Regional Procurement Buyer

Want to help us bring happiness to the world? Want to join an ambitious and fast growing global biscuits and confectionery business investing heavily in iconic global brands, infrastructure and people? Then this is the place for you. As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits. To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive because we expect pace and agility, insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact.

Why join our team? pladis is home to iconic brands Godiva, McVitie’s and Ulker. These brands make sweet treats and savoury treats that consumers everywhere recognise and enjoy! As we start on our new journey, we will continue making the biscuits and confectionery people know and expect from these brands, and we will expand their portfolios too. Together we will build new and exciting products at pladis – new flavours, new concepts, and new ways to share happiness!

Role Purpose: As a Regional Procurement Buyer, you will lead and manage the procurement of Marketing for the UK&I region. Working with the Global Lead you will maintain and develop the supplier base, drive strategic relationships, and execute material group strategies. Reporting to the Procurement Head for the UK&I, you will play a critical role in ensuring supply continuity, cost optimisation, and sustainable sourcing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Responsibilities: Building strong relationships with suppliers and owning your sourcing strategy to ensure a robust security of supply across all materials and services. Understand pladis’ business category strategy and communicate it effectively across procurement. Share and implement the regional category strategies for Marketing, focusing on key strategic deliverables: cost out, cash flow, supply continuity, sustainability, and innovation. Build strong SRM (Supplier Relationship Management) in partnership with the global head across global and regional strategic suppliers. Collaborate cross-functionally with regional teams (e.g., manufacturing sites, supply chain, and R&D partners) to deliver regional projects for productivity and business continuity. Work closely with the global head of category to implement key strategic projects. Implementing all regional procurement-driven processes & tools within their team and category. Develop and implement category strategies for regional categories, focusing on key strategic deliverables: cost out, cash flow, supply continuity, sustainability, and innovation. Provide input into the category and supplier segmentation, and managing suppliers operating locally and not under the radar of the global category.
• Operational Responsibilities: Gather all necessary requirements (specifications & scope of works, service levels, KPIs) from stakeholders. Lead the end-to-end sourcing process for new contracts within the category. Finalise contracts with suppliers and ensure compliance to pladis T&Cs. Negotiate contract terms, liaising with legal and the supplier to provide maximum value to the business. Complete D&B checks to assess suppliers' financial status. Present sourcing strategies and recommendations to relevant forums. Report on 5 key deliverable areas, including Jaggaer updates for all projects in the category. Manage any supplier performance issues, being the first point of contact for business stakeholders within the category.

Qualifications and Experience: Proven experience of strategic sourcing within indirect procurement. Negotiation and commercial analytical skills. Supplier/Customer relationship management experience or excellent inter-personnel skills with the ability to form strong working relationships. Project management and leadership skills, including how to make a strong recommendation. The ability to think strategically and set a 3 year category plan. The ability to lead many workstreams and work in a team whilst managing key stakeholders. Demonstrate experience of developing, leading, and delivering change implementation within an organisation. Excellent communication and influencing skills within the team and across the business. Marketing category experience is desirable. MCIPS or equivalent certification is desirable.

Our winning traits and behaviours: Purpose-Led - Energised by our promise to deliver happiness to the world with every bite. Agile - Ever evolving, never satisfied and never standing still. Collaborative - Willing to work with others for mutual success. Resilient - Quick to adapt to change, fast learner and persistent in the face of setbacks. Positive - Self-motivated, optimistic, adventurous, and inspiring.

Diversity and inclusion are central to everything we do and is reflected across our business. pladis brings together brands and people from around the globe – and this diversity is our outstanding strength. We’re an equal opportunities employer and believe in encouraging an inclusive environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking and respect everyone’s distinctive qualities and perspectives. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform key job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Join us on our exciting journey to create happiness with every bite! pladis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.