Category Buyer

Nvsweb; Sandford Hill; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

NVS Group seeks a Senior Procurement professional to lead category management and sourcing across domestic and international markets. You will drive cost reductions, negotiate with suppliers, and align procurement with product and business goals.

Role requires strong negotiation, stakeholder management, analytical skills, and the ability to travel within the UK and internationally. A CIPS Level 4 qualification is preferred.

Qualifications

• CIPS Level 4 qualification or equivalent experience (5+ years in a senior procurement role).
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills.
• In depth knowledge and experience in direct/production procurement from different markets.
• Previous buying experience in a relevant role.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills.
• Highly customer focussed.
• Capable of working in a team environment, collaborating with others to meet customers needs whilst achieving targets.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Commercially minded relationship builder.
• Highly motivated, results oriented individual.
• Ability to travel in UK and overseas – hold full UK Driving License.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Category team to deliver category P&L and sourcing strategies.
• Translate product specs and forecasts into viable sourcing across domestic and international markets.
• Drive year-on-year cost reductions through negotiation and supplier development.
• Provide performance reporting and corrective actions for KPIs.
• Source products from global suppliers ensuring quality, service and compliance standards.
• Negotiate and manage supplier agreements including contracts, SLAs and NDAs.
• Develop new supplier pipelines in UK and international markets.
• Attend trade shows and supplier visits to identify opportunities.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Stakeholder management

Analytical skills

Teamwork

Customer focus

Communication skills

Travel flexibility

Education

CIPS Level 4 qualification

Job description

Work in partnership with the Category team to deliver the category P&L, ensuring that sourcing decisions directly support margin, cost, and growth targets, including achieving annual cost‑price reductions through strategic sourcing, negotiation, and supplier development.

Delivering Category and Commercial Performance

• Work in partnership with the Category team to deliver the category P&L, ensuring that sourcing decisions directly support margin, cost, and growth targets.
• Translate product specifications, volume forecasts, and price requirements from the Category team into commercially viable sourcing strategies across domestic and international markets.
• Drive year‑on‑year cost‑price reductions through proactive negotiation, supplier optimisation, and continuous cost‑improvement initiatives.
• Provide regular performance reporting, analysing progress against KPIs and identifying corrective actions where targets are at risk.

Global Sourcing and Supplier Management

• Source products from the most competitive global suppliers, including overseas manufacturers, ensuring best‑in‑market cost prices while meeting required quality, service and compliance standards. Work in‑conjunction with Global Sourcing strategies with Patterson as appropriate.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships to secure favourable commercial terms, negotiate cost reductions, mitigate risk and identify opportunities for product differentiation and exclusivity.
• Negotiate and manage all supplier agreements including contracts, SLA, NDAs in line with business processes and requirements.
• Develop new supplier pipelines—both UK and international—to support innovation, own‑brand development, and long‑term category growth.
• Attend relevant trade shows and supplier visits to identify emerging products, new sourcing territories, and cost‑saving opportunities.

Importing, Logistics, and Stock Flow

• Work with the appropriate business teams to manage end‑to‑end importing processes from any territory, ensuring compliance with customs, duty, and regulatory requirements.
• Work closely with Material Planners to ensure accurate forecasting, timely ordering and effective stock flow, balancing availability with financial and working‑capital objectives.
• With the planning team, monitor supplier lead times, production schedules, and shipping timelines, expediting orders where necessary to maintain optimum stock levels.

Market Insight

• Maintain a good understanding of the veterinary and adjacent markets, including competitor activity, pricing trends, and emerging sourcing regions in order to make informed decisions.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Share insights, supplier intelligence, and sourcing opportunities across the business to support collaborative decision‑making and continuous improvement.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support the Head of Product Management with ad hoc tasks that contribute to the effective running of the department.
• Uphold strong internal communication and documentation standards to ensure transparency and alignment across teams.
• Deputise for the Head of Product Management as required to ensure that the Category Team are represented as appropriate.

Personal attributes: Qualifications, experience, skills, knowledge and competencies required to fulfil the role

• CIPS Level 4 qualification or equivalent experience (5+ years in a senior procurement role)
• Strong influencing and negotiation skills
• In depth knowledge and experience in direct/production procurement from different markets
• Previous buying experience in a relevant role
• Exceptional interpersonal skills
• Highly customer focussed
• Capable of working in a team environment, collaborating with others to meet customers needs whilst achieving targets
• Excellent analytical skills
• Commercially minded relationship builder
• Highly motivated, results oriented individual
• Ability to travel in UK and overseas – hold full UK Driving License

Applicants should be aware that in line with our Drugs and Alcohol policy we reserve the right to conduct random drug and alcohol tests.

NVS Group is committed to equality of opportunity and this underpins our employment and recruitment procedures. We use objective, job‑related criteria when making appointment decisions and our selection criteria is based on skills, experience, qualifications, and an ability to do the job.

Due to the large number of applications we receive, we regret that we will not contact candidates that have not been selected for interview. If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks, you should assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

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