Location

Santiago, Chile

Mission

At Zelestra, we are looking for a Procurement Director to join our Latam Business Unit, based in Santiago, Chile. Their main mission will be to strategically position the Procurement function and management, by designing and implementing a regional procurement model and developing commercial and contractual negotiation processes, aligned with the corporate structure and guidelines and current regulations, ensuring transparency, traceability, and control in all purchasing and contracting decisions. All of the above aims to maximize economies of scale and regional negotiating power across energy projects in LATAM, and to reduce commercial, financial, legal, and reputational risks associated with third parties.

Responsibilities

Strategic Procurement and Procurement Governance

• Design and implement the LATAM Regional Procurement Model (policies, processes, RACI, thresholds).
• Lead the creation and operation of the Purchasing and Contracting Committee, defining: approval levels. technical, economic, and risk criteria. exception and urgency mechanisms.
• Establish strategic purchasing categories (EPC, BOP, BOS, O&M, main equipment, technical services).
• Provide input for CAPEX and OPEX estimation.
• Develop regional sourcing strategies to capture economies of scale.
  
  

Tenders and Competitive Processes

• Lead structured tender processes (RFP, RFQ, RFI) for: EPC. O&M. specialized services. main equipment suppliers.
• Ensure proven evaluation methodologies: technical-economic matrices. risk analysis. assessment of suppliers’ historical performance.
• Guarantee transparent, comparable, and auditable processes.
  
  

Contract Management and Risk

• Lead the negotiation, structuring, and administration of complex contracts (in collaboration with the Contracts Director): EPC/BOP/BOS. O&M/LTSA. regional framework agreements.
• Ensure balanced contracts in terms of: technical risk. financial risk. penalties, SLAs, and KPIs. claims mechanisms and dispute resolution.
• Coordinate closely with the Legal team to standardize contract templates.
• Manage the conditions for implementing Contract Management standards and best practices throughout the entire contract lifecycle.
  
  

Supplier and Counterparty Relationship

• Act as senior counterpart to: EPC companies. strategic suppliers. technology partners.
• Develop a management model for critical key suppliers (vendor management).
• Monitor contractual performance, costs, timelines, and service quality.
  
  

Efficiency, Scale, and Value

• Identify and capture structural and recurring savings.
• Implement regional framework agreements where applicable.
• Develop key indicators: actual vs budgeted savings. contractual compliance. avoided risks. supplier performance.
  
  

Job Requirements

• Engineering degree (Industrial, Business, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical) or related fields.
• Postgraduate degree or MBA preferred, PMP certification or similar.
• 10+ years of experience in Procurement, Contracts, or Supply Chain.
• Proven experience in energy, infrastructure, or industrial projects in Latin America.
• Experience working with EPCs and complex contracts (ideally in owner-side models).
• Experience leading tenders with high economic impact.
• Proven experience in regional-scope roles.
• Contractual risk management.
  
  

What we offer

• Hybrid work.
• Health insurance.
• Other benefits.
  
  

Zelestra celebrates the diversity of thought and experience that comes from a variety of backgrounds including, but not limited to, gender, age and ethnicity. Our mission is to contribute to a more just and equitable society.

JR2791

Let's co-build a carbon-free tomorrow!

Visit us at zelestra.energy