Associate Tactical Buyer in Oxford

Join us at EIT

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at www.eit.org.

Your Role

We are looking for an Associate Tactical Buyer to join our Procurement team and support the delivery of an efficient, responsive, and customer-focused procurement service across EIT. In this role, you'll support a variety of procurement activities, including raising purchase orders, liaising with suppliers, tracking orders, resolving invoice queries, and providing day-to-day support to stakeholders across the business.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is organised, proactive, and eager to develop their skills in procurement, supplier management, and purchasing operations. You'll gain valuable hands-on experience and benefit from excellent learning and development opportunities as part of a collaborative and growing team.

Your Responsibilities

Procurement Administration & Purchasing Support

• Support the end-to-end procurement process from requisition through to payment
• Create and process purchase requisitions and purchase orders accurately and in a timely manner
• Assist with issuing purchase orders and obtaining supplier confirmations
• Support goods receipt activities and invoice processing
• Maintain accurate procurement records and documentation

Stakeholder Support

• Act as a first point of contact for routine procurement queries
• Provide guidance on purchasing processes and procurement procedures
• Support internal stakeholders in raising purchase requests and following procurement policies
• Escalate complex issues to senior procurement team members when required

Supplier & Order Management

• Assist with supplier communications regarding orders, deliveries, and documentation
• Monitor order progress and provide updates to stakeholders
• Help ensure deliveries are completed in line with agreed timelines
• Maintain positive and professional relationships with suppliers

Supplier Onboarding Support

• Support supplier onboarding activities and document collection
• Help track onboarding progress and follow up on outstanding requirements
• Work with Procurement, Finance, and suppliers to ensure completion of timely onboarding

Invoice and Query Resolution

• Assist in resolving purchase order, invoice, and receipt discrepancies
• Liaise with Finance and suppliers to address transactional issues
• Support efforts to minimise payment delays and operational disruption

Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve procurement processes and administration
• Support implementation of new procedures, templates, and ways of working
• Contribute to initiatives that improve stakeholder experience and procurement efficiency

Requirements

Essential Skills, Qualifications & Experience

• Previous experience in an administrative, procurement, purchasing, supply chain, or customer service environment
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities effectively
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel and Outlook
• Positive, proactive attitude with a willingness to learn
• Strong customer-service mindset and ability to build relationships with stakeholders

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience working within a procurement or purchasing team
• Exposure to purchase order processing or supplier administration
• Familiarity with ERP systems such as Oracle Fusion
• Experience in a scientific, laboratory, research, or higher education environment
• Studying towards CIPS, or interest in pursuing a procurement qualification

Benefits

• Enhanced holiday. Our annual leave allowance is 25 days plus 8 bank holidays and an additional 3 days between Christmas and New Year. You will also have the opportunity to purchase an additional 5 days annual leave in January and July.
• Pension - Employer contribution 7.5%, minimum employee contribution 5%
• Life Assurance.
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance as standard for you, your partner and any dependents. Including hospital Cash Plan
• Employee discounts
• Electric car scheme
• Nursery Salary Sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Family Planning
• Neurodiversity support including advise and assessments
• Coaching & Therapy services

Working Together - What It Involves

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate)