Buyer (30 hours per week)

The Opportunity
We’re looking for a proactive and commercially minded Buyer to take a leading role in driving strategic purchasing initiatives. Working closely with our Group Purchasing Manager, you’ll help shape and execute procurement strategies, build strong supplier partnerships, and champion cost-effective purchasing practices. This is a fantastic opportunity to be at the heart of supplier negotiations, process improvement, and risk management—directly contributing to the success and efficiency of our purchasing operations.

In this dynamic role, you will be responsible for:

• Procurement Strategy: Develop and implement procurement strategies that align with overall business objectives.
• Supplier Negotiation: Lead negotiations with key suppliers to secure favourable terms and deliver cost savings.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Oversee supplier performance, ensuring quality, compliance, and alignment with company standards.
• Spend Analysis: Analyse procurement data to identify cost-saving opportunities and improve process efficiency.
• Market Research: Conduct market analysis to source new suppliers and explore alternative materials.
• Supplier Agreements: Establish and manage long-term supply agreements with critical vendors to ensure continuity and value.

The ideal candidate will bring:

• Qualifications: CIPS qualification preferred but not essential. Degree in a relevant discipline or a minimum of 5+ years’ experience in purchasing.
• Skills & Knowledge: Strong leadership and decision-making abilities. Excellent organizational and analytical skills. Experience with direct and indirect procurement. Advanced negotiation and supplier management skills. Ability to communicate effectively across all levels of the organization. Knowledge of initiating and managing supply agreements with legal input. Proficiency in MRP/ERP systems, with Syteline experience preferred.
• Experience: Proven experience in a manufacturing environment. Background in medical devices and ISO13485 standards is advantageous but not essential. Strong track record in cost-saving initiatives and supplier development. Experience leading procurement projects and process improvements.

Our Values:
Embrace the unknown - every big idea starts with a bold, fundamental question: What If?
Passion for people - our people are our greatest asset and fuel our success in service of humanity.
Collaborate for success - we put team before self to achieve the unexpected with transparency, accountability and integrity.
Partner with purpose - we inspire new paths with customers to accelerate positive outcomes.

Benefits:
25 days holiday + bank holidays. In addition, we offer a holiday purchase scheme where employees can purchase a further 5 days. Enhanced private company pension, IDS contribute up to 5% of your annual salary. Should you wish to opt into private healthcare, IDS will pay 50% of your healthcare cover for either single or family plans. Access to our Employee Assistance Platform, providing you and your family with access to wellbeing resources and therapy, as well as retailer discounts. Life insurance at 2x your annual salary. Hybrid working. Sports and social club - a subsidised membership scheme offering four fun activities each year (go-karting, abseiling, meals out, comedy club, cinema etc). Benefit from our Skillsoft learning and development platform, offering a wide range of modules to tailor your personal growth. Free on-site parking. Discretionary annual bonus. Complementary tea, coffee, fruit and seasonal treats.

We are committed to supporting your career development and offer a number of incentives and rewards to recognise your contributions: Reward of £500 for successfully referring a friend to IDS - Living our values award recognises and rewards those who demonstrate exemplary behaviours which support our core values. - All ideas matter award encourages and rewards employees to be creative and put forward new ideas. Successful ideas are generously rewarded.