstrong is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of floors and ceilings. Headquartered in Lancaster, the USA it operates 32 plants around the world. In 2014 Armstrong's consolidated net sales totaled approximately $2, 5 billion.

• Defined purchasing strategy and ensured timely delivery of goods/services within approved budgets;
• Developed and implemented the Procurement process and various related procedures;
• Lead a team of 4 buyers for all the procurement needs of the factory;
• Implemented ERP - SAP in the procurement department;
• Organized sessions on clarification of purchasing procedures to internal departments;
• Built effective Contract Administration system and Annual Sourcing Plan of the department;

Achievements:
• Successfully led a project on the substitution of imported raw materials by local analogs. The project resulted in the reduction of final product cost by 20% and smooth plant operation due to the timely delivery of raw materials;
• Increased average payment terms by 18 days and improved compliance;

Category: Direct Materials (Chemicals)
Spend: USD 20M

• Purchase planning and Purchasing of direct materials and CAPEX items for the projects;
• Effective management and evaluation of suppliers and monitoring suppliers’ performance
• Preparing and reviewing Tender instructions and other related documents (defining pre-qualification requirements, functional requirements, contractual conditions, acceptance criteria, RFP, etc.);
• Planning and managing inventory levels of products;

Achievements:
• Saved USD 1.2mln on the procurement of fertilizers in 2014;
• Saved 30% on tractor purchasing (savings of USD 82k on each tractor);

• Purchasing of crops and fertilizers and indirect materials: vendor selection based on quality, price, delivery time, reviewing quotes, price negotiation, issuing purchase orders, obtaining purchase approvals as per DoA, supply chain management (SCM).