Buyer, Business

About The Role

Buyer
Full Time
37 hours per week
Permanent
Salary £38,960 up to £48,700
Location Washington/Hybrid working

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Buyer to join our Opex team in Procurement, working primarily within the IT category. In this role, you will support the category management team across all key aspects of the strategic sourcing process, focusing on IT‑related goods and services. You will work on a range of procurement activities within pre‑agreed spend categories, building strong relationships, influencing stakeholders, and helping drive value across the business.

Using both tactical and strategic approaches to sourcing and negotiation, you’ll bring fresh ideas, challenge the status quo, and explore innovative solutions to help us think differently and unlock new opportunities from the marketplace.

Our team operates in a hybrid working model, blending remote work with time spent at any NWL office as required. While much of your role can be done from home, we’re looking for candidates who are within a reasonable distance to travel when needed.

As a team we are driven and focussed on the value and saving potential that the procurement process brings to our sourcing events. We’re looking for the successful candidate to have a proven level of strategic sourcing experience, with a track record of delivering savings and unlocking value add from our supply chain.

As a shrewd negotiator, we’re looking for you to have proven negotiation skills, bring commerciality and problem‑solving techniques, whilst being passionate about delivering an excellent service to all service users. You will build key relationships across our team and the wider business, utilising excellent interpersonal skills (including stakeholder management) blended with verbal and written communication skills that are a must for the successful candidate.

Although experience of developing sourcing and category strategies within a regulated environment (such as public/utility sector) would be advantageous we are keen to hear from candidates who can demonstrate and apply their own individual experience into our business, which is heavily regulated and follows an extensive range of policies and procedures.

From a vocational perspective, ideally, we are looking for someone with procurement related qualifications (MCIPS/Degree for example) or equivalent experience working within a procurement setting.

If you’re passionate about procurement, eager to develop, and ready to take on a new challenge, this is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a supportive and growing team!

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work. Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

Please note this role will require a DBS to be completed prior to employment.

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we’re committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.

We’re aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in…