Procurement Category Lead

About the Role

Do you have a passion for negotiation? Are you highly motivated and have good people skills? Do you have experience with contracts? Looking for an exciting new career opportunity?

As an inclusive, forward-thinking business, we take pride in our approach to Procurement across Avara Foods and are looking for a highly competent and motivated Procurement Category Lead to join our Procurement Team, based at our Brackley site.

You may not have heard of us, but there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed our products. Avara Foods is one of the UK’s leading food businesses, supplying chicken and turkey to the country’s major supermarkets and well-known restaurants.

We own and manage our entire supply chain, from farms to factory and all the way to the customer door – meaning we have careers that cover a whole range of functions. We have major processing sites across England and Wales, and an agricultural network of over 350 farms, spanning from North Yorkshire to the South Coast and Wales.

The Category Lead will own the commercial and operational performance of Avara Foods’ Direct Spend Category, leading sourcing activity, managing key suppliers, delivering savings and providing day-to-day leadership to two Buyers.

The role will report to the Procurement Manager and act as the main procurement interface for packaging, ingredients and related direct material spend.

You will be required to travel to other Avara sites and suppliers.

• Develop and maintain category plans for direct spend areas including packaging and ingredients.
• Analyse spend, supplier performance, pricing trends and market conditions.
• Identify savings, cost avoidance and supplier consolidation opportunities.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and direct material cost management.
• Provide category insight and recommendations to the Procurement Manager.
• Lead sourcing activity for key direct material categories.
• Manage RFQs, tenders, supplier evaluations and commercial negotiations.
• Develop sourcing recommendations based on cost, quality, service, risk and operational requirements.
• Work cross-functionally to ensure supplier decisions meet business needs.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, service levels and commercial agreements.
• Manage relationships with key direct material suppliers.
• Monitor supplier performance against agreed KPIs.
• Lead supplier review meetings and improvement actions.
• Resolve escalated supplier issues.
• Support supplier development, risk mitigation and contingency planning.
• Manage, coach and support two Buyers. Allocate workload and set priorities for buying activity.
• Review RFQ outputs, cost comparisons and supplier recommendations prepared by Buyers.
• Ensure the buying team follows procurement processes and maintains accurate records.
• Act as the escalation point for operational buying issues.
• Build strong relationships with Operations, Technical, NPD, Compliance, Finance and Supply chain teams.
• Understand business requirements and convert them into clear sourcing plans.
• Challenge demand, specification and supplier choices where commercial value can be improved.
• Ensure procurement activity follows company policy and approval processes.
• Maintain appropriate sourcing, supplier and contract documentation.
• Support supplier onboarding and contract compliance.
• Monitor risks including single-source dependency, price volatility and continuity of supply.
• Escalate material commercial, operational or supply risks to the Procurement Manager.

• Strong Procurement or category management preferably with direct spend
• CIPS qualified (or working towards)
• Experience managing packaging, ingredients, raw materials, food manufacturing, FMCG or similar supply categories.
• Leadership or management experience, to support and develop a team.
• Excellent analytical skills (including Excel experience).
• Excellent knowledge of contract terms and conditions.
• Contract management and supplier experience.
• Commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Ability to interface with cross-functional teams and levels in the business.
• Ab…