Procurement Manager in Reading

Malloy Aeronautics Limited specializes in the development of heavy lift unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for both civilian and military uses. Located in Berkshire, our operations are notable for their focus on in-house design and manufacturing. This vertical integration means we control the production of most aircraft components on-site, enhancing our ability to innovate and maintain high standards across all stages of development.

We are recruiting for a Procurement Manager who will work as an integral part of a Malloy Procurement Supply Chain team:

• Experienced subject matter expert with extensive procurement knowledge.
• Accountable for delivering cost, delivery and quality targets for allocated area of spend, directly contributing to business objectives and financial performance.
• Accountable for leading a team of professionals, managing a project, contract or specific work package of spend.
• Works with the team and cross functionally to drive procurement solutions, requiring the job holder to plan, deliver and deploy appropriate procurement interventions and resource in support of business aims.
• Manages supplier relationship for allocated area of responsibility.
• Utilises market insight, external and internal best practice to drive business change.
• First level manager of professionals, responsible for leading a team that manages a complex order book, supplier, category or contract.
• Leads procurement activity across defined categories, contracts, or customer portfolios, operating within complex environments shaped by evolving demand requirements, supplier capability and performance, market dynamics, and diverse stakeholder expectations.
• Manages high-value, high-volume spend portfolios, with accountability for strategically critical work packages that have a direct and material impact on business financial performance.

Ability to hold Security Clearance – 5 years residence in the UK.

What you’ll be doing (but not limited to):

• Lead, mentor, and develop the procurement team to deliver strategic purchasing outcomes and ensure the timely availability of materials to support manufacturing operations.
• Respond with agility to urgent requirements, securing materials to support research and development activities within tight timelines.
• Establish, manage, and strengthen supplier relationships, including the coordination and participation in supplier visits and reviews.
• Accountable for order raising, expediting, payment of suppliers and ensuring on time in full deliveries.
• Responsible for key supplier performance across delivery and quality.
• Oversee workload planning and task allocation, provide coaching and development, and drive continuous improvement across the procurement function.
• Identify and deliver cost reduction initiatives, ensuring materials are sourced in line with budgetary targets and production requirements.
• Develop and maintain purchasing plans and inventory strategies to mitigate stock risk and optimise material availability for uninterrupted production.
• Lead supplier sourcing, evaluation, and onboarding processes, ensuring alignment with capability, capacity, risk, and compliance requirements.
• Negotiate commercial agreements, including pricing and contractual terms, to achieve best value and support long-term business objectives.
• Demonstrate a good understanding of Company systems (SAP), including purchase to pay systems, risk and supplier management tools.
• Support the development and implementation of procurement strategy, governance and innovative change programmes, ensuring consistency and effective improvement in procurement services, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and the sharing of best practices.
• Lead and influence cross-business/cross-functional team(s), providing expertise and delivery of business requirements.
• Lead and manage the risk and opportunity activities to minimise contractual exposure and maximise contract effectiveness.

Additional Accountabilities:

• The role holder is responsible for taking reasonable care of their own health and safety, ensuring high standards for safety, health and environment (SHE) in our organisation are maintained, understood, implemented and followed by their team.
• This includes; co-operating and following all reasonable instruction, information and training; reporting work-related hazards or incidents, using all equipment for the purpose intended, setting high standards for SHE, leading by example and establishing the expectation that others do the same; promoting risk awareness, ensuring that risks are assessed and adequately controlled, encouraging the team to report incidents and defects and make suggestions to improve SHE standards; and ensuring actions to address SHE issues are prioritised and resourced appropriately.
• Creates an environment for high performing teams and individuals through setting robust PDR objectives, providing ongoing performance feedback and development planning and creating a coaching culture.
• Ensuring the team are suitably qualified and experienced to undertake the package of activities agreed, identifying interventions as applicable.
• Responsible for ensuring your team operates within the governance framework and assurance activities are undertaken.
• Responsible for discharging an agreed workload, working within procurement policy, ensuring priorities are managed and issues are escalated when outside of your sphere of control.

Budget Responsibilities:

• Will operate in line with delegation of authority.
• Role may have a high external supplier spend.

Essential Skills and Experiences:

• Strong knowledge of procurement principles, strategic sourcing, and supplier management within a manufacturing or production environment.
• Good understanding of supply chain processes, including planning, inventory management, logistics, and demand forecasting.
• Ability to develop, implement, and continuously improve procurement processes to ensure consistency, compliance, and best practice adherence.
• Knowledge of commercial practices, including contract negotiation, pricing structures, and cost analysis.
• Knowledge of material requirements planning (MRP) / enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and their application in procurement.
• Understanding of inventory control techniques and stock optimisation strategies to balance availability and working capital.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes and engineering drawings to support effective supplier selection and technical purchasing.
• Good understanding of external environment and relevant market intelligence.
• People management experience of leading diverse teams of professionals.

Desired Skills and Experiences:

• Inspirational leadership skills, with the ability to engage, align, and motivate teams, fostering a culture of accountability and high performance.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build credible, trust-based relationships across internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven supplier management and negotiation skills, with the ability to leverage supplier relationships to meet both strategic objectives and urgent operational requirements.
• Ability to synthesise data to identify root cause and inform robust business decisions.
• Highly effective collaboration skills, enabling cross-functional alignment and the successful delivery of business objectives.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to navigate organisational dynamics and drive engagement across the business.
• Ability to lead negotiations working to agreed processes and within delegation of authority levels.
• Experience in change management and driving continuous improvement within procurement or supply chain functions.
• Self-motivated and proactive, with the ability to operate autonomously and make sound decisions with minimal supervision.
• Proficient in ERP solutions and Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to analyse data and present insights effectively.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrable professional experience in procurement management.
• Direct line staff management including demonstratable experience in personal development plans and performance management tools.
• Experience or certification in quality management systems such as ISO9001.

Benefits you may be eligible for:

• Working Environment: 9-day fortnight.
• Company Pension Scheme.
• Discretionary Employee Incentive Bonus Scheme.
• Employee Share Incentive Plan (BAE Systems).
• Company Sick Pay.
• Maternity and Paternity Enhanced Leave.
• Healthcare Cash Plan including Virtual GP, Dental Cover, Vision Cover, Discounted Gym Membership, and much more!
• 20 days Annual Leave, increasing with long service.
• Employee Assistance Programme (24hr Helpline).
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Casual Dress.
• Bronze Level Armed Forces Covenant which signals our commitment to supporting the Armed Forces.