Category Manager

Interim Senior Buyer - 15 Month FTC with the potential for a permanent post

Exclusive Opportunity | Manufacturing | 15-Month Contract - Employed by the business

Salary:
Competitive, dependent on experience - £50k+

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (role can be compressed to 4 days per week Monday to Thursday)

Hybrid working available - 3 days office, 1/2 days home

Butler Rose Procurement & Supply Chain are delighted to be exclusively representing a leading manufacturing organisation in the appointment of a Senior Buyer on a 15-month maternity cover contract.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced procurement professional to take ownership of key categories, develop strategic supplier relationships and deliver measurable commercial and operational improvements within a busy manufacturing environment.

The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting supply continuity, supplier performance, cost reduction and wider supply chain improvement, working closely with stakeholders across Procurement, Supply Chain, Operations, Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, Finance and Sales.

As Senior Buyer, you will be responsible for developing and implementing category strategies, managing key supplier relationships and leading commercial negotiations to ensure the business achieves the best overall value. The main priorities for this role will initially be Supplier Consolidation.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Developing and implementing category strategies aligned with wider business objectives.
• Identifying, evaluating and onboarding new suppliers where required.
• Leading RFQ, RFP and tender processes.
• Negotiating pricing, rebates, payment terms and commercial agreements.
• Establishing fixed-term pricing agreements to manage cost volatility and improve budget visibility.
• Monitoring commodity and market trends to identify commercial opportunities and supply risks.
• Delivering measurable cost savings and value improvement initiatives.
• Developing and maintaining strong strategic supplier relationships.
• Managing supplier performance across cost, quality, service and delivery.
• Leading regular supplier business reviews and performance assessments.
• Developing supplier scorecards, KPIs and performance reporting.
• Developing and managing Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) arrangements with strategic suppliers.
• Supporting supply continuity through effective supplier planning and risk mitigation.
• Supporting S&OP activity through supplier collaboration and demand alignment.
• Using procurement, inventory and operational data to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
• Working cross-functionally to resolve supply challenges and drive continuous improvement.
• Providing clear commercial and performance information to senior stakeholders to support decision-making.

We are looking for an established procurement professional with strong commercial acumen and experience operating within a manufacturing environment
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You will ideally have:

• A minimum of 5 years' procurement experience within a manufacturing or similarly complex operational environment.
• Strong experience across strategic sourcing, supplier management and commercial negotiation.
• Proven experience delivering cost savings and commercial improvements.
• Experience managing supplier performance and developing supplier relationships.
• Strong understanding of procurement, inventory and supply chain processes.
• Experience working with an ERP/MRP system.
• Strong analytical skills and confidence working with procurement and operational data.
• Experience developing and using KPI dashboards and performance reporting tools.
• Strong Excel skills, with Power BI experience highly desirable.
• The ability to influence stakeholders across multiple functions and at different levels of an…