What We Look For

We do not hire resumes. We hire people who have sat across the table from a factory owner in Shenzhen at 11pm negotiating delivery terms. People who know the difference between a supplier’s quoted lead time and their actual lead time. People who have walked a production floor and spotted the problem before the quality report confirmed it. If that sounds like you, keep reading. If your procurement experience exists only in textbooks and case studies, this probably is not the right fit. We need practitioners, not theorists.

What We Look For in Every Candidate

eSourcingSolution operates across dozens of countries, multiple languages, and industries ranging from automotive to agriculture. Our clients trust us because our people have done the work before. They have managed supplier relationships that went sideways. They have negotiated contracts under time pressure with incomplete information. They have solved logistics problems at 6am because a shipment was stuck at customs and the client needed delivery by Friday. That is the reality of procurement consulting. It is not glamorous. It is detailed, demanding, and occasionally exhausting. But for the right person, it is deeply satisfying work.

Here is what we look for when evaluating candidates.

Educational Foundation

A university degree in engineering, business administration, supply chain management, or a related discipline. We value engineering backgrounds because our work frequently involves technical products where understanding manufacturing processes, materials, and tolerances matters. Business and supply chain degrees provide the commercial framework. We do not require a specific institution or grade point average. We care that you can think analytically, communicate clearly, and learn quickly when dropped into an unfamiliar industry.

Postgraduate qualifications (MBA, MSc in Supply Chain, CIPS certification, or equivalent) are valued but never required. We have hired excellent people with bachelor’s degrees and mediocre people with multiple master’s degrees. The credential matters less than what you actually learned and can apply.

Professional Experience

Practical experience in procurement, supply chain management, sourcing, or supplier quality within Western industrial organisations. We specify Western organisations not from bias but because our clients are predominantly European and American companies. They expect specific communication standards, documentation practices, and ethical frameworks. Candidates who have worked within those systems understand client expectations intuitively.

What counts as relevant experience: negotiating with suppliers, managing RFQs and tenders, conducting factory audits, qualifying new suppliers, handling supplier performance issues, managing logistics and customs, analysing total cost of ownership, and building sourcing strategies. If your experience covers three or more of those activities, you have the foundation we need.

Years of experience matter less than depth. Someone with four years of hands-on sourcing work in a demanding environment often outperforms someone with twelve years in a comfortable role where nothing changed. We look for evidence that you have been tested and performed.

Language Skills

Excellent English proficiency is non-negotiable. Our internal communication, client reporting, and documentation all happen in English. You will write supplier assessments, present findings to senior procurement directors, and negotiate with international counterparts. Functional English is not sufficient. We need professional-level fluency that inspires confidence in clients paying premium rates for our expertise.

Fluency in the local language of your operating market is equally essential. Supplier relationships depend on it. Factory audits require it. Understanding cultural context demands it. A sourcing professional who cannot communicate directly with suppliers in their own language misses nuance that translators cannot capture. If you speak Mandarin and English, or Turkish and English, or Portuguese and English, that combination is exactly what our clients need.

Additional languages beyond these two are a genuine advantage. Every extra language opens markets and makes you more deployable across our global operations.

International Exposure

We strongly prefer candidates who have lived, worked, or studied outside their home country. International experience changes how people think. It builds tolerance for ambiguity. It develops cultural sensitivity that cannot be taught in a classroom. It proves adaptability.

Study abroad programmes count. International internships count. Working for a multinational with cross-border responsibilities counts. Living in a foreign country for any extended period counts. What we are looking for is evidence that you can function effectively outside your comfort zone, because our work requires exactly that. Every week.

Candidates without international experience are not automatically excluded. But you will need to demonstrate cultural adaptability and willingness to operate across borders through other means.

What Sets Successful Candidates Apart

Beyond the baseline requirements, certain qualities separate good candidates from exceptional ones in our environment.

Curiosity about how things are made. Our best people genuinely enjoy visiting factories, understanding production processes, and learning how different industries operate. If manufacturing bores you, this role will bore you.

Comfort with imperfect information. Procurement decisions rarely wait for complete data. We need people who can assess situations quickly, make reasonable judgments, and adjust when new information arrives.

Directness. Our clients pay for honest assessments, not diplomatic evasion. If a supplier cannot deliver, we say so clearly. If a sourcing strategy has flaws, we identify them. Candidates who struggle with direct communication struggle in our environment.

Self-management. We operate across time zones with team members in multiple countries. Nobody stands over your shoulder. You manage your own schedule, deadlines, and client relationships. That freedom suits some people perfectly and terrifies others.

How to Apply

If this description resonates with your experience and working style, we want to hear from you. Send your CV and a brief note explaining which markets or industries you know best. We do not need a formal cover letter. We need to understand what you bring and where you would fit within our operations.

We review applications continuously and respond to qualified candidates within two weeks. Our hiring process involves a professional discussion (not a scripted interview), a practical case exercise, and reference verification. We hire for capability and character, not keywords on a resume.

Explore our services and the markets we cover to understand where your expertise might contribute. Then contact us to start the conversation.