Indirect Buyer

William Scott Consulting Ltd; England; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading automotive consulting firm in the UK is seeking an Indirect Buyer to oversee supply strategies for maintenance and repair across multiple sites. The role demands strong negotiation skills to achieve substantial savings, while fostering relationships with various departments. Candidates should have indirect buying experience, ideally within the automotive sector. The position offers a competitive salary of GBP50,000 to GBP55,000, plus excellent benefits such as a pension scheme, flexible working hours, and promotional opportunities.

Benefits

10% employer pension contribution

Electric car scheme

Cycle-to-work scheme

Discounted gym membership

Flexible working hours

1 day a week work-from-home

Qualifications

• Real indirect/MRO/plant buying experience inside manufacturing, preferably automotive.
• A track record of real savings and managing multiple projects efficiently.
• Strong relationship building skills across various departments.

Responsibilities

• Own the entire supply strategy for maintenance and repair.
• Negotiate contracts and achieve significant savings.
• Identify market opportunities to meet plant requirements.

Skills

Indirect/MRO/plant buying experience

Strong communication skills

Proactive and results driven

Education

CIPS certification

Job description

Indirect Buyer - Automotive Manufacturing

Midlands (multi-site responsibility across three plants)

GBP50,000 - GBP55,000 DOE + excellent benefits

Most buying jobs are predictable. This one isn't.

One day you're negotiating a supplier on forklift tyres, the next you're locking in a multi-million-pound site‑services deal across multiple plants. It's fast, it's varied, it's challenging, but nobody breathes down your neck, and you're treated like an adult.

Day-to-day you'll:

• Own the entire supply strategy for maintenance, repair, services and consumables
• Deliver (and beat) serious savings targets that hit the bottom line
• Benchmark, run RFQs, negotiate contracts like a pro
• Chase down non-conformities and make sure they stay fixed
• Keep the plants, engineering and finance all pointing the same direction
• Identify market opportunities to satisfy the plants requirements
• Improve and implement the cost reduction programs through price reductions / optimisations

You'll thrive here if you have:

• Real indirect/MRO/plant buying experience inside manufacturing (advantageous if this has come from within Automotive)
• CIPS is advantageous; proven results are essential
• A track record of real savings and juggling multiple projects without dropping any
• Strong communication – you'll talk to people on the shop floor and ops directors in the same hour across differing departments, so you'll utilise your strong relationship building skills
• The drive to work independently but the sense to escalated when it matters

You'll fit if you're:

• Proactive, results driven and enjoy building meaningful relationships
• Brilliant at prioritising the 3 things that matter out of 20 on your plate
• Comfortable pushing back (politely but firmly) when needed
• Ambitious – you want the next step (senior MRO, category lead, logistics, development – it's all possible here)

About the Organisation:

A large, high volume automotive manufacturing operation that forms part of a global tier one group. The site operates in a fast paced, quality critical environment where equipment uptime, supplier performance and cost control directly impact production and customer delivery.

This role offers the chance to work within a globally connected manufacturing business while having real ownership and visibility at site level. You will gain exposure to best practice processes, complex operations and a role that genuinely impacts performance.

The benefits package:

• GBP50k base (up to GBP55k if you're exceptional)
• 10% employer pension contribution
• Electric car scheme via salary sacrifice
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Discounted gym membership
• Option to buy/sell holiday
• Flexible start & finish times every day
• 1 day a week work-from-home
• Genuine progression – promotion from within and there's clear headroom

If you get a buzz from turning supplier chaos into hard cash savings and being trusted to just get on with it, send your CV and we'll talk further.