Senior Buyer

Senior Buyer - Ingredients & Packaging Procurement

Location:

Berkshire
Food Manufacturing
- Multi-Site
- High-Impact FMCG Environment
Salary: £45-50,000 + benefits + career opportunities + CPD (CIPS)
A highly respected and rapidly evolving UK food manufacturing business is seeking an exceptional Buyer to take ownership of strategically critical procurement categories across ingredients and packaging (approximately £20m portfolio) within a fast-paced FMCG manufacturing environment.
This is a significant opportunity for an experienced procurement professional who thrives within commercially complex, operationally demanding, and highly collaborative manufacturing businesses. The role offers genuine visibility, influence, and the opportunity to shape category strategy within a business that is investing heavily in operational capability, customer partnerships, innovation, and long-term growth.
The organisation operates within a dynamic food manufacturing environment supplying both retail and B2B channels, where procurement plays a central role in protecting margin, maintaining continuity of supply, driving innovation, and supporting wider commercial performance.
This is not a transactional buying role.
It requires a commercially astute, strategically minded procurement professional capable of operating across supplier markets, manufacturing operations, finance, planning, technical, NPD, and commercial teams to deliver measurable business impact.
The Opportunity
The Senior Buyer will hold end-to-end responsibility for a portfolio of strategically important procurement categories spanning raw materials, ingredients, commodities, and packaging.
The successful individual will be expected to:
 
* Develop and execute category strategies aligned to wider business objectives
 
* Manage supplier performance, cost control, and security of supply across critical spend areas
 
* Operate confidently within volatile commodity and ingredient markets
 
* Lead commercial negotiations with both UK and international suppliers
 
* Identify opportunities for value creation beyond simple cost reduction
 
* Support working capital and inventory optimisation initiatives
 
* Drive supplier innovation into the wider business
 
* Partner closely with operational stakeholders to support service, production, and customer requirements
 
* Build robust procurement governance whilst maintaining pace and agility
 
* The role requires someone capable of balancing strategic thinking with operational execution.
 
* You will need to be equally comfortable negotiating commercial agreements, managing supply risk, influencing senior stakeholders, analysing market movements, supporting manufacturing operations, and challenging suppliers where required.
Key Areas of Responsibility
Strategic Procurement & Category Management
 
* Develop robust procurement category strategies across allocated areas of spend
 
* Create short, medium, and long-term sourcing plans aligned to business growth and operational requirements
 
* Continuously analyse supplier markets, commodity movements, inflationary pressures, and broader market dynamics
 
* Identify opportunities to reduce total cost of ownership whilst protecting quality and service
 
* Lead strategic sourcing activity including tendering, benchmarking, supplier rationalisation, and contract negotiations
 
* Deliver procurement savings, value improvement initiatives, and margin enhancement opportunities
 
* Build contingency planning and mitigation strategies for supply chain risk
 
* Ensure continuity of supply across critical operational categories
 
* Support procurement transformation and continuous improvement initiatives
Supplier Management & Commercial Leadership
 
* Build strong strategic relationships with key suppliers and manufacturing partners
 
* Lead supplier negotiations across pricing, contracts, service levels, rebates, payment terms, and performance expectations
 
* Conduct supplier performance reviews and drive accountability through structured KPI management
 
* Introduce joint business planning approaches with strategically important suppliers
 
* Drive supplier-led innovation into the business across…