Senior Buyer

Network Rail; Swindon; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff travel discount

Rail season ticket subsidy

GWR passes and discounts

Pension schemes

35 hours per week

Job summary

Network Rail in Swindon is seeking a Senior Buyer within the Great Western Route to drive procurement strategies for a diverse portfolio of goods, services and works. You will deliver sourcing and contracting activities, provide commercial support and guidance to stakeholders, and help achieve value across the business.

The role offers opportunities to develop leadership skills, mentoring a direct report, and to apply procurement expertise within a safety-focused railway environment.

Qualifications

• Recognised skills in contractual and commercial matters.
• Successful procurement background with practical intermediate level experience.
• Contributed towards maintaining successful relationships with suppliers.
• Knowledge of relevant contract terms.
• Keeping people safe on the railway is at the heart of everything we do.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement contracting strategy proposals including tender preparation and contract negotiation.
• Provide post contract commercial management support for various contracts.
• Offer dedicated support to senior staff on projects and contract issues, including rapid response to disputes.
• Identify opportunities to improve procurement outcomes and deliver value.
• Attend regular contract management meetings with stakeholders and suppliers to ensure maximum value.

Skills

Contractual knowledge

Commercial matters

Procurement background

Supplier relations

Contract terms knowledge

Job description

At Network Rail, we're part of a large family serving millions of passengers and freight users throughout the UK every day. Our service impacts millions of people and we strive to become more efficient as we enhance, maintain and operate our network. Now is a fantastic time and join our team in Wales and Western region as we finalise the reforms to our maintenance organisation which will deliver:

• A safer and more reliable and punctual service for passengers and employees - quicker fault fixes by more agile multi-disciplined response teams.
• Individual rostering - enabling us to send the right number or people to fix a fault.
• Multi-skilling - investing in the knowledge and skills of our people so they are better equipped to fix the most common faults themselves.
• Accelerated and improved technology deployment - we have a raft of labour and life-saving technology ready to be rolled out.

Our passengers and freight users are at the heart of everything we do. We help connect people to their friends and families and get goods to their destination safely and efficiently. We're an organisation where people matter. When your part of our team, you matter to us and you matter to millions. Watch our video to find out more!

About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We look for opportunities to offer great opportunities to learn and grow through personal and professional development. And, if you make the grade then you can look forward to a rewarding and fulfilling career with a company that joined the top 50 in the Glassdoor's 2021 Best Places to Work.

We are seeking a motivated and capable individual to join the Procurement & Commercial team as a Senior Buyer within the Great Western Route due to a promotion within Network Rail.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping and delivering procurement strategies across a diverse portfolio of goods, services and works. The team supports the Great Western Route across a wide spectrum of procurement activity, providing procurement expertise, commercial support and routes-to-market advice to stakeholders across the business. You will support the development and delivery of sourcing and contracting strategies, frameworks and tendering activities, while identifying opportunities to improve procurement outcomes and deliver greater value.

The role offers the opportunity to broaden and further develop existing procurement and commercial experience across stakeholder engagement, supplier management, commercial decision-making and sourcing delivery. A key focus will be building on existing procurement arrangements, driving continuous improvement and supporting better business outcomes across the Great Western Route.

The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to further develop leadership experience through coaching and mentoring a direct report, helping to create a positive, supportive and high-performing team environment.

Working within an evolving procurement landscape, the role provides valuable exposure to the practical application of the Procurement Act 2023 and associated regulations. You will help ensure procurement activities are delivered in line with legislative, policy and governance requirements, while building capability for future career progression within Procurement & Commercial.

This role reports to the Senior Procurement Manager, Great Western Route, and is based in Swindon.

Your Main Responsibilities will be to

• Develop and implement individual project and steady state contracting strategy proposals including preparation and evaluation of tender documents and negotiation of contracts.
• Provide post contract commercial management support for a range of contracts.
• Provide dedicated support to senior staff in respect of individual projects and/or contract/commercial issues, including 'rapid response' to potential contract disputes.
• Target specific goods, services and/or suppliers to identify how tangible improvements may be made in the procurement of these goods and services.
• Undertake regular contract management meetings with key stakeholders and suppliers to monitor whether maximum value was delivered via contract.
• Manage responsibilities for endorsements and approval of contract variations.
• Provide all services to programme/project teams in a timely and cost effective manner and contribute positively towards the achievement of programme/project objectives.

As a Network Rail employee, you will enjoy a wide range of benefits!

• Privileged staff travel - Leisure travel discount of 75% on all leisure travel and includes family members.
• A subsidy of up to 75% on rail and underground season tickets if you travel to work on the train.
• GWR ticket alliance Heavily discounted all day passes for you and up to 3 friends and family to use across the GWR network (48 passes per year)
• Benefits package including healthcare offers, a cycle to work scheme, discounted healthcare club membership, and a discounted offers and benefits including childcare, healthcare and online shopping site.
• A range of Pension schemes to choose from
• Effectively manage work-life balance with a 35hrsper week contract, and enhanced family friendly support .
• 2 weeks paid reserve leave for the Armed Forces community.
• In Wales and Western region, you will have the opportunity to join PROUD, our reward and recognition scheme where you can say thanks and recognise colleagues across the region who have demonstrated outstanding values and behaviours.

More about the role and your application

Closing date: 16th September 2026. Late applications will not be accepted. This vacancy is also being advertised externally.

This role requires working in the office for a least 60% of the working week

We want to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity. Therefore, should you require any reasonable adjustments/modifications, please include within your application.

Our Drugs and Alcohol Standard has changed. All prospective candidates will be required to undergo and pass a drugs and alcohol test. Your application will be rescinded if you record a positive test. All positive drugs and alcohol test results for prospective candidates will be securely held on Sentinel database and a 5-year suspension from applying for a safety critical role, a role which requires PTS certification or a Key Safety role on Network Rail Managed Infrastructure will be enforced.

Your experience and skills

You will ideally have

• Recognised skills in contractual and commercial matters, with credibility and experience to act as advisor to other staff.
• Successful procurement background with practical intermediate level experience.
• Contributed towards maintaining successful relationships with suppliers.
• Knowledge of relevant contract terms.
• Keeping people safe on the railway is at the heart of everything we do. Safe behaviour is therefore a requirement of working for Network Rail.You should demonstrate your personal dedication to safety within your application.

What could set you apart

• Membership of appropriate professional institution.

Key Information

Number of Positions:

1

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

Full Time

Location:

Swindon Western House, Swindon

Geographical Area:

South West England

Closing Date:

16-SEP-2026

Job Category:

Business, Commercial and Project Management

Function:

Organisation:

DM Contracts and Procurement Recoveries - Wales (338778) G5