Senior Buying Manager

Co-op; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 68,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company in Manchester is looking for a Senior Buying Manager to drive growth and manage supplier relationships. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in food retail buying and excellent negotiation skills. This role offers up to £80,000 plus benefits, with a hybrid working model. You'll be responsible for negotiating costs and collaborating with internal teams to strengthen our product range.

Benefits

Annual bonus

28 days holiday plus bank holidays

Pension with up to 10% employer contributions

Private healthcare

Access to subsidised onsite gym

Career development support

Stream app for early pay access

Qualifications

• Significant experience working as a buyer within food retail.
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills.
• Ability to build and manage strong working relationships.

Responsibilities

• Drive the growth of Co-op and manage relationships with suppliers.
• Negotiate costs and terms with suppliers.
• Be accountable for strategic delivery of the commercial budget.
• Collaborate with internal teams for clarity of workflow.
• Plan and prioritize work within the team.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Communication skills

Relationship management

Strategic mindset

Job description

Senior Buying Manager

Up to £80,000 plus great benefits including company car (Work Level 5)

Manchester City Centre, in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, visiting suppliers and coming into the office at least two to three times a week (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).

We’re looking for Senior Buying Managers to join our Co‑op Commercial team and contribute to our bold ambitions to be industry leaders, opening up new opportunities for our future as a Commercial business.

This role gives you the chance to make your mark, you’ll get the best deals for our customers and member‑owners while driving real momentum in a fast‑evolving part of our business. We’ve shaped the Senior Buying Manager role to allow you to focus on two key areas, negotiation and buying.

You’ll lead and deliver a market leading, omnichannel, multi‑mission range strategy. That means creating an exciting mix of private label and top‑name brands, always staying one step ahead of what our customers want.

But here at Co‑op, we do things differently, and we’ll look to you to bring our values into everything you do. Getting great value for customers can’t come at the cost of other businesses or our suppliers, and you’ll be responsible for negotiating commercial terms, driving cost efficiencies and always working fairly and co‑operatively with every one of them (the clue’s in the name). It’s a big job, but we’ll give you the balance and flexibility to thrive.

What you’ll do

• Drive the growth of our Co‑op, lower costs and manage great relationships with our suppliers, whilst sourcing and buying products our customers love
• Negotiate the cost and terms with suppliers, making sure you deliver simple and value generative agreements for Co‑op and Channel Partners
• Be accountable for strategic delivery of the commercial budget, forecasts and performance metrics
• Collaborate with partners across a variety of internal teams to create a clarity of workflow and deliverables
• Plan, coordinate, and prioritise work within the team, making sure the right capabilities are in place to deliver effectively
• Represent our Co‑op in the industry to the supply base
• Inspire our wider team of commercial analysts and assistants to support category growth and meet overall performance goals
• Maintain a robust understanding of legal, regulatory and compliance requirements including GSCOP

This role would suit people who have

• Significant experience working as a buyer within food retail or national / senior account management experience with food suppliers
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills
• The ability to build and manage strong working relationships with suppliers and key contacts internally and externally
• The ability to inspire a team to deliver our commercial plan and role model best ways of working
• Commercial insight with an analytical and strategic mindset

Why Co‑op?

At Co‑op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Private healthcare for you
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Stream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme - Co‑op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion

We may close applications for this role early.

Please note that we may close applications for this role early. As part of your application, you’ll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co‑op colleague, this does not need to be completed.