Buying Manager (Food/FMCG) in London

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The Procurement function has a group-wide remit and forms part of the Global Finance team. It is responsible for delivering a transparent and effective procurement approach across the FT Group, ensuring integrity and fairness in supplier selection, robust commercial negotiations, and strong governance and supplier management practices. The implementation of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) lifecycle has created significant opportunities for Procurement to drive greater visibility of spend, improved data quality and more informed decision-making across the business.

This role will contribute to the next phase of Procurement's evolution by helping leverage the FT Group's collective buying power through coordinated sourcing strategies, preferred supplier frameworks and more effective group-wide commercial negotiations. Based in London, the Procurement Manager will play a key role in delivering procurement activity across priority business areas including the Commercial Client Group (CCG), Product & Technology (P&T), and Reader Revenue Group (RRG).

This role has a strong focus on marketing and professional services procurement, requiring experience sourcing and managing agencies and consultancy providers across areas such as creative, media, social media and digital marketing. Experience supporting procurement activity for events-related spend, including venues, hotels, AV and production services, would also be advantageous.

The successful candidate will combine strong sourcing and commercial capability with excellent stakeholder engagement skills, partnering with senior stakeholders across the business to deliver commercially robust and strategically aligned procurement outcomes. We are looking for someone who is commercially curious, forward-thinking and comfortable using technology and AI-enabled tools to improve procurement efficiency, market analysis, sourcing activity and contract management processes.

• Lead end-to-end procurement activity across assigned categories and business areas, including sourcing strategy development, RFP execution, supplier evaluation and commercial negotiations.
• Partner with stakeholders across Reader Revenue Group (RRG), Commercial Client Group (CCG) and Product & Technology (P&T) to support a diverse range of procurement requirements.
• Build trusted relationships with stakeholders up to Director level, influencing decision-making and driving commercially effective outcomes.
• Challenge and shape business requirements to ensure alignment with group priorities and procurement best practice.
• Manage contract lifecycle activity including renewals, renegotiations and risk mitigation initiatives.
• Apply supplier management frameworks and support governance and supplier performance activities.
• Collaborate with Finance teams to identify, track and validate savings and value delivery opportunities.
• Conduct market research and supplier analysis to inform sourcing decisions and negotiation strategies.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives across procurement processes, governance and reporting.

Proven procurement experience across marketing, professional services and/or indirect spend categories. Demonstrated ability to manage complex sourcing activities and commercial negotiations. Strong analytical and commercial acumen, with the ability to interpret spend data and market insights to support decision-making. Experience handling contract negotiations, supplier management and procurement governance processes. Experience using procurement systems and sourcing tools such as Coupa or similar platforms. Interest in procurement innovation and emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools and digital procurement practices. Experience supporting procurement activity across events-related categories including venues, hotels, AV and production services. Exposure to technology, SaaS or data supplier procurement. Familiarity with procurement transformation, P2P processes or procurement analytics initiatives.

These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. We currently operate a hybrid model which requires staff to work onsite 50% of the time, subject to role requirements & regular review. While flexible working requests will be considered, not all patterns are suitable for all roles. We believe this balanced approach supports flexibility and protects our culture, making collaboration and communication easier, building stronger relationships and team cohesion, and supporting peer learning. We are a disability confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory.

If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email talent@ft.com and a member of our team will be happy to help.

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