Procurement Manager

The Procurement Manager owns and deliveries category and sourcing strategies across selected food categories in the UK and Europe, creating sustainable value, strengthening franchisee economics and building resilient, high-performing supply partnerships. Working closely with internal stakeholders and suppliers, the role will translate business priorities and market developments into commercial strategies that deliver cost improvement, long-term value, cost improvement, supply resilience, responsible sourcing and stronger supplier performance This roles requires strong commercial acumen and food category expertise with the ability to manage multi-million-pound spend and complex supplier partnerships. Exceptional stakeholder management skills and a proactive, self-starting attitude are essential. A proven track record in negotiation and advanced analytical problem-solving skills is required.

During the six-month assignment, the Procurement Manager will provide strong ownership and continuity across assigned categories, progress priority sourcing and contracting activity, strengthen supplier performance and risk management, and deliver agreed commercial outcomes.

Job Functions/Responsibilities

Category Strategy Development

• Lead procurement and supply chain activity for selected food categories across the UK and European markets, developing and implementing category strategies that improve commercial performance, resilience and delivery of business objectives.
• Analyse market trends, supply/demand dynamics, and supplier landscapes
• Develop strategic supplier partnerships that move beyond transactional sourcing towards joint value creation, innovation and competitive advantage
• Shape and manage the supplier portfolio to ensure the right balance of quality, delivery, cost, innovation, capacity, and resilience across the category.
• Establish supplier governance and performance management against agreed quality, service, cost, innovation, sustainability and risk KPIs, with clear corrective actions and escalation where performance falls short.
• Identify, evaluate and recommend new materials, processes and supplier-led innovations that improve profitability, productivity, product quality and operational effectiveness.

Sourcing & Contracting

• Lead end-to-end strategic sourcing and RFx processes, including market assessment, supplier evaluation, selection, negotiation and contracting, balancing price, total cost, innovation, quality, capacity and supply resilience.
• Negotiate, implement and manage contracts, ensuring that commercial terms, service levels, performance measures, risk protections and governance requirements support company objectives.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the procurement lead and subject matter expert for assigned categories.
• Collaborate with business units, Legal, Finance, Technical, Operations and other relevant teams to define procurement requirements, align priorities and support effective implementation.
• Partner with European supply chain leads and stakeholders to focus on global, regional, and local procurement opportunities, maximizing value creation for both the UK market and European partners.
• Build alignment with internal and external stakeholders by clarifying priorities, incorporating operational requirements, and coordinating decisions and actions needed to deliver shared goals.

Cost Management & Savings Delivery

• Deliver validated cost savings and broader value creation through strategic sourcing, demand management, specification optimisation, supplier innovation and effective implementation.
• Track, validate and report savings, cost avoidance and procurement performance against agreed baselines, ensuring benefits are transparent, auditable, and aligned with Finance and franchisee economics.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and deliver competitive advantages by optimising supplier performance, securing cost improvements, and achieving efficiency savings across the supply chain.
• Stay ahead of market trends, commodity movements, and industry developments to ensure informed decision-making and proactive risk management.

Sustainability and Responsible Sourcing

• Partner with suppliers to deliver sustainability and responsible-sourcing initiatives that reduce environmental impact and support the brand’s agreed sustainability and ESG commitments

Risk & Compliance Management

• Identify, assess and mitigate category-specific risks, including supply disruption, supplier failure, capacity constraints and regulatory or policy non-compliance, with documented contingency and escalation plans.
• Ensure adherence to procurement policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements
• Maintain effective commercial governance across commodity exposure, supplier capacity and category decisions, ensuring risks, assumptions and approvals are clearly documented and escalated

Working Relationships

• Regional and global supply chain teams
• Regional brand and marketing leaders
• Operations leaders
• Technical / FSQA / food innovation teams
• Sustainability / ESG function
• Finance and strategy leads
• Suppliers
• Third-party partners

Knowledge and Skills Required

• An “own your future” and growth mindset: self-driven, curious, resilient and accountable for outcomes.
• At least five years’ procurement experience, ideally within food, retail or hospitality. Experience in dairy procurement, particularly cheese, is advantageous but not essential.
• Proven expertise in category strategy, strategic sourcing, RFx management, supplier negotiation and contract management, with a track record of delivering validated value, resilience and supplier performance improvements.
• Strong commercial and financial judgement, with the ability to build business cases, interpret commodity and cost-driver economics, and connect procurement decisions to franchisee profitability and brand growth.
• Excellent project management skills, with a track record of bringing structure, pace and clarity to complex cross-functional and multi-market initiatives from definition through implementation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, able to turn data into clear insights and practical recommendations.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex commercial, commodity and supplier information into clear recommendations and decisions for senior leaders, franchisees and cross-functional teams.
• A collaborative and influential working style, able to balance different priorities and deliver through others.
• Strong digital fluency, using tools such as Power BI, Excel, PowerPoint, and AI to analyse complex information, communicate insights, strengthen decisions, and accelerate delivery.
• Willingness to travel as required to UK and European markets where franchisees and suppliers are based.
• CIPS qualification, partial CIPS completion, or equivalent professional procurement qualification is advantageous but not essential.

We are seeking a Procurement Manager to join our team on a 6-month fixed-term employment contract. This is a full-time employee position with company benefits and an anticipated assignment end date of May/2027.

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