Purchasing Support Lead - Burgess Hill

Brainkind is a charity that aims to improve the lives of people with brain injuries in the UK. Our assessment centres, rehabilitation units and hospitals use expert neurorehabilitation to support people to regain the skills they have lost. We treat people with a range of brain injuries sustained through trauma, illness, substance abuse and more – to recover and meet their personal goals. Our employees are incredibly enthusiastic about the jobs they do – you will find a dedicated team spirit across our services and amazing colleagues who always pull together and look out for each other.

MAIN PURPOSE

The Purchasing Support Lead is responsible for coordinating the day‑to‑day activities of the purchasing support function, ensuring efficient and effective procurement operations. This includes supporting buyers, maintaining accurate purchasing data, managing supplier communications, driving process improvements, and overseeing fleet management. The role plays a pivotal part in connecting purchasing, finance, suppliers, and internal stakeholders, ensuring the delivery of timely and cost‑effective purchasing solutions that support Brainkind’s operational and organisational objectives.

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for ensuring Brainkind has a clear purchasing strategy for goods and services by liaising with key stakeholders to identify and define requirements and acting as the central point of coordination between internal Finance and Operations teams and our external procurement partner, Marr Group.
• Set policies and procedures for purchasing and fleet management that consider business requirements and budgets.
• Develop and implement process improvements to increase purchasing efficiency and accuracy.
• Assist in resolving supplier issues such as delivery delays, pricing discrepancies, or order queries and collaborate with transactional finance on invoice reconciliation and payment queries.
• Support supplier onboarding, documentation, and compliance requirements.
• Provide training and guidance on purchasing procedures and systems; develop relationships with key providers, ensuring cost is prioritised and the consistency of supply improved.
• Identify opportunities to improve purchasing processes and operational efficiency.
• Ensure organisational adherence to company purchasing policies and procedures.
• Maintain purchasing documentation and ensure compliance with internal audit requirements and legislative requirements within contracts.
• Manage Brainkind’s fleet, including supplier contracts, performance monitoring, vehicle maintenance, and insurance coordination.
• Manage vehicle allocation and driver records, ensuring accurate data and compliance with company safety policies.
• Build relationships with services to support effective management of local supply chains and use of preferred supplier contracts.
• Carry out additional duties as required by the Strategic Finance and Business Partnering Manager, including travel and occasional overnight stays.

About you

• A level or equivalent.
• Demonstrable experience of Procurement Strategy and Planning.
• Experience of Fleet, facilities & Property management or similar.
• Knowledge of Procurement Finance.
• Strong planning and organisational skills – able to prioritise workload effectively.
• Strong communication skills – able to communicate with others across all levels including senior management.
• Experience in working on multiple projects and able to multitask.

REWARDS

You can look forward to excellent benefits, including handy discounts on many brands and services:

• 35 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays) (pro rata).
• Buy and sell up to 5 days annual leave.
• Health Cash Plan.
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Excellent training and support.
• Group life assurance.
• Free parking.
• Company Pension.
• Long service and Staff Awards.

We also put a big focus on employee wellbeing and support. It matters to us that you feel at your best. Career development is a priority. We will ensure you get the training and learning opportunities you need to achieve your goals.

*All successful candidates are subject to compliance checks including 3 years of checkable references and DBS/PVG checks.*

Brainkind are a Disability Confident Employer. As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy. Brainkind is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive organisation. It is a place where we recognise, celebrate, and live our values which includes offering a range of inclusive employment policies and staff engagement forums to support employees from all backgrounds.