Buyer

Manchester Arndale; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading facilities management company is seeking a Buyer in Ipswich to support procurement strategies. The role involves liaising with suppliers, analyzing pricing data, and facilitating cross-functional meetings. The ideal candidate will be data-focused, a strong communicator, and capable of negotiation. Full-time hours are expected, with possible flexible working arrangements. We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, reflecting an inclusive workplace.

Benefits

Opportunities for professional development

Career progression

Qualifications

• Results-driven with excellent negotiation skills.
• Proven ability to generate opportunities through data analysis.
• Strong team player and communicator.

Responsibilities

• Communicate with supply chain for pricing and quotes.
• Review quotations against client specifications.
• Facilitate meetings for alignment across teams.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Verbal communication

Data analysis

Team player

Relationship building

Education

CIPS qualification

Tools

Power BI

MS Excel

Job description

About The Company:

OCS UK & Ireland is a leading facilities management company with 50,000+ colleagues and a turnover in excess of £2bn. We deliver innovative, award‑winning services within facilities management, hard services, cleaning, security and catering.

Our mission is to make people and places the best they can be for our colleagues, customers and the communities we serve. Our commitment to doing business the right way is rooted in our TRUE values - Trust, Respect, Unity, and Empowerment.

About The Role:

Reporting to the Head of Hard FM Procurement, the Buyer role is a critical supporting role between the category and estimating teams with primary responsibility for issuing information to the supply chain to obtain competitive costing, utilising the knowledge of the Category managers and their developed preferred suppliers. Ensuring that the business is working toward the newly formed category strategies. The ability to analyse the responses and present back to key stakeholders to enable cross‑functional teams to be able to input and improve the final outcome.

Key tasks & Responsibilities

Functional

• Communicating with supply chain and requesting pricing for new opportunities and re‑bidding of existing client contracts.
• Requesting information and quotations from subcontractors.
• Reviewing queries from subcontractors, directing to the technical expert to enable a response to be sent.
• Reviewing quotations from subcontractors against client specifications.
• Issuing the quotations to procurement category leads to enable negotiations to take place to receive BAFO from supply chain.
• Facilitate meetings between Ops, estimating and procurement for alignment.
• Utilise the PSL provided by category managers to develop costing detail, feedback relevant detail to category owners to retain buying power and build strategy.
• Request capacity detail to ensure PSL able to deliver increased workload.
• Providing excellent stakeholder management by phone and email to internal stakeholders.
• Able to own and present data back to the business.
• Understand clear security requirements for intended client and only quote those vendors.
• Understand and map out national and local supply chain options.
• Reviewing local SME’s and identifying gaps in the supply chain to request new options from the category managers.
• Able to manipulate data to show best options based upon pricing data, and historical performance metrics provided by the category managers.
• Develop a recommendation for sourcing.
• Review historical information to build a robust process for future improvement.

General

• Avoid conflict of interests between personal interests and the interests of the UK & Ireland group.
• Exercise independent judgment, reasonable care, skill and diligence when carrying out their duties.
• Act in good faith and promote the long‑term success of each company within the UK & Ireland group for the benefit of all members and wider stakeholders.
• Adhere to and promote the UK & Ireland group’s policies on equality & diversity, information security, health and safety and data protection in the performance of their duties and the management of the departmental functions reporting into them.
• Support and promote the UK & Ireland group’s sustainability plans and policies, including the Carbon Management Plan, and carry out duties in a resource effective way, recognising the shared responsibility of minimising negative environmental impacts wherever possible.

Skills & Experience

Necessary

• Results driven with a flair for negotiation.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Data focused with a proven track record for generating opportunities.
• A strong team player with the ability to work in a cross‑functional team.
• Ability to build sustainable and productive relationships with suppliers.
• Uses data and market research to make recommendations for improvement.

Desirable

• CIPS qualification.

Core Expectations

• Experienced data analyst.
• Skilled in Power BI reporting, exceptional skills in MS Excel programs.
• Ability to manipulate data.
• Able to manipulate and analyse data to report back in a usable format to support the needs of the category team.
• Data Analyst, Procurement, Vendor/Supplier Management or similar Commercial Role.
• Ability to identify financial benefits from data analyses.
• Fast paced, customer service‑based organisations, ideally in the FM sector.
• Excellent communication skills and influencing skills.
• Personal resilience and self‑belief.
• Accuracy and precision in budgeting and reporting.
• Self‑Starter with the ability to work with minimal direction and supervision.
• High operating standards and levels of expectation.
• Forensic eye for detail.
• Problem solving and ownership of issues.
• Team player, with an interest in providing active feedback in order to develop the team (for the greater good).

Working Arrangements

Full time (37.5 hours per week) and such additional hours as are necessary for the proper fulfilment of the role, although would consider an element of flexible working.

National role with travel dependent on business needs from time to time.

How to Apply:

If you are interested in joining a business that encourages professional development, career progression and the chance to work with inspirational people then please click apply and register your interest! You can also sign up to our job alerts when registering which will notify you when other suitable vacancies are available.

Equal Opportunities Employer Statement

We are an equal opportunities employer and rely on a diverse workforce with a broad range of knowledge, skills, and backgrounds to deliver our goals. We offer an inclusive and welcoming environment and actively encourage applications from all individuals regardless of race, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age.