Purchasing Apprenticeship

J C Bamford Excavators Ltd; Rocester; On-site; GBP 16,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading engineering company in the United Kingdom is offering a Purchasing Apprenticeship for individuals with at least four GCSEs including Maths and English. This role involves buying goods and services, negotiating with suppliers, and managing supplier relationships. The apprenticeship lasts 24 months, starting in September 2026, with a salary of approximately £16,000. This is a chance to join a company reputed for developing its workforce, offering long-term career opportunities, and various employee benefits.

Benefits

33 days’ holiday

Stakeholder pension scheme

Private medical scheme with Bupa

Access to onsite gym

Cycle to Work Scheme

Professional outdoor development programme

Qualifications

• Four GCSEs including Maths and English at C/4 or above, necessary for entry.
• Strong communication skills needed for liaising with suppliers.
• Good analytical skills required to assess supplier performance.

Responsibilities

• Assist in buying goods and services efficiently for the company.
• Negotiate terms with suppliers to ensure quality and timely delivery.
• Manage supplier relationships and handle operational buying tasks.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Supplier relationship management

Analytical skills

Education

Four GCSEs including Maths and English at C/4 or above

Job description

Start Date - September 2026, typically for 24 months

Starting Salary - Circa £16,000

Minimum Entry Criteria - You’ll need at least four GCSEs including Maths and English at C/4 or above.

Unfortunately, JCB is unable to offer visa sponsorship or immigration support for its Early Careers Schemes, either now or in the future. This includes individuals currently on sponsored visas.

What does the Purchasing Apprenticeship scheme involve day to day?

Purchasing is the process of buying goods and services needed by JCB to operate efficiently. This includes finding suitable suppliers, negotiating prices, placing orders, and making sure quality products arrive on time.

Your training will be geared towards getting you up to speed with everything you need to thrive once you take the reins for real. You’ll work on real‑life projects and contribute to the general flow of ideas in our fast‑paced area of the business, by practically understanding commercial reviews, purchasing project management and so much more.

What could I be doing?

You’ll explore various functions within purchasing, dedicating six months to different business areas such as:

Category Buying

You’ll create and carry out a global category strategy to aid our manufacturing processes in the UK, India, US, China, and Brazil. You will need to connect and negotiate with suppliers worldwide to enhance value and boost competitiveness and performance. This role also involves collaborating with internal teams like engineering and sales to find, assess, and implement new technologies.

Operational Buying

You’ll handle daily purchasing tasks to ensure sourcing is timely and cost‑effective, following the purchasing strategy to keep production running smoothly. You’ll manage supplier relationships, negotiate prices and terms for the best results, and create orders. Additionally, you will work with internal teams to understand their needs and improve the supply chain.

Purchasing Project Lead

You’ll coordinate and assist with all purchasing activities related to the New Part Introduction Process and localisation projects. You need to collaborate closely with stakeholders and purchasing teams to manage all procurement tasks, making sure that requirements are met according to technical, cost, and performance standards while aligning with the group purchasing strategy.

Non‑Production Buyer

You’ll build strong relationships with suppliers to guarantee timely delivery and quality products and services. Your focus will be on purchasing needs outside of the production process. You’ll negotiate contract terms and pricing with suppliers to get the best deals and reduce costs for the non‑production areas, for example catering and equipment contracts.

What comes next?

1. We’ll be reviewing applications against the essential criteria then shortlisting and sending out links to our online assessments in November 2025 - January 2026 (we’d recommend you keep a look out for emails at this point as you’ll hear from us either way).
2. Once you’ve fully completed your online assessment, we’ll review it and provide you with an update within a few weeks. Please note, if you’ve not completed your online assessment then we won’t take your application further (we’ll send you a few reminders to make sure you don’t forget). If you’ve been progressed, you’ll be sent an invite to attend one of our in‑person Assessment Centres.
3. In‑person Assessment Centres will take place from January to April 2026 (we’ll send you all the details you need).
4. Following your Assessment Centre, whether you’ve been successful or not, our promise to you is that you’ll receive a call with feedback.
5. If successful, congratulations! We’ll now take you through the onboarding process, which will include a familiarisation day.
6. Welcome to JCB – our Early Careers cohorts ordinarily start in early September.

What’s in it for you?

This is your chance to join a company that’s not only picking up awards for its Early Careers schemes but also opens up opportunities for the long term. On a JCB Early Careers Scheme you’ll join a company that’s known for developing its people, and somewhere that offers a career for life. As standard, you’ll get 33 days’ holiday, and access to our stakeholder pension scheme; you can also opt into our Private Medical scheme with Bupa. Not only that, but you’ll also benefit from access to our onsite gym, in‑house doctor and dentist. There’s also a JCB Rewards Hub, which gives you discounts at many high street fashion and food retailers. And if you feel like biking to work? There’s our Cycle to Work Scheme. As part of your scheme, you’ll be involved in a professional outdoor development programme in the Lake District. We also encourage our cohorts to network and get involved in our “NextGen” society.

We value diversity and welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds.

We’re committed to ensuring our recruitment process is fair and inclusive. If you face any accessibility challenges with your online application and require additional support, you have the option of speaking to a member of our Resourcing team who can support you to complete an application in an alternative format. If you would benefit from this support, please e‑mail [e-mail], and a member of the team will be in touch.