Operational Buyer

Turner Lovell; Warwick; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Turner Lovell is seeking an experienced Operational Buyer to join its procurement team in Warwick. The role focuses on direct purchasing, supplier management, and day-to-day procurement activities within a manufacturing environment.

You will manage supplier relationships, source components, negotiate pricing, analyse procurement data, and support continuous improvement initiatives while ensuring compliance with Purchase-to-Pay processes.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience in direct procurement or operational buying.
• Experience sourcing complex components or materials in industrial/manufacturing environments.
• Strong SAP transactional experience, PS1 ATLAS, in live production settings.
• Advanced Excel skills for large procurement data analysis.
• Power BI and market intelligence tools advantageous.
• Strong supplier negotiation and pricing management.
• Understanding of supplier performance management and P2P processes.
• Proactive, independent, and able to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, international environment.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day purchasing activities and supplier relationships.
• Identify, select and evaluate suppliers for initial sourcing.
• Negotiate pricing and manage price adjustment requests.
• Raise and manage purchase orders within required timescales.
• Collaborate with requisitioners and MRP teams to meet purchasing needs.
• Resolve supplier queries on invoicing, pricing and delivery.
• Monitor supplier performance and support development activities.
• Analyse procurement data and market intelligence to identify improvements.
• Support procurement business plans and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain accurate purchasing records and ensure P2P compliance.

Skills

Direct procurement

Supplier management

Negotiation

Data analysis

Stakeholder collaboration

Tools

SAP PS1 ATLAS

Excel

Power BI

Job description

Operational Buyer - Direct Procurement

Location: Warwick, UK

Contract: Long term contract

Rate: Competitive rate

About the Opportunity

Turner Lovell is supporting a leading international engineering and industrial organisation in the search for an experienced Operational Buyer to join its procurement team in Warwick.

This is an opportunity for a procurement professional with a strong background in direct purchasing to take responsibility for supplier management, sourcing activities and day-to-day procurement operations within a complex manufacturing environment.

The successful candidate will combine strong transactional purchasing experience with commercial awareness and analytical capabilities, helping to ensure efficient procurement processes, competitive supplier pricing and consistent supply chain performance.

The Role

• Manage a diverse supplier portfolio, overseeing day-to-day purchasing activities and supplier relationships.
• Support initial part sourcing activities, including supplier identification, selection and evaluation.
• Negotiate supplier pricing and challenge price adjustment requests to achieve competitive commercial outcomes.
• Manage purchasing work queues, ensuring purchase orders are raised accurately and within required timescales.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders, including requisitioners and material requirements planning teams, to ensure purchasing requirements are met.
• Resolve supplier queries relating to invoicing, payments, pricing and delivery discrepancies.
• Monitor supplier performance and support supplier qualification, evaluation and development activities.
• Analyse procurement data, supplier performance and market intelligence to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Support procurement business plans and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain accurate purchasing records and ensure compliance with procurement processes, guidelines and Purchase-to-Pay procedures.

Skills & Experience

• 5+ years' experience within direct procurement or operational buying, ideally within an industrial, aerospace, manufacturing or engineering environment.
• Strong hands-on experience managing transactional purchasing activities and supplier relationships.
• Experience sourcing and purchasing complex components or materials, ideally including C-class commodities.
• Strong SAP transactional experience, ideally within the PS1 ATLAS module and a live production environment.
• Advanced Excel skills, with the ability to manage and analyse large volumes of procurement data.
• Experience using Power BI and market intelligence tools would be advantageous.
• Strong supplier negotiation skills, including pricing, cost management and resolving commercial discrepancies.
• Good understanding of supplier performance management and procurement processes.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach, with the ability to work independently and manage competing priorities.
• Ability to work effectively within a fast-paced, complex and international business environment.