Strategic Buying & Commercial Lead — Shape a Fresh Menu in London

The opportunity

LEON is at a pivotal moment. Our founder John Vincent has bought the business back with a clear ambition: to rebuild LEON as the Earth’s favourite fast food brand. This role sits right at the heart of that turnaround. We’re looking for someone commercially sharp, operationally strong and instinctively entrepreneurial. Someone who doesn’t wait to be asked, but spots problems early, builds solutions and brings them forward. This is a business being rebuilt. That means pace, ambiguity and the chance to shape how things work from the ground up. If you’re hungry, curious and excited by the idea of building something properly, this is a rare opportunity.

What you’ll be doing

• Buying & Commercial Ownership
• Buying at LEON is not just about sourcing. It’s about building a menu that works - for our guests and for the business. You will take ownership of the commercial reality behind every product. That means understanding how ingredients, suppliers, pricing and portions come together to create food that tastes good, does you good, and delivers the right returns.
• Build and challenge cost prices with a clear understanding of where value sits.
• Balance quality, sourcing and commercial targets without compromise to the core product.
• Shape decisions on ingredients, formats and suppliers with both short and long-term thinking.
• Ensure consistency and clarity in how products are costed and landed into the business.
• Work closely with food, finance and operations to connect product decisions to real performance.

You are expected to question, to challenge and to improve. We are rebuilding how we think about cost, value and quality. That requires someone who is commercially sharp, detail-oriented and confident enough to push for better. We see our suppliers as partners. Long-term relationships matter. We work collaboratively, with honesty and respect, to build something better together.

Supply & Planning Support

You’ll work closely with Supply Chain to ensure product lands in restaurants. This includes supporting and feeding into:

• Forecasting and volume planning.
• Launch readiness.
• Managing stock risk and write-offs.
• Supplier performance (including Yates).
• Leading the Supply Chain team.

You’ll connect commercial thinking with operational reality.

What we’re looking for

We’re interested in how you think, and how you operate. What matters is that you can join the dots commercially and act on them. We’re looking for someone who is:

• Commercially instinctive - you understand margins, pricing and trade-offs.
• Proactive - you bring answers, not problems.
• Comfortable with ambiguity - you can operate without everything being defined.
• Agile and resourceful - you find a way through.
• Organised but not rigid - you can bring structure where it’s missing.
• Genuinely interested in food - ingredients, sourcing, how things are made.

Most importantly, you’re hungry. You want responsibility. You want to build something.

About LEON

LEON was founded in 2004 with a simple idea: that food that tastes good should also do you good. Our purpose has always remained the same: to help people eat and live well. To help people enjoy the natural health that is rightfully theirs. This guides every decision we make. If something undermines trust, food quality or long-term health, we don’t do it. We are building what we call the Earth’s favourite fast food. Food that is full of flavour, rooted in ingredients, and part of real life moments. First dates, long journeys, late nights, celebrations, difficult days. We aim to be there for all of it. Our food comes from the soil. Our restaurants from their communities. Our culture from the heart. Everything we do is grounded in the belief that there should be no trade-off between what is good for you and what is joyful, beautiful and satisfying. There is a certain energy to LEON. Optimistic. Restless. Curious.