Lead Buyer

Premier Placement Services; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Premier Placement Services seeks a Lead Buyer for a prestigious manufacturing business in Leicester. The role focuses on delivering operational and strategic value by managing supplier escalations, leading KPI insights and ensuring purchasing processes are completed effectively.

Duties include negotiating delivery schedules to improve inventory, onboarding suppliers, handling quality concerns, and providing cost analyses for strategic buying decisions.

Qualifications

• Experience in supplier relationship management and performance monitoring.
• Strong data analysis skills to support strategic buying decisions.
• Proven ability to negotiate and manage complex purchasing contracts.

Responsibilities

• Lead supplier escalations and KPI dashboards to optimise procurement.
• Oversee PO placement from request to supplier acknowledgement and delivery.
• Negotiate delivery schedules to improve inventory levels and supplier performance.
• Collaborate with internal teams on supplier onboarding, quality issues and deviation management.
• Collate RFQ data, compare options, and provide cost analyses for strategic buying.
• Maintain and update the Supplier Matrix to support RFQ activity and supplier selection.
• Manage supplier-related escalations including expediting and freight issues.

Skills

Supplier relationship management

ERP/MRP proficiency

Data-driven decision making

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation experience

Prioritisation & workload management

Tools

ERP/MRP systems

Job description

Due to sustained growth, I am currently recruiting for a new role as Lead Buyer for a prestigious and well-established manufacturing business in Leicester.

The main purpose of the role is to deliver operational and strategic value by managing supplier escalations, leading KPI's and spend insight and ensuring purchasing processes and initiatives are completed effectively.

Duties for the Lead Buyer will include:

• Support complex purchases, working with key suppliers and monitoring their performance.
• Support Purchase Order Placement from PO request through to supplier acknowledgement.
• Negotiate delivery schedules that directly improve Inventory levels.
• Work with internal teams on supplier onboarding, quality concerns and deviation management.
• Collate RFQ data, compare options and provide tactical cost analysis for strategic buying decisions.
• Own and update the Supplier Matrix to support RFQ activity and supplier selection.
• Manage supplier escalations, including expediting and freight issues and close them out effectively.
• Manage supplier KPI dashboard updates, analyse KPI performance and provide clear data insights to support supplier development
• Review supplier spend patterns and share analysis to guide sustainable supplier focus and future purchasing direction.

Requirements

• Supplier relationship management
• ERP/MRP proficiency
• Datadriven decision making
• Crossfunctional collaboration
• Effective negotiation experience
• Prioritisation & workload management

Most importantly, the successful candidate will have a very focused purchasing mindset, be able to demonstrate real strategic exposure towards procurement and be able to take full responsibility for all purchasing activities.

You will be commercially aware with strong communication skills and the ability to liaise effectively at all levels.

This role represents an excellent opportunity to join a global business, supporting high profile industries and organisations with state-of-the-art products.