Buying Manager (Food/FMCG) in London

Agilia Infrastructure Partners is a specialist infrastructure consultancy established in 2016. We support some of the UK's most complex and high-value infrastructure programmes across the water, energy, transport and defence sectors, providing expert advisory and delivery support to clients navigating the most demanding regulatory and commercial environments in the UK.

Our Procurement Service Line plays a leading role in helping clients deliver best-in-class procurement outcomes. We collaborate with contracting authorities and regulated utilities at every stage of the procurement lifecycle – from strategy development through to contract award – bringing deep regulatory expertise and genuine delivery experience to every engagement.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced procurement professional to join Agilia at a Manager level position within Agilia's Procurement Service Line, reporting directly to the Associate Project Director. The successful candidate will be part of the Procurement Service Line and bring innovative ideas and firsthand experience to develop our service offering. You will take ownership of discrete procurement workstreams from day one, working within a small, expert team on programmes that matter.

The role is focused on the delivery of complex, high-value procurements in regulated environments and is suited to a procurement professional who has worked within the public or utilities sector and is ready to take on greater responsibility and breadth to support clients navigate the changes under Procurement Act 2023 (PA23).

You will be mentored directly by senior practitioners, gain exposure to a breadth of procurement routes and regulated sectors and develop your experience and capability to grow.

• Procurement Strategy: Contribute to the development of procurement strategies and route-to-market recommendations, drawing on direct experience of what works in practice.
• Procurement Execution and Management: Hold day-to-day delivery accountability for live procurement processes, including managing tender portals, preparing and issuing tender documentation, coordinating evaluation panels, managing bidder clarifications, and ensuring compliant standstill and award processes.
• Regulatory Compliance: Apply working knowledge of the PA23, or its predecessor regimes Public Contract Regulations 2025 (PCR15), Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCR 2016) and The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR11) to ensure procurement processes are compliant at every stage. Identify procedural risks as they arise and escalate with a clear assessment of options and mitigation.
• Market Engagement: Support the design and delivery of structured market engagement activities, including market soundings, supplier days and pre-qualification processes, to inform procurement decisions and help clients build competitive supply chains.
• Documentation and Quality: Prepare high-quality procurement documentation - including evaluation frameworks, scoring guides, tender questionnaires, award recommendation reports, and contract notices - to a standard suitable for governance submission and external scrutiny.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate directly with client procurement teams and programme stakeholders, providing clear and practical support on procurement processes, timetables, and compliance matters. Support more junior colleagues and contribute to the wider Procurement Service Line through knowledge sharing and participation in Agilia's internal capability development activities.
• Firsthand Procurement Delivery: Proven involvement in public sector or regulated procurement processes from inception through to contract award – including tender documentation, evaluation management, moderation, and award. You will have a clear understanding of where procurement processes carry procedural risk and how to manage it in practice.
• Procurement Regulations: Working knowledge of the Procurement Act 2023 and/or PCR 2015, UCR16 and/or DSPCR11 including a practical understanding of the key obligations, procedures, and compliance requirements applicable to the public sector and regulated procurement.
• Experience: Preparing and presenting procurement documentation to governance boards, securing approvals at programme gates, and defending procurement decisions under scrutiny.
• Skills: Strong written skills with the ability to produce clear, well-structured procurement documentation and present complex regulatory requirements in plain, actionable terms for non-specialist audiences.
• Membership: Membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (MCIPS) or Equivalent.
• Consultancy Experience: Supporting multiple clients concurrently across different sectors and regulatory frameworks.
• Cross-Sector Exposure: Across more than one regulated sector (e.g. water and energy, or energy and defence).
• Procurement Policy Notes (PPNs): Particularly those relating to social value, net zero, and transparency requirements under PA23.
• Net Zero and Social Value: Including embedding sustainability requirements within procurement strategies and evaluation frameworks.
• e-Procurement Portals: (e.g. Jaggaer, Bravo, Delta eSourcing), used in a live delivery capacity.
• Delivery-focused: Understands that quality and compliance are non-negotiable in regulated procurement environments.
• Passionate about procurement: Genuinely interested in the profession and the regulatory landscape. Follows developments in public procurement – particularly the changes under PA23 – and brings that curiosity into day-to-day work and team conversations.
• Engagement: Actively seeks to deepen knowledge of procurement regulation and sector practice. Engages with mentoring and development opportunities with genuine ambition.
• Time Management: Maintains clear thinking when procurement processes are under time pressure or scrutiny. Manages multiple tasks across concurrent programmes, meeting deadlines, and maintaining quality of output.
• Relationship Building: Builds effective working relationships with clients and colleagues at all levels and contributes positively to team performance.
• Understanding of Risk: Developing understanding of risk, value, and commercial dynamics in complex infrastructure supply chains.
• Compliance: Takes compliance seriously and understands the legal and reputational consequences of procurement error.

You will be based from our London office (Third floor, 11 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3LT) and will be expected to travel to client site.