For Yacov Aviram, rising to the top isn’t just an idiom, it’s part of his journey. At age 62, at the height of his productive career, he decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. “Life taught me that in every journey, the most important thing is the people around you, people you can trust and have fun with, in life and at work.”
My story
Yacov joined Elbit about six years ago, starting as a manager in indirect procurement and later, leading cross-company projects to improve and streamline procurement processes. “These are innovative projects that meet our customers’ up-to-date requirements,” he explains. During the subsequent Covid pandemic, he led emergency preparations of the company’s supply chain, and two years ago was appointed to his current position: head of mechanics procurement in the Global Operations Division. “Elbit has a range of products and technologies, from high-resolution space cameras to cannon barrels – all requiring mechanics procurement in various quantities, from a few to thousands of items per year.”
“My main goal”, he says, “is to create a business community of professional procurement managers, sharing knowledge and experience – a community operating with internal and external synergy with the other operational bodies, in engineering and in commercial units.” This will involve periodic meetings with the members of the category and procurement managers at the company’s sites, instituting KPI monitoring, and reviewing market trends. “From my perspective, the mission is to be a coach, and lead the managers to significant processes,” he says.
Yacov was born in Lod to immigrants from Romania, growing up in a small apartment with eight family members. “My parents had a grocery and that was my university of life. I began working at a young age and learned how to communicate with people from different cultures, and how to do math quickly.” Education was emphasized at home, he says. “My father was self-taught and always found time to read and study, mainly history and geography,” he says. Yacov graduated with a BA in machine engineering from Technion University, which is where he met his wife, Edith; they have two daughters and a granddaughter. He did his Master’s at Tel Aviv University, graduating with an MBA.
Recently, he achieved another mission: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of climbers. “Although it started as a quirky idea, the process required intense preparation, and the experience was very powerful, both physically and mentally.”
