Purchasing Team Leader

ReQuire Consultancy; Salisbury; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

ReQuire Consultancy in Salisbury is recruiting a Purchasing Supervisor to lead a busy purchasing team and own day-to-day operations. The role works closely with the Purchasing Manager to balance strategic buying with daily execution.

The successful candidate will have credible purchasing experience, be able to supervise and mentor others, and manage supplier relationships while ensuring timely delivery and effective prioritisation of workloads.

Qualifications

• Experience in purchasing, procurement, buying or materials is essential.
• Has led or mentored a team and can supervise effectively.
• Manages purchase orders, suppliers, lead times and delivery schedules.
• Capable of organising workloads and adapting to changing priorities.
• Demonstrates strong commercial awareness and process improvement mindset.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and support the Purchasing team on a daily basis.
• Help manage workloads, priorities and purchasing requirements.
• Monitor purchase orders, lead times and supplier deliveries.
• Deal with shortages, delays and day-to-day supply issues.
• Act as a point of escalation and provide guidance to the team.
• Communicate with suppliers and maintain good working relationships.
• Collaborate with other departments to understand priorities.
• Help improve processes and ways of working within Purchasing.
• Support the Purchasing Manager with smooth departmental operations.

Skills

Purchasing experience

PO management

Leadership

Prioritisation

Attention to detail

Job description

Purchasing Supervisor | Salisbury | Full Time | Permanent

ReQuire are recruiting for an established Salisbury business that is looking to appoint an experienced Purchasing Supervisor to join its busy Purchasing team.

This is a newly created role and a really important hire. The business already has an established Purchasing function, but now needs someone who can take ownership of the day-to-day running of the team, supporting colleagues, managing priorities and making sure everything continues to move in the right direction.

Working closely with the Purchasing Manager, you'll take the lead on the operational side of the department, allowing the Manager to focus more heavily on strategic buying, supplier relationships and the wider purchasing strategy.

What will you be doing?

• Overseeing and supporting the Purchasing team on a daily basis.
• Helping manage workloads, priorities and purchasing requirements.
• Monitoring purchase orders, lead times and supplier deliveries.
• Dealing with shortages, delays and day-to-day supply issues.
• Acting as a point of support and escalation for the team.
• Communicating with suppliers and maintaining good working relationships.
• Working closely with other departments to understand priorities and requirements.
• Helping improve processes and ways of working within Purchasing.
• Supporting the Purchasing Manager with the smooth running of the department.

What experience are we looking for?

We're looking for someone who has built up good, credible experience within Purchasing, Procurement, Buying or Materials and is responsible for being a senior member of a wider team.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Some good years' experience within a busy purchasing or procurement environment.
• Experience managing purchase orders, suppliers, lead times and delivery schedules.
• Previous responsibility for supervising, mentoring or supporting others.
• Confidence dealing with suppliers and resolving problems when they arise.
• Experience working in an environment where purchasing has a direct impact on wider operations.
• The ability to organise workloads, manage changing priorities and keep things moving.
• Good commercial awareness, systems knowledge and attention to detail.

Experience within manufacturing, construction, engineering or another product, materials or project-led environment would certainly be useful, but we're equally interested in people from other sectors who can demonstrate strong, transferable purchasing experience.

You don't need to be fully CIPS qualified. For this hire, practical experience, credibility and the ability to lead and support a team are far more important.

If you've reached the point in your purchasing career where you're the person others naturally turn to for support, decisions and direction, this could be a really good next move.