Senior Buyer

Yorkshire Water; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Yorkshire Water is seeking a Senior Buyer to join their Commercial - Operations team. This role involves developing procurement strategies, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring compliance with regulations. Join a company focused on transforming the water industry with a strong commitment to environmental responsibility.

Benefits

Attractive pension scheme

Annual incentive-related bonus

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Wellness day

Health cash plan scheme

Online GP service

Gym membership discounts

Qualifications

• Experience in Sourcing & Contract Management required.
• Knowledge of market analysis and stakeholder engagement needed.
• Proven track record in negotiation and supplier management.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of compliant end-to-end sourcing projects.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to achieve procurement goals.
• Manage procurement strategies for direct and indirect categories.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Negotiation

Sourcing

Stakeholder management

Supplier management

Procurement

Education

MCIPS/Business Degree

Tools

SAP

ARIBA

Job description

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Multiple roles available, across direct and indirect Categories.

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. Let us tell you about all the great reasons to join us here at Yorkshire Water:

• We offer a competitive salary, 4a, up to £60,000 per annum, depending on experience
• Annual incentive-related bonus (£1000 maximum bonus opportunity for the performance year)
• Attractive pension scheme (up to 12% company contribution)
• Development opportunities in line with the Senior Buyer progression plan
• Life assurance cover of 4 times pensionable salary
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays – plus an extra wellness day!
• A great benefits package – choose from health cash plan scheme, critical illness insurance, dental insurance, life assurance flex and partner cover.
• Retail savings scheme
• Online GP service, cycle to work scheme, gym membership discounts and many more!

Location: Western House, Bradford / Hybrid Working (1 – 2 office days a week)

Work type: Permanent. 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday.

We have an exciting opportunity to join a growing and transforming Commercial function as a Senior Buyer in the Commercial – Operations team at Yorkshire Water. Be a part of an exciting time at the start of AMP8, that provides new funding and regulatory focus for the Water industry, to enable the business to drive the transformation of Yorkshire Water that can provide the best service to our customers.

This is an exciting time for Commercial as we grow the capability in our team, support an extensive pipeline of activity and seek to drive good value for our customers. Could this be you?

What we do:

Everyone has an idea of what a water company does. Here in Yorkshire, we make sure that over 5.4 million people living in the region and the millions of people who visit our region each year, can rely on our services, and have clean and safe drinking water on tap and that their wastewater is taken away. But for us, it’s so much more than this.

We look after communities, protect the environment, and plan to look after Yorkshire’s water, today, tomorrow 24/7, 365 days a year. We provide essential water and wastewater services to every corner of the Yorkshire region, and play a key role in the region’s health, wellbeing, and prosperity.

New environmental legislation, unprecedented levels of investment and changing expectations from customers means that this is an exciting time to discover opportunities within the water industry. The Commercial - Operations are a key part of how we plan to meet the changing expectations of customers and regulators.

The Senior Buyer is responsible for supporting the development and delivery of category specific strategies, leading procurement and below threshold projects, contract implementation and lifecycle through exit to the next iteration.

The role holder will be key part of a Commercial – Operations Team leading in the development and delivery of compliant sourcing pipeline. They will be skilled in the use of a broad set of analytical tools and able to identify current and future business opportunities based on their ability to analyse data from multiple sources. The role holder will collaborate with business stakeholders and lead the engagement to deliver industry leading procurement strategies.

Areas of expertise sought:

There are multiple roles available across different direct and indirect categories:

• FM & Energy
• Professional Services
• IT & OT
• Network (Wastewater and Clean Water)
• Operational Services
• Operational Goods and Maintenance

Where you fit in:

As our Senior Buyer you will.

• Development and delivery of sourcing strategies to maximise value and achieve target savings, by
• Lead the development and delivery of a compliant end-to-end sourcing projects, that deliver financial benefit, risk mitigation and process efficiency through the application of whole life costing principles.
• Undertake in-depth market analysis and manage the market engagement process to drive continuous improvement and identify opportunities for innovation.
• Manage key stakeholder relationships across the business as part of delivering a procurement project.
• Be a Commercial subject matter expert with the ability to articulate complex solutions to stakeholders and senior leaders. Support and challenge stakeholders to define procurement needs that align with current and future business demand, whilst ensuring the solution provided addresses wider business needs
• Lead and deliver procurement to ensure compliance Utilities Contracts Regulations (UCR2016) and Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) and Internal Governance

What skills & qualifications you will need:

• Commercial acumen - knowledge and practical application from water, construction or other relevant sectors to deliver savings targets, quality services and effective contract delivery.
• Negotiation – Proven ability to negotiate effectively and resolve disputes efficiently throughout the contract lifecycle
• Sourcing – development and ongoing management of procurement strategies, managing the portfolio of simple & complex sourcing strategies, procurement processes and compliance with legislative and governance requirements.
• Stakeholder management – ability to lead engagement with different business leads to understand needs to develop suitable commercial approaches that can achieve business plan targets.
• Supplier management – application of supplier & vendor management, performance management and contract segmentation & treatment.
• Procurement – to demonstrate a good understanding and application of relevant legislation and compliance in the procurement process.

You will also benefit from having:

• Contract management – demonstrable delivery of lifecycle management of both high value and complex contracts and frameworks with multiple partner/suppliers.
• Comprehensive understanding of relevant Procure to Pay systems (SAP/ARIBA)
• MCIPS/Business Degree

Although we operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it’s important to us that we support flexible working patterns and job share options (when we can), to help you make the best of both your work and home life. We know that juggling childcare responsibilities or getting that ideal work/life balance isn’t always easy!

Do we sound like your cup of tea?

If you’ve got experience in Sourcing & Contract Management and want to help us deliver great service for our customers whilst looking after the environment, then be sure to apply today to find out what a career with Yorkshire Water can offer you.

Accessibility

We are committed to removing barriers and ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We offer a range of adjustments to make your application experience as comfortable and straightforward as possible.

If you have an accessibility need, disability, or condition that requires changes to the recruitment process, please include this information in your application. We will then discuss any reasonable adjustments required.

Just a heads-up! We might start interviewing and close the position earlier based on the response. To make sure you’re considered, please send in your application as soon as you can.

If successful for the role, you will be required to undergo pre-employment checks that will include a Basic Disclosure Check, carried out through a Third-Party Company, prior to commencing employment. Depending on the role, you may also be required to go through the security vetting process for either a Counter Terrorist Check or Security Check clearance.

All our roles are subject to a medical questionnaire, and further medicals when required.