Head of Buying

RS UK & Ireland; Melton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

RS UK & Ireland is seeking a strategic Head of Buying to define and execute the commercial product and supplier strategy across UK & Ireland. You will lead the buying team, manage key supplier relationships and negotiate agreements to ensure range, price and quality align with growth targets.

Based in the UK with office locations in Manchester, Corby, London or Melton, this role requires deep category expertise, strong commercial acumen and a track record of delivering profitable propositions

Qualifications

• Significant Commercial, product and buying experience.
• Proven track record in B2B industrial, safety, distribution or manufacturing services.
• Experience leading supplier relationships and category management.

Responsibilities

• Identify market opportunities and develop category plans balancing short-term and long-term growth.
• Lead the buying team, manage supplier relationships and negotiate agreements.
• Own category revenue, margin and profitability performance with governance processes.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and CS to hit targets.
• Create joint business plans with suppliers to support growth and market leadership.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Buying experience

Product management

Supplier engagement

Category management

Stakeholder management

Education

CIPS qualification

Degree in Business / Supply Chain

Job description

Location: this is an office-based role, working out of Manchester, Corby, London or Melton (near Hull).

Contract Type: full-time, permanent position.

The Opportunity

You would be accountable for defining and executing the commercial product and supplier strategy for RS Safety Solutions, ensuring the business delivers a differentiated, customer-focused and profitable proposition across UK & Ireland. This role is also responsible for developing and executing the company's purchasing and sourcing strategy to achieve sales, profit, and growth targets. Leading the buying team, you would manage key supplier relationships, negotiate commercial agreements, and ensure the right products are available at the right time, price, and quality.

The role will develop strong supplier partnerships and commercial performance whilst strengthening RS Safety Solutions position as a trusted partner of PPE and safety equipment, protecting people from the equipment they operate and protecting the equipment from human touch and contamination risk.

What You’ll Be Doing

Working closely with the General Manager and Site Director, the Head of Buying will identify market opportunities, anticipate customer needs and leverage supplier relationships to deliver innovative products, value-added solutions and competitive advantage. The role will combine strategic thinking with commercial execution, ensuring the product portfolio supports business growth ambitions while maximising customer value and profitability.

You will also:

• Identify market opportunities, customer trends and emerging technologies that support category growth
• Build differentiated product and service propositions that strengthen competitiveness
• Develop category plans that balance short-term commercial performance with long-term strategic growth
• Create joint business plans with strategic suppliers to support growth, innovation and market leadership, as well as identifying opportunities to broaden partnerships to strengthen market position
• Drive development of our VAS offering that differentiates us from competitors
• Ensure robust forecasting, planning and commercial governance processes are in place
• Own category revenue, margin and profitability performance; monitoring and reporting performance against financial and operational targets
• Use customer, supplier and market insight to inform strategic decision-making
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and CS to deliver on goals
• Create a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
• Act as the voice of the market within RS Safety Solutions

What You’ll Bring

The successful candidate will bring deep category and supplier expertise, strong commercial acumen and ambition, and a proven ability to build market-leading propositions through effective supplier engagement, category management and customer insight.

We're looking for an externally focused leader who combines strategic vision with relentless execution and will bring:

• Significant Commercial, product and buying experience.
• Proven success growing a B2B industrial, safety, distribution, MRO, manufacturing services or technical products business.
• A track record of materially growing revenue, profit and market share.
• Strong commercial acumen with deep experience of customer strategy and business development.
• Experience leading through change, transformation and organisational scaling.
• An engaging individual with outstanding stakeholder management and influencing capability.

Not essential but would be great if you had:

• Experience in a multi-site, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, or FMCG environment.
• Professional qualification such as CIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply).
• Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Retail Management, or a related field.

We Are RS

At RS, we are making amazing happen for a better world.

As a global product and service solutions provider, we help industrial customers operate more efficiently and sustainably. Operating in 33 markets, we support around one million customers worldwide with more than 875,000 stocked products, access to over five million additional products, and a range of service solutions designed to help businesses thrive.

What sets us apart is our people. More than 8,500 colleagues around the world bring technical expertise, digital innovation, and a customer first mindset to everything we do. Guided by our values – We are one team, We deliver brilliantly, We do the right thing, and We make every day better, we're creating an environment where our people can grow, contribute and make a meaningful impact.

Join us and help make amazing happen.

Rewards

Our Reward Strategy Philosophy is designed to offer market competitive base salaries and provide all of our people the opportunity to participate in a short-term incentive, enabling them to share in the success of the Company.

Our total reward package is more than just the cash; our recognition and benefit offering provide the opportunity for us to recognise, reward and enable the wellbeing of our people at all stages of their journey with RS. Our rewards and benefits vary by country, but include:

• Financial - pension/retirement; life assurance; salary finance (payroll deduction loan scheme)
• Wellbeing - medical plans; health screening; critical illness; disability insurance; holiday / paid time off; employee assistance programme; discounted gym/health club membership
• Lifestyle - transportation assistance schemes (e.g., cycle to work, travel loans, car leasing); onsite catering/lunch vouchers; retail discounts
• Spotlight – our global recognition programme provides a platform to highlight and recognise people role modelling our values

Ready to Make Amazing Happen?

Join over 8,500 colleagues and help us shape the future of our industry. Whoever you are, wherever you are — it all starts here.