Senior Category Manager

AB Agri; Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Senior Category Manager, where you will lead procurement strategies and drive innovation in a dynamic environment. This role offers the chance to shape key projects, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and enhance supplier relationships. With a focus on value creation and strategic excellence, you will play a pivotal role in the evolution of procurement practices. Enjoy flexible hybrid working, career growth opportunities, and the satisfaction of making a meaningful impact in the agri-food industry. If you're a self-starter who thrives in challenging situations, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Benefits

Flexible Working

Career Development Opportunities

Incentive Bonus

Annual Salary Reviews

Enhanced Family Benefits

Wellbeing Benefits

Qualifications

• 10+ years of procurement experience, with a focus on category management.
• Extensive contract negotiation and supplier management expertise.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement category strategies for procurement.
• Facilitate negotiations and manage supplier relationships.

Skills

Procurement

Category Management

Negotiation Skills

Supplier Relationship Management

Project Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Relevant Professional Certification

Tools

eSourcing Tools

AI Technologies

Job description

Job Title: Senior Category Manager

Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK

Contract: Permanent, 2/3 day per week in the office in Peterborough

Do you have a solid background in procurement, category management, and negotiating with suppliers?

Do you enjoy being part of an engaging environment with multiple parties involved, allowing you to contribute effectively? If so, this is an exciting opportunity to join AB Agri.

Why Join Us?

At AB Agri, procurement is not solely concerned with cost efficiency; it prioritises innovation, value creation, and the dynamism of supply chain evolution. As a member of the ABF Group, we oversee indirect expenditure across eleven manufacturing facilities, presenting you with opportunities to shape procurement strategies, build important relationships, and contribute to major projects.

The Role:

As Senior Category Manager, you will:

• Develop and Implement category strategies across Capital, Indirect, and Packaging
• Facilitate negotiations and oversee supplier relationships to enhance value and reduce risk.
• Work closely with key stakeholders including transport managers, engineering managers, finance teams, and health & safety representatives.
• Support major capital projects, ensuring budget compliance and risk mitigation.
• Oversee and guide a direct report, enhancing their performance and career growth.
• Champion digital innovation, including eSourcing and AI within procurement.
• Collaborate across the wider ABF Group to leverage buying power and best practices.

What We’re Looking For:

• 10+ years of procurement experience, with at least 6 years in category management
• Extensive contract negotiation skills and experience in supplier relationship management
• Background in manufacturing, engineering, transport, or supply chain
• A diligent professional who thrives in a stimulating and evolving environment.
• A self-starter who thrives in a challenging and dynamic environment.

What’s in it for You?

• A leadership role with the opportunity to shape strategy and ensure procurement excellence.
• Flexible hybrid working, typically two to three days in Peterborough, with UK-wide site visits.
• Exposure to major capital projects and cross-functional collaboration.
• Career growth opportunities within AB Agri and the wider ABF Group.

About Us

Rewarding your passion

When you join us, you'll do meaningful work and be rewarded fairly for it. From annual salary reviews and incentive bonus, ongoing career development and enhanced family, financial and wellbeing benefits – these are just some of the ways we reward you - from day one.

About us

We’re AB Agri part of Associated British Foods (ABF plc) and we’re passionate about feeding the world responsibly and affordably by making quality animal feed, creating nutrition and technology-based products, and offering data services for the agri-food industry. What sets us apart is how we delight our customers - and that’s because of great people like you. People with different life experiences who share common values. Together we’re building a fair, innovative and inclusive culture.

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our application and recruitment processes work for everyone so if you need any additional support (like alternative formats for your application, bringing a support dog to the offices, a sign language interpreter - or anything else) just let us know.

Application Notes

We hope you feel that AB Agri is somewhere you can thrive and so we’d love to hear from you. We get a lot of applications for our roles and sometimes need to close the process early so register your details and upload your CV via our careers website as soon as you can – it will only take a few minutes.

When you do, we’ll ask you some equal opportunities questions just to ensure our recruitment process is inclusive – or show us areas we can improve. This information is anonymised, separate from your application and is never seen by the hiring panel. You can choose not to answer these questions and this won’t affect your application.

Apply today or contact our recruitment team for more information.

Agencies and media sales

AB Agri group politely requests no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We don’t accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.