Head of Procurement and Supply Chain in Coventry

Our client is a well established UK business, looking for an experienced Head of Procurement and Supply Chain to lead their procurement function. The role covers two sites, with flexibility to split time between them alongside a home working day, and travel to suppliers as needed. The majority of manufacturing is carried out at overseas sites or via outsourced UK partners, alongside some in house production for one part of the business. The role reports directly into the Operations Director.

The Head of Procurement and Supply Chain will be responsible for the entire procurement function, encompassing a team of buyers who liaise with the current approved supplier base as well as Group purchasing activities. You'll be tasked with building strong supplier relationships, rationalising the current supplier base and delivering ambitious savings targets, alongside negotiation and contract management to ensure best practice is embedded across the supplier portfolio. There is a strong focus on developing the current supply chain in East Asia as sourcing continues to shift further offshore, alongside exploring potential new regions within Europe. Cost control and margin are an increasing area of scrutiny for this role, alongside driving efficiencies through technology and delivering against sustainability targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Take accountability for the Procurement Strategy, establishing robust Procurement Plans with the team, and providing hands on management to mentor, coach and up-skill the function.
• Be accountable for the development of strategic procurement and category plans, ensuring robust engagement with cross functional stakeholders.
• Own and drive the ongoing shift in sourcing strategy from UK to Asia, working closely alongside the in-house Asia sourcing team to grow the offshore proportion of the supply base.
• Manage sourcing of fully assembled units from Asia, including metalwork, woodwork, assembly, powder coating and finishing suppliers, with a focus on minimising secondary assembly work in the UK.
• Lead on global sourcing (multi-sourcing and strategic sourcing) to identify global and local partners for long and short term agreements.
• Lead Supplier Relationship Management activities, ensuring suppliers are continually assessed and developed to meet changing business and customer demand.
• Develop a supplier performance management framework and foster a commercial culture within the team.
• Provide procurement and supply chain support for specified, project-led work such as full store fit-outs and furniture programmes for major retail clients, alongside core buying activity.
• Define KPIs to measure success and communicate progress across the organisation, with growing accountability for cost of goods sold and margin.
• Manage risk within the supply chain network and build a resilient supply network, working alongside the Operations Director.
• Create a solid demand planning process incorporating seasonality, production capacity, inventory management and forecasting.
• Develop, negotiate and administer purchasing agreements and contracts with suppliers.
• Work with relevant departments to manage inventory requirements and minimise obsolescence through ERP/MRP systems.
• Bring structure and process discipline to procurement and supply chain operations in a fast-moving, less formalised environment, without slowing down the pace of the business.

Experience and Skills

• Significant experience of a similar role working at a strategic and tactical level, ideally within retail.
• Comfortable operating in a fast paced, less formalised environment, and resilient enough to embed process and discipline without slowing the business down.
• Strong track record of monitoring, measuring and reporting on SLA and KPI adherence.
• Substantial contract negotiation and agreement experience within a varied supply chain.
• Experience of sourcing from Asia, including working alongside an in-house or partner sourcing team, is highly valued.
• Experience of project managed or specified projects is a genuine advantage.
• Experience designing and executing a supply chain strategy involving offshore supply from Asia and Europe.
• Proven Senior Leader in Procurement with strong commercial competence in strategic procurement and sourcing.
• Proven change management experience.
• Degree educated, MCIPS preferable.
• Competent user of Microsoft Office, with the ability to analyse and present complex data using Excel.
• Strong engagement and collaboration skills across all levels of an organisation.

Package

• £65,000 - £70,000 depending on experience.
• £7,000 Car Allowance.
• Target bonus.
• 25 days holiday.
• Private medical.
• Pension: 6% employer, 3% employee.