Buyer, Equipment and Data Centre Sourcing

Summary

Bell’s AI Fabric program is a groundbreaking national initiative designed to position Canada as a global leader in Sovereign AI. By building a secure, high‑performance, coast‑to‑coast compute fabric, Bell is creating the foundational infrastructure required to power the next generation of AI innovation while ensuring data sovereignty, resilience, and scalability at national scale.

The Buyer supports the sourcing and procurement of owner-furnished, contractor-installed (OFCI) equipment for Bell AI Fabric data centre projects. The role executes competitive sourcing activities, coordinates supplier due diligence, evaluates commercial submissions, converts approved awards into purchase orders, and tracks commitments through delivery while maintaining alignment with project budgets, technical requirements, governance controls, and site schedules.

The Buyer is accountable for accurate and timely sourcing and purchasing execution, complete commercial documentation, effective supplier coordination, and early escalation of cost, schedule, capacity, quality, or compliance risks that could affect data centre delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Support end-to-end sourcing activities for assigned OFCI categories, including market research, supplier identification, RFx issuance, bidder communications, commercial clarification, bid tabulation, total-cost analysis, negotiation support, award recommendations, and maintenance of a complete sourcing record in accordance with procurement governance.

Purchase Order (PO) & Order Management

• Create, issue, and administer purchase orders for high-value OFCI equipment, including generators, electrical distribution equipment, cooling systems, and other assigned infrastructure packages, using the company’s procurement system. Confirm that the approved supplier, scope, quantities, pricing, delivery terms, site destination, required dates, and authorization records are accurate before release.

• Manage purchase orders from creation through closeout, confirming supplier acknowledgement, manufacturing milestones, committed ship dates, logistics status, site-required dates, receipt, and outstanding obligations. Escalate potential delays or deviations early and maintain current records for project reporting.

• Collaborate with Accounts Payable, receiving, project controls, and suppliers to resolve purchase-order, receipt, and invoice discrepancies; support timely payment; and ensure goods and services are accurately recorded in the system.

Commercial Review & Change Orders

• Review supplier commercial proposals for completeness and compliance with sourcing requirements; compare pricing, commercial terms, lead times, payment terms, warranty coverage, logistics assumptions, exclusions, and total cost; document clarifications and support a fact-based award recommendation.

• Process and track equipment change orders arising from approved design revisions, quantity changes, commodity price movements, logistics changes, or schedule adjustments. Validate the supplier’s commercial basis, confirm scope and pricing impacts with the appropriate stakeholders, and obtain required budget and governance approvals before issuing a revised purchase order.
• Maintain accurate records that distinguish original purchase-order value, approved change orders, forecast-at-completion, committed spend, and remaining exposure, enabling timely reporting of budget variances and commercial risks to the Senior Manager, Procurement.

Supplier Onboarding & Risk Assessment

• Coordinate supplier onboarding in the procurement system and maintain a clear checklist of required documentation, including confidentiality agreements, tax information, banking details, insurance certificates, compliance records, and required approvals. Follow up on missing or expiring documents and retain an auditable record of completion.

• Complete initial and periodic supplier risk assessments covering financial stability, manufacturing capacity, operational resilience, quality, compliance, information security, and delivery performance. Record identified risks, required mitigations, owners, and follow-up dates, and escalate material concerns for decision before award or purchase-order release.
• Confirm that suppliers satisfy applicable company requirements for onboarding, confidentiality, insurance, sanctions and compliance screening, information security, and other required controls before an award is finalized or a purchase order is released.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Support the Senior Manager, Procurement with bid analyses, sourcing records, purchase-order histories, change-order logs, supplier performance information, and commercial insights required for negotiations, governance reviews, and leadership reporting.

• Collaborate with Engineering, Capacity Planning, Design and Construction, Project Controls, Cost Management, Legal, Finance, Accounts Payable, logistics partners, and site teams to validate technical specifications, quantities, commercial requirements, delivery priorities, and approval readiness before award and purchase-order execution.

Core Competencies

Core competencies include commercial and numerical analysis, RFx and bid-tabulation discipline, negotiation support, purchase-order accuracy, supplier relationship management, schedule awareness, risk identification, stakeholder communication, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple long-lead equipment packages in a fast-paced project environment.

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, engineering, business, finance, or a related discipline.
• With at least five years of relevant experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, construction procurement, or critical infrastructure.
• Experience supporting data centre projects, OFCI equipment, long-lead capital equipment, competitive RFx processes, contract and purchase-order administration, and procurement or ERP systems is preferred. A master’s degree or a recognized procurement designation is an asset.