Category Sourcing Manager

Tesco; Welwyn Garden City; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading supermarket chain in Welwyn Garden City is looking for a Strategic Sourcing professional to enhance supplier relationships and promote sustainable sourcing. The ideal candidate should excel in project and stakeholder management, possess strong analytical abilities, and demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft tools. The company promotes a flexible working environment to support work-life balance.

Benefits

Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary

Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day

Private medical insurance

Maternity and paternity leave with full pay

Free 24/7 virtual GP service

Qualifications

• Experience of identifying and implementing a best-in-class supply base.
• Ability to work autonomously with minimum supervision.
• Strong analytical and presentational skills.

Responsibilities

• Forming Natural Working Teams and leading Requests for Information and Quotation.
• Advocating best-practice sourcing processes and strategies.
• Driving continual improvement within the team and sourcing initiatives.

Skills

Analytical skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Collaboration

Flexibility

Time management

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Microsoft PowerPoint

Education

Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply qualification (desirable)

Job description

Tesco UK • Shire Park, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire • Permanent • Apply by 21-Nov-2025

Do you have excellent analytical, project & stakeholder management skills? Are you looking for a challenging, varied role within Strategic Sourcing?

In this role, you will be responsible for identifying and sourcing from best-in-class suppliers in partnership with Category. By executing Supply Base Reviews (SBRs), evaluating incumbent past-performance, and leading retendering exercises ("Resets") the role delivers optimal quality, value and availability for Tesco's customers.

What is in it for you

We're all about the little helps. That's why we make sure our Tesco colleague benefits package takes care of you - both in and out of work. Click Here to find out more!

• Annual bonus scheme of up to 20% of base salary
• Holiday starting at 25 days plus a personal day (plus Bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• 26 weeks maternity and adoption leave (after 1 years' service) at full pay, followed by 13 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Adoption Pay, we also offer 6 weeks fully paid paternity leave
• Free 24/7 virtual GP service, Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) for you and your family, free access to a range of experts to support your mental wellbeing

You will be responsible

• Forming Natural Working Teams (NWTs) and leading Requests for Information and Quotation (RFIs and RFQs).
• Advocating best-practise sourcing processes and strategies across Tesco.
• Emphasising responsible and sustainable sourcing whilst minimising cost.
• Mitigating risk to quality, brand, supply/availability and cost.
• Working with analytical support teams to guide suppliers to improve their offer throughout each tender.
• Analysing supplier offers to identify cost savings and secure the best balance between Quality, Value, Innovation, and Supply (QVIS).
• Supporting category colleagues to develop and implement sourcing plans.
• Developing innovative commercial solutions to offer best-value to Tesco's customers whilst improving operating profitability.
• Identifying and assessing potential new suppliers as well as building efficient long-term supplier relationships.
• Working In partnership with category; negotiating and collaborating with suppliers to resolve macro-economic issues such as inflation, regulatory and legal changes, and force majeure events.
• Building a leading vision to deliver a longer approach to supply.
• Driving continual improvement within the team and all sourcing initiatives across Tesco.

You will need

• Experience of identifying and implementing a best-in-class supply base.
• Experience of influencing and negotiating, and leading virtual teams.
• An ability to work autonomously with minimum supervision.
• An understanding of Supply/Value Chains and eSourcing platforms and portals.
• A collaborative and flexible team-working style.
• Strong project, time and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and presentational skills.
• Strong Microsoft skills in Excel, Word and Powerpoint.
• Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) qualification (desirable).

About us

You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we're all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues.

At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you're just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we're here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

We're proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone's welcome. That's why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, click here for more information. And if you're interested in joining our team but don't tick every box, don't let that hold you back from applying.