Buyer, Business

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a commercially astute Buyer to join a leading supplier of own-label chilled food products.

Reporting to the Head of Commercial and with 2 direct reports, the Buyer is a new position in their structure, responsible for the development of a defined procurement strategy and supplier management system, enabling the business to continue to grow it’s offering to retail, wholesale, food service and industrial customers.

Buyer responsibilities include:

* Strategy Development:
Create and implement a formal procurement strategy, formal SLAs and KPIs are currently not in place.

* Supplier Management:
Establish formal contracts and build strong supplier partnerships through structured reviews and performance tracking tools to measure quality and OTIF (On-Time In-Full) delivery.

* Collaborative Partnership:
Manage supplier relationships in a collaborative, professional manner, focusing on long-term improvement plans.

* Cost & Commodity Management:
Lead cost management activity, analysing spend. Closely track commodity pricing and market data to challenge suppliers effectively and deliver sustainable savings.

* Proactive Sourcing:
Identifying new product and supplier opportunities to diversify the supply base in response to customer and category growth opportunities.

* Project

Collaboration:

Work closely with Commercial, Operations, and Technical teams to align procurement with business needs

* Compliance:
Ensure compliance with food safety, sustainability and ethical sourcing standards.

What You’ll Bring

* Proven Procurement Expertise:
Substantial experience buying food products / food ingredients (essential)

* Strategic Mindset:
The ability to build a framework for supplier management where none currently exists.

* Negotiation

Skills:

A track record of negotiating contracts that protect quality, value, and continuity of supply.

* Analytical Rigor: A data-driven approach with the ability to interpret commodity trends and category insights.

* Mobility: A willingness to travel within the UK and Europe to visit partners and suppliers.

Application via CV