Regional Buyer (Materials) | Full Time

Breheny; Huntingdon; Remote; GBP 40,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Breheny in Huntingdon (UK) is seeking a Regional Buyer to join the group purchasing function. You will lead material sourcing for tenders, manage key suppliers for price, delivery and quality, and support the Supply Chain Manager across procurement activities on civil engineering projects.

You will be responsible for developing supplier relationships, driving down spend, and ensuring timely deliveries while reading technical drawings and applying best value principles within a busy, field-based

Qualifications

• Construction based qualification preferred but not essential.
• CIPS qualification preferred but not essential.
• Coins/Sharepoint experience preferred but not essential.
• 5 years civil engineering purchasing experience preferred but not essential.
• Full driving license required.
• Proven track record of reducing external spend while developing a robust supplier base.
• Ability to bring new ideas to purchasing activities.
• Fully conversant with modern purchasing techniques.
• Experience of purchasing bespoke, manufactured items.

Responsibilities

• Take responsibility for tender projects and use pre-contract buyer input to decide competitive costs.
• Purchase current contract materials to specification at competitive prices and ensure delivery on time.
• Negotiate with suppliers with well-thought-out strategies to secure best outcomes.
• Maintain and develop strategic relationships with key suppliers aligned to company needs.
• Identify new suppliers and discuss terms and negotiate supply agreements when instructed by the Supply Chain Manager.
• Assist in improving purchasing methods to reduce external spend.
• Be adept with Coins & Sharepoint for purchasing processes.
• Read technical drawings and extract quantities when required.
• Represent the department at internal meetings as needed.
• Assist the Supply Chain Manager with cost, delivery and quality management of purchasing activities.
• Encourage sites to provide take-off information early to allow maximum purchasing time.

Skills

Negotiation

Communication

Project coordination

Proactive approach

Financial acumen

Customer service

Education

Construction-based qualification

CIPS qualification

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Location:

Huntingdon

A Regional Buyer is required to form an integral part of the current group purchasing function of our well-established civil engineering company. With a strong, solid background in civil engineering material purchasing and supply chain involvement, you assume a position within an experienced department reporting to the Supply Chain Manager. The role, based at Huntingdon (PE29 6EN) , is key to leading the Company forward in assisting towards securing and maintaining key suppliers of materials – covering price, delivery and quality targets.

Responsibilities

• Take responsibility and deliver a high standard of work into tender projects assigned to you, use the assistance of the Pre-Contracts Buyer to decide upon appropriate, responsible & competitive costs to include in tenders.
• Ensure current contract material requirements are purchased to the correct specification, at the most competitive prices, and are delivered on time.
• Approach negotiations with well thought out strategies to get the best outcome.
• Maintain and develop strategic relationships with key suppliers who are aligned to the company’s needs.
• Identify new suppliers and which will benefit the company, discuss terms and negotiate supply agreements where instructed by the Supply Chain Manager.
• Assist in the improvement of purchasing methods in an effort to drive down external spend.
• Become fully adept in the use of the operation of company ERP Coins & Sharepoint.
• Be fully competent in the reading of technical drawings and have the ability to extract quantities where required.
• Represent the department at internal meetings if required to do so.
• Assist the Supply Chain Manager with the management and coordination of purchasing activities with relation to cost, delivery and quality performance.
• Encourage sites to provide take off information as early as possible into a live project, so there is as much time to purchase available as possible.
• Adopt a proactive approach to purchasing, maximise purchasing efficiency by gathering as much volume together as possible for the best deals available.
• Maintain a constant & consistent approach that materials required for a project may not necessarily need to be purchased and imported, as mineral and other materials may be available on that site and other sites being constructed internally.
• Liaise with local and national authorities such as National Highways & Cambridgeshire County Council, maintain strong relationships with these parties, fully understand their opinions and attitudes towards various types of aggregates on projects to be adopted. Engage in technical dialogue with these parties to ensure all opportunities to use products of best value are taken.
• Maintain and develop existing supplier contacts & ensure all opportunities are communicated to the suppliers offering best value. Seek out new suppliers as necessary.
• Challenge the usual composite supply and deliver offering from aggregate suppliers with a view to achieving better value by breaking supply down to collect rates with haulage arranged by us, utilising existing haulage contacts & knowledge of collect rates to achieve this.
• Work with external waste consultant & geotechnical consultant both at tender and live project stage to ensure all waste & geotechnical opportunities are identified and fulfilled.
• Maintain close contact with sites who are essentially ‘the customer’ informing them of the intentions and ideas for the project as things develop, involving them in each stage so they are able to comment from a practical perspective & also provide their own knowledge and experience.
• Ensure available department admin resource is used as much as possible to focus on delivering skilled element of role, ensuring that workload is managed effectively resulting in every available opportunity being taken.

Skills/Qualifications

• Construction based qualification preferred but not essential.
• CIPS qualified or working towards preferred but not essential.
• Previous experience of Coins/Sharepoint is preferred but not essential.
• 5 years previous experience in a civil engineering purchasing role, site based role, or aggregates / waste role is preferred but not essential.
• High competency level in use of Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, as a minimum).
• Full driving license required.
• Proven track record of controlling and reducing external spend whilst developing a robust supplier base.
• Ability to bring new ideas to purchasing activities.
• Fully conversant with modern purchasing techniques.
• Experience of purchasing bespoke, manufactured items.

Required Approach to the Role

• Highly resourceful with excellent communication abilities, using phone contact over emails where possible.
• Hands on approach to all tasks.
• Ability to take a proactive approach to overcome challenges and achieve results.
• Versatile, tenacious and people orientated.
• Result driven and confident.
• Proven appreciation of customer service expectations and cost demands of business.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Able to identify a potential deal to achieve best value, and to make the necessary steps to close it out.
• Ability to set priorities taking into account short and long term needs of the business.
• The ability to be part of, and be of benefit to, the department and the business as a whole.

Hours of work:

40 hours per week at hours to suit the department’s needs, with 1 hour for lunch per day.

Holidays:

Annual leave is 26 days, exclusive of bank holidays, of which 7 days must be taken at Christmas in accordance with the industry shutdown