Assistant Buying Manager

Boots Opticians; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare and beauty retailer is seeking an experienced Sourcing professional to join their team in Nottingham. The role involves managing supplier relationships, developing sourcing strategies, and delivering innovative solutions for their product portfolio. Ideal candidates will have a strong commercial acumen, proven experience in sourcing or supply chain, and excellent stakeholder management skills. Benefits include a retirement savings plan, employee discounts, and flexible benefits schemes.

Benefits

Boots Retirement Savings Plan

Discretionary annual bonus

Generous employee discounts

Enhanced parental leave pay

Flexible benefits scheme

Access to counselling and support

Qualifications

• Previous experience in sourcing, purchasing, supply, or manufacturing is required.
• Ability to produce reports and articulate recommendations clearly.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines independently.

Responsibilities

• Manage supplier relationships and performance.
• Develop sourcing and commodity strategies.
• Deliver cost-effective raw materials for consumer brands.
• Track commodity price movements.
• Assist in contracting negotiations.

Skills

Cross-functional teamwork

Stakeholder management

Data interrogation

Commercial acumen

Job description

Job Description

Contract: Permanent

Closing date: 5th Jan 2025

Recruitment Partner: [e-mail]

About the role

Permanent opportunity for an experienced Sourcing, Procurement or Supply Chain professional to be located in Nottingham. Previous experience in a supplier facing role with commercial acumen, ideally underpinned by practical understanding of a manufacturing supply base.

WBA Global Sourcing team are responsible for the strategic sourcing of products from ethically validated sources and sustainable supplies and play a critical role in enabling the delivery of The Boots Group's highly differentiated and profit‑additive Own Brand Product Portfolio. The Raw Materials and Packaging Sourcing team are responsible for the commercial agreements with suppliers who ship directly to our contract manufacturers.

Key responsibilities

• Manage supplier relationships, performance and risk
• Support the development of sourcing and commodity strategies
• Deliver cost‑effective and innovative raw materials and/or packaging for use in our consumer brands and own‑brand products in conjunction with our development colleagues
• Identify and deliver cost reduction & risk reduction initiatives
• Assist in the negotiation of contracts and agreements
• Track and predict commodity price movements
• Assist in the development of global supply chains to support our international growth plans
• Gather and analyse data to provide sourcing recommendations to support global manufacturing strategies

What you'll need to have

• A strong cross‑functional team player with excellent stakeholder management skills
• Previous experience in sourcing/purchasing/supply or manufacturing
• The ability to interrogate data, produce reports and articulate recommendations clearly
• A keen eye for detail and ability to meet tight deadlines on own initiative
• Strong commercial acumen

It would be great if you also have

• Understanding of the strategic sourcing/procurement lifecycle and procurement best practices
• Previous negotiation experience is desirable

Our benefits

• Boots Retirement Savings Plan
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Generous employee discounts
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay and gift card for anyone expecting or adopting a child
• Flexible benefits scheme including option to buy additional holiday, discounted gym membership, life assurance, activity passes and much more
• Access to free, 24/7 counselling and support through TELUS Health, our Employee Assistance Programme

Why Boots

At Boots, we foster a working environment where consideration and inclusivity help everyone to be themselves and reach their full potential. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, passionate about embracing the diversity of our colleagues and providing a positive and inclusive working environment for all. As the heart of everything we do at Boots, with you, we change for the better.

What's next

Where a role is advertised as full‑time, we are open to discussing part‑time and job‑share options during the application process. If you require additional support as part of the application and interview process, we are happy to provide reasonable adjustments to help you to be at your best. Boots is a Ban the Box employer and will consider the suitability of applicants with criminal convictions on a case‑by‑case basis.