Never without my
mijn garde!

As an amateur chef, Renée De Visscher uses her whisk to mix various ingredients into a balanced sauce. As a Strategic Buyer, she brings together a multifunctional team to draw up balanced contracts.

‘One of the things I love most is going out to eat at restaurants, but I also like to whip up meals myself, especially at weekends, when I can dedicate plenty of time to cooking, together with my boyfriend Victor. I’ve even been taking evening cooking classes for the past two years. Officially, I am already at kitchen assistant level, and I hope to work up to assistant chef level within the next 18 months.

I don’t plan to ever be a full-time chef. That seems far too stressful. Besides, I love my current role as a Strategic Buyer. Officially, I have only been employed by Elia since January, but through a consultancy agency I have been doing this job for almost two years.’

‘As a Strategic Buyer in the Group Procurement Electrical Equipment team, you work at Group level. Our team consists of around 40 colleagues from Belgium and Germany, and we expect another ten or so people to join us in the coming years. The team comprises the Strategic Buyers, like me, who conclude contracts. Then there are the Contract & Supplier Managers, who keep an eye on the contracts and negotiate with suppliers when problems arise.

The buyer team is further divided into three sub-teams: High Voltage & FACTS, Secondary Systems & Monitoring Systems, and Linear Assets & Structures, to which I belong. I purchase equipment such as high-voltage cables, beacon lights and coils. Such purchases are typically worth over €443,000 and so go through a European tendering procedure.’

‘A major part of my job involves overseeing the procedures. There are four main phases. First, we devise the procurement strategy, deciding how many suppliers we want, how long the contract should last, how we will evaluate the suppliers, and so on. This is followed by the first official stage, namely selecting the candidates based on a range of criteria. We then read through candidates’ offers, prices and contracts before choosing the winning candidate. The final phase comprises the signing of the contract.

‘Of course, I don’t do all that on my own; I work with other departments in Belgium and Germany such as Infrastructure, Expertise, Asset Management, Projects, IT, and Safety and Environment. Multifunctional teams are established for each project, with the teams being made up of experts from the relevant departments. They provide technical as well as legal support, for instance. As a Strategic Buyer, I manage the teams.’

‘I am currently supervising three procurement procedures, including the Group contract for AAAC conductors, which are the high-voltage cables that hang from the towers. There is also an ongoing procedure involving aircraft warning beacons on towers, and one for air-insulated coils. The latter procedure is a bit more technical in nature.

‘I don’t have a technical background. I have a degree in business engineering, but you learn a lot on the job. The most important thing is that you are interested in the technical side of things. And you can always contact the experts in the multifunctional team if you have any questions.’

Business trips to Berlin
‘Working with the experts and with suppliers from all over the world makes my job extra interesting. And because procurement is done at Group level, I am involved not only in Belgian but also in German contracts. Occasionally I have to travel to Berlin. I always look forward to these trips, because Berlin is a bit of a homecoming for me. I got to know the city during my Erasmus exchange.

‘As a 27-year-old, I also have a lot of responsibility. Buying equipment often involves big budgets. The contract for the AAAC conductors, for example, is worth €90 million. A work-life balance is also important for me. I still have time for my hobbies, so swimming and especially cooking.’

‘At first glance, my job and my hobby seem worlds apart but there are some similarities. As a chef, you use a whisk to mix together ingredients into a sauce that ‘packs a punch’. In the multifunctional teams, I’m the ‘whisk’ bringing together experts to come up with well-balanced contracts.’