At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage new programs and build relationships with suppliers in the aerospace industry.
- Company: Join Safran Electrical & Power, a leader in aircraft electrical systems.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, 33 days holiday, and a wellbeing programme.
- Other info: Dynamic role with opportunities for growth and cross-site collaboration.
- Why this job: Be part of innovative projects that contribute to sustainable aviation.
- Qualifications: Experience in purchasing and strong negotiation skills are preferred.
The predicted salary is between 45000 - 50000 £ per year.
Company: Safran Electrical & Power
Job field: Purchasing
Location: Pitstone, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
Contract type: Fixed Term contract
Contract duration: Full-time
Professional status: Professional, Engineer & Manager
Benefits: 8% Bonus, Excellent Pension, 33 Days Holiday, Dental, BUPA, EV scheme, Workplace nursery scheme, Midday finish on Fridays, Enhanced family friendly policies, Wellbeing programme, Employee assistance programme including health and finance, Onsite subsidised canteen
Skills: SAP, Purchasing, NPI, Engineering, Relationship building, Supply chain management, Negotiating, Analytical, Data visualisation and presenting
At Safran Electrical & Power, we recognise that aviation needs to innovate and change in order to protect our environment. We believe that future aircraft power systems will be hybrid-electric or full-electric, which is why we are working to develop and deliver advanced electrical solutions to help decarbonise flight.
The Role:
- Manage and coordinate new programs and projects for Safran, whilst building positive relationships with vendors and suppliers.
- Secure the best quality programs in the aerospace industry.
- Manage and align core commodity strategies, contributing to supplier selection and the development of future product roadmaps.
- Work closely with the engineering team to ensure design evolutions correspond with manufacturing lead times.
- Coordinate and manage new programs at the site, building robust relationships with high quality vendors and suppliers.
- Ensure design evolutions synchronise from initial concept through to new product introduction phases.
- Work with Supplier Account Manager and Commodity Manager to negotiate prices, terms, conditions and agreements.
- Follow a robust design-to-cost methodology, challenging design requirements to ensure they correspond with program and product roadmaps.
- Escalate significant issues that require management intervention or awareness.
- Work with suppliers to resolve any issues impacting performance, such as quality discrepancies.
- Coordinate with the purchasing teams and vendors to enable robust and efficient supply chains.
- Report and present program reviews to various stakeholders.
Complementary Description:
- Challenge, negotiate, secure and report fulfilment of program targets in terms of Quality, Cost, Delivery (QCD).
- Ensure that the suppliers meet the Safran Quality requirements and facilitate negotiations between Engineering and Supplier.
- Provide rolling cost data for projects showing current and future state.
- Secure parts in line with program schedule.
- Initiate long term agreement negotiations with programme and strategic suppliers.
- Report and present at programme reviews.
Candidate will be expected to make decisions relating to supply of components without supervision from manager, including terms and conditions, and cost reduction activities.
Job Requirements:
- Minimum 5 years of purchasing/sourcing experience within a manufacturing environment (Aerospace sector experience is desirable but not mandatory).
- Technical background; able to understand Engineering drawings and requirements.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional sourcing projects, manage supplier performance, and drive cost reduction initiatives.
- Demonstrated project management knowledge or experience, including budget tracking, risk management, and milestone reporting.
- Strong commercial awareness and negotiation skills, with a track record of supplier engagement and contract management.
- Comfortable making autonomous decisions related to supply, cost, and terms without supervision.
- Experience working in low-volume, high-complexity environments is highly preferable.
- Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills, able to work across engineering, design, and manufacturing functions.
- Strong analytical and organizational skills, with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities.
- Ability to think strategically and contribute to the development of purchasing strategies.
- Proficient in MRP systems (SAP) and Microsoft Office tools (Excel, PowerPoint); experience with BOM and planning parameters is a plus.
- High motivation to learn and perform in a prototype-driven environment to a high-pace manufacturing ramp up.
- Excellent communication skills; evidence of written and speaking English proficiency required.
- Demonstrates versatility in working across different cultures and time zones.
Travel specificity: 15%, mostly within the UK and EU for supplier visits and cross-site collaboration.
Company Information:
Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation, defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024.
Safran Electrical & Power is one of the world's leaders in aircraft electrical systems, a key player in equipment electrification and in the electric and hybrid propulsion sector.
