Buyer (Finished Goods)

PeopleGateway; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car Parking Pass

25 days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays

Birthday Day Off

Flexible Holiday Option - buy 5 days

Pension 14.5% (Employer) Opt-In

Life Insurance Policy

Private Medical Insurance

Critical Illness Cover

Job summary

Princes Group is seeking a Procurement Manager (Finished Goods) in Liverpool to drive strategic sourcing and category management. You will develop category plans, lead cross-functional teams, and ensure responsible sourcing aligned with regulatory and ethical standards.

The role requires strong procurement expertise, SAP analytics, and the ability to travel UK and overseas to build supplier relationships and deliver cost savings. An attention to governance and process improvement is essential.

Qualifications

• Thorough understanding of procurement processes and frameworks.
• Essential experience in a Category Management role.
• Essential knowledge of category management, strategic sourcing, supplier development and value chain mapping.
• Essential knowledge of spend areas and contract principles.
• Essential SAP analytics and reporting knowledge.
• Degree level qualification in business or related field (desirable).
• Willingness to travel UK and overseas.

Responsibilities

• Create and develop category and sourcing plans with business stakeholders.
• Utilise SAP Ariba/SAP analytics for sourcing activities and cost savings.
• Lead supplier partnerships for long-term growth and supply continuity.
• Aim for lowest total cost of ownership through negotiation and market insight.
• Review with stakeholders and report on cost reduction initiatives.
• Communicate market conditions clearly to internal/external teams.
• Use ERP systems to drive analytics and reporting for category plans.

Skills

Procurement processes

Category management

Strategic sourcing

Supplier development

Value chain mapping

Contract principles

Travel willingness

Education

Business degree

CIPS qualification (associate or in progress)

Tools

SAP analytics and reporting

Microsoft Office

Job description

About Princes

The Princes Group has over 7,000 employees with offices and production sites in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France and Mauritius. Princes manufactures 350 different food and drink products responsibly sourced and enjoyed by consumers every day. None of this would be possible without striving to be an employer of choice, where our colleagues are proud to represent our business.

Role Description

Procurement Manager (Finished Goods)

Liverpool

The role of the Procurement Manager is to:

• Strategically source goods and services to improve quality and provide for innovative opportunities at the lowest total cost of ownership.
• Collaborate, create, publish and implement comprehensive category management strategies and lead cross functional teams in delivery.
• Ensure all goods and services are sourced responsibly in line with regulatory, ethical, technical, sustainability and customer requirements.
• Be a consultative partner, demonstrating knowledge across spend categories and providing insight to support and help to shape strategy.
• Be a champion for business processes and governance and support the Head of Finished Goods Procurement with the development of other colleagues.

Dimensions

• External contacts – Suppliers & Customers.
• Internal contacts – Commercial/ Revenue Growth Management, Customer Strategy and Planning, Innovation, Sales, Finance, Corporate Relations, Operations, Planning, Technical.
• Travel will be required in this role.

Principal Responsibilities

• Create and develop category and sourcing plans in conjunction with business stakeholders.
• Utilise the SAP Ariba business network to conduct and document sourcing activities and the delivery of cost savings.
• Drive partnership strategy as appropriate to ensure long term collaborative business growth planning and ensuring continuity of supply.
• Obtain the lowest possible total cost of ownership through negotiation, market intelligence and supplier knowledge.
• Conduct regular reviews with key stakeholders and provide regular reporting on key initiatives including cost reduction projects.
• Communicate market conditions in a timely fashion and in a way that is clear and concise for both internal and external understanding.
• Utilise ERP system to drive analytics and provide appropriate reports for use within category plans and for sharing and analysis with appropriate teams.
• Utilise appropriate tools to maximise value delivery (e-auctions, should cost modelling, TCO, value lever analysis)
• Demonstrate commercial awareness and lead negotiations across all allocated areas of third party spend.
• Develop a network of strong supplier relationships that create innovative opportunities to drive value.
• Make use of SRM tools and performance measures to drive supplier effectiveness.
• Maximise opportunities to mitigate risk across area of spend responsibility.
• Manage all aspects of spend throughout the life cycle.
• Operate as a subject matter expert across all allocated spend and act as a trusted partner to the business.
• Excellent working knowledge of the key personnel at each major supplier, their processes, internal systems and moreover understand cost drivers.
• Drive working capital reduction across the category.
• Develop and maintain responsible suppliers ensuring they are maintained to a standard to meet Princes / Industry standards (e.g. BRC).
• Ensure all suppliers comply with Princes ethical standards, are SEDEX registered (where appropriate) and may be audited.
• Manage contracts professionally and accurately, while maintaining cost conditions and source lists.
• Control currency requirements in line with group policy if required.
• Professionally resolve problems both internally and externally in a fair and ethical manner while protecting the long-term interests of the team and company.
• Support fully the efforts of other departments in achieving 100% stakeholder satisfaction.

Role Requirements

Knowledge, Skills & Experience:

• Thorough understanding of procurement processes and frameworks
• Essential Previous Experience in a Category Management role
• Essential Excellent working understanding of category management, strategic sourcing, supplier development and value chain mapping
• Essential Excellent working knowledge of allocated areas of spend
• Essential Understanding of contract principles and clauses and be able to construct and interpret agreements
• Essential SAP analytics and reporting
• Desired Degree level qualification, ideally business related
• Desired Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Essential Associate or student of CIPS, or working to CIPS qualificationDesired Willingness to travel UK and overseas
• Essential

Benefits:

• Car Parking Pass
• 25 days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
• A day off for your Birthday
• Flexible Holiday Option - buy 5 days holiday
• 14.5% Pension (5% Employee, 9.5% Employer) Opt-In
• Life Insurance Policy
• Private Medical Insurance
• Critical Illness Cover

At Princes we are committed to making all stages of our recruitment process accessible to all candidates (including application). Please let us know as soon as possible of any additional support or reasonable adjustments you require through the recruitment process by emailing [e-mail]