Senior Buyer

A highly respected and rapidly evolving UK food manufacturing business is seeking an exceptional Buyer to take ownership of strategically critical procurement categories across ingredients and packaging (approximately £20m portfolio) within a fast-paced FMCG manufacturing environment. The organisation operates within a dynamic food manufacturing environment supplying both retail and B2B channels, where procurement plays a central role in protecting margin, maintaining continuity of supply, driving innovation, and supporting wider commercial performance. This is not a transactional buying role. It requires a commercially astute, strategically minded procurement professional capable of operating across supplier markets, manufacturing operations, finance, planning, technical, NPD, and commercial teams to deliver measurable business impact.

The Opportunity

• Develop and execute category strategies aligned to wider business objectives
• Manage supplier performance, cost control, and security of supply across critical spend areas
• Operate confidently within volatile commodity and ingredient markets
• Lead commercial negotiations with both UK and international suppliers
• Identify opportunities for value creation beyond simple cost reduction
• Support working capital and inventory optimisation initiatives
• Drive supplier innovation into the wider business
• Partner closely with operational stakeholders to support service, production, and customer requirements
• Build robust procurement governance whilst maintaining pace and agility

The role requires someone capable of balancing strategic thinking with operational execution.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Strategic Procurement Category Management
• Develop robust procurement category strategies across allocated areas of spend
• Create short, medium, and long-term sourcing plans aligned to business growth and operational requirements
• Continuously analyse supplier markets, commodity movements, inflationary pressures, broader market dynamics
• Identify opportunities to reduce total cost of ownership whilst protecting quality and service
• Lead strategic sourcing activity including tendering, benchmarking, supplier rationalisation, and contract negotiations
• Deliver procurement savings, value improvement initiatives, and margin enhancement opportunities
• Build contingency planning and mitigation strategies for supply chain risk
• Ensure continuity of supply across critical operational categories
• Support procurement transformation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Supplier Management Commercial Leadership
• Build strong strategic relationships with key suppliers and manufacturing partners
• Lead supplier negotiations
• Conduct supplier performance reviews and drive accountability through structured KPIs
• Introduce joint business planning approaches with strategically important suppliers
• Drive supplier-led innovation into the business
• Challenge underperformance and implement corrective action where required
• Collaborate with suppliers on cost engineering and value optimisation initiatives
• Operational Cross-Functional Partnership
• Work closely with manufacturing, planning, technical, finance, commercial, and NPD functions to support business objectives
• Support service continuity and minimise operational disruption through proactive supplier and inventory management
• Participate in business-critical operational and supply chain meetings
• Contribute to working capital reduction initiatives
• Ensure procurement decisions balance commercial objectives with operational realities
• Support launch activity, customer requirements, and business growth initiatives
• Market Intelligence Risk Management
• Monitor commodity and ingredient markets continuously
• Forecast pricing movements and supplier market trends
• Assess geopolitical, agricultural, economic, and supply chain risks
• Provide commercial insight and market intelligence to internal stakeholders
• Support budget planning and forecasting activity with accurate procurement analysis
• Develop proactive risk mitigation strategies across categories

The Candidate

• Degree educated and a minimum of CIPS Level 3 or 4
• This role requires an experienced FMCG procurement professional with strong food manufacturing or FMCG exposure
• Progressive procurement and category management experience within FMCG manufacturing
• Experience purchasing ingredients, raw materials, commodities, and packaging
• Experience operating within food manufacturing or complex manufacturing supply chains
• Strong negotiation capability across supplier relationships
• Excellent commercial acumen and analytical capability
• Experience managing volatile commodity-driven categories
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills
• The ability to operate with pace, resilience, and accountability
• A highly collaborative approach combined with the confidence to challenge constructively
• Strong understanding of procurement governance, supplier management, and category strategy
• The ability to balance strategic thinking with operational responsiveness

Personal Attributes

• Commercially sharp and analytically minded
• Proactive and solutions focused
• Comfortable operating within fast-moving manufacturing environments
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail
• Confident influencing cross-functional stakeholders
• Capable of managing competing priorities effectively
• Collaborative whilst able to challenge appropriately
• Driven to continuously improve processes, performance, and outcomes
• Resilient under pressure and calm within operationally demanding situations

Why This Opportunity?

• Significant exposure across the wider business
• The opportunity to influence strategic procurement direction
• Ownership of commercially important categories
• A collaborative and fast-paced FMCG environment
• Strong long-term career development potential
• The ability to make a visible and measurable impact