Operational Buyer (Site) in Cowes

Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities. GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet.

With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

Based in our East Cowes facility, and reporting into one of our Senior Buyers, the Operational Buyer will join a friendly, thriving team responsible for order processing of in-contract scheduling, and management of supplier delivery performance in line with MPS and business requirements, delivering against supplier and business performance objectives focused on procured parts delivery.

We're looking for someone with bags of energy and drive - someone dynamic, and truly passionate about striving for procurement excellence and the development of strong supplier relationships.

Job Responsibilities

• Ensuring delivery in line with operational performance requirements from suppliers across a scope of ~ £10m spend.
• Supplier scheduling and alignment in line with MPS and the accuracy of supplier and procured parts data within the MRP system to ensure that demand signals minimise shortages and eliminate unwanted inventory.
• Daily maintenance of supplier promise dates to ensure that the most up-to-date and accurate information is held within the supplier schedules.
• Contribute towards and support the Procurement Operations Manager or Site Procurement Manager to deliver the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process in regards to external supply reviews.
• Management of suppliers to ensure that they can deliver against committed orders (OTIF), identification of supply risk, constraints and bottleneck, escalating as required.
• Carryout Supplier performance assessments.
• Drive supplier performance improvement initiatives internally and within supplier.
• Build strong supplier relationship and daily interface.
• Ensuring multi-function team reviews are taking place with key suppliers.
• Communicate with internal customers and receiving areas as frequently as required.
• The adherence to ways of working, standard procurement processes and daily management tasks.
• Ownership of the supplier scorecard process to ensure that supplier performance is communicated to all levels of the supplier and is regularly reviewed as part of multifunction team reviews.
• Support SQE on supplier non-conformance and processing of supplier returns and claims.
• Ensure prompt supplier payment by clearing any invoice queries.

Job Qualifications

To help us make a difference, you’ll bring your passion and expertise/ talent for what you do, along with the following skills, experience, qualifications and attributes:

ESSENTIAL:

• Demonstrable previous experience in procurement and supply chain activities.
• Strong, confident communicator, able to deal effectively with people (including suppliers) at all levels; diplomatic, with the capability of having difficult conversations when required.
• Dynamic and energetic, with the passion and drive to deliver procurement excellence.
• Quick learner — intellectually sharp, proactive, and able to rapidly absorb new information, processes, and technical concepts.
• Highly organised — able to prioritise effectively, manage multiple tasks, and follow structured processes with consistency and accuracy.
• Strong problem‑solving abilities — naturally analytical, resourceful, and able to identify root causes and implement practical solutions.
• Technically proficient — fully competent in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Outlook, and Word.
• Self‑motivated and proactive — able to work independently, take initiative, and maintain momentum without close supervision.
• Flexible and mobile — willing and able to undertake regular domestic and international travel to supplier sites (up to 40% as required).

DESIRABLE:

• Degree Qualified or equivalent work experience gained in either Supply Chain administration/planning or Procurement roles.
• APICS / MCIPS qualification.
• MRP Proficiency.

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working. Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work. We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know. We are the place where human dreams, plus human endeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.