Procurement Manager in Cardiff

Who are Admiral Pioneer? Admiral Pioneer exists within Admiral Group as a venture studio, providing the greenhouse in which to grow new businesses. We’re leveraging Admiral’s strengths to deliver commercially strong businesses that answer the financial needs of new audiences and respond to emerging opportunities. We seek to disrupt the markets we enter, taking a truly customer‑centric approach. We achieve this through experimentation and proving new products, business models and partnerships via a disciplined, discovery‑driven approach.

The role involves supporting procurement activity across all Pioneer businesses, providing oversight and guidance to junior team members, while working autonomously to improve processes, manage suppliers, and deliver value for money. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, you’ll help keep procurement practical, proportionate, and easy to engage with. As part of a growing team, you’ll play a key role in shaping procurement practices and building strong, collaborative relationships across Pioneer.

• Manage and lead procurement activity across the full lifecycle, from requirements gathering and supplier identification through to tendering, contract negotiation, implementation, onboarding, and renewals, ensuring compliance with internal governance and best practice.
• Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders (finance, legal, data protection, information security, and risk) to ensure procurement activity meets business requirements and governance expectations.
• Manage ongoing supplier and contract relationships post‑award, overseeing contractual obligations, supporting performance reviews, monitoring service delivery, and managing change within agreed contractual parameters.
• Identify and elevate emerging commercial, performance, or risk issues to the Senior Procurement Manager or Head of Procurement as required.
• Act as a key point of contact for procurement‑related queries, providing practical advice and guidance while escalating significant issues, risks, or exceptions to the Head of Procurement.
• Ensure procurement activities are conducted in line with relevant regulatory, legal, and group requirements, proactively identifying and escalating risks or compliance concerns.
• Maintain procurement tracking, reporting, and supplier performance information, providing regular updates and insights to support informed decision‑making.
• Contribute to the development and ongoing improvement of the internal procurement function, supporting the creation, documentation, and consistent application of procurement policies, procedures, and guidance.
• Identify opportunities for cost efficiencies, process improvements, risk reduction, and performance enhancement, making recommendations to the Head of Procurement where appropriate.
• Support procurement‑related projects and initiatives, including onboarding, governance, controls, and contract management activity across Admiral Group entities, ensuring effective delivery and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Provide day‑to‑day support, guidance, and knowledge sharing to junior procurement staff, fostering a collaborative and continuous‑improvement culture.

• Demonstrable extensive procurement experience, ideally within a regulated or fast‑paced environment.
• Strong understanding of the end‑to‑end procurement cycle, including supplier identification, tendering, negotiation, contract management, and supplier performance monitoring.
• Knowledge of contract law and experience working alongside legal, risk, and compliance teams.
• Track record of identifying and delivering cost and quality improvements, as well as process innovation.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to make data‑driven recommendations and support strategic decision‑making.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, building and maintaining strong relationships at all levels.
• Proven ability to support and influence senior leadership while respecting established reporting lines and escalation protocols.
• Ability to balance and effectively prioritise a varied workload, operating with autonomy but escalating key decisions as appropriate.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and attention to detail.

• Free shares: up to £3,600 of free shares each year after one year of service for eligible colleagues.
• Holiday: 33 days including bank holidays upon joining, increasing gradually to a maximum of 38 days (including bank holidays). Option to buy or sell up to an additional five days of annual leave.
• We are a Disability Confident organisation and support reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities or long‑term health conditions.