Category Buyer - 37216251 (1215)

Join a globally recognised organisation with a strong reputation for operational excellence and strategic procurement. As a Category Buyer (Indirect Procurement), you will play a key role in driving global sourcing strategies, managing supplier relationships, and delivering cost, quality, and performance improvements. This is a high-impact opportunity to lead complex negotiations, influence senior stakeholders, and contribute to continuous improvement within a dynamic, international procurement environment.

The Opportunity
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Category Buyer to take ownership of contract management, supplier relationship management, and sourcing activities across a defined category area. This role will play a key part in delivering cost, quality, and performance targets through effective global sourcing strategies and supplier engagement.
You will lead strategic sourcing initiatives, manage supplier performance, and drive continuous improvement across procurement activities, working closely with internal stakeholders and regional teams.

Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy

• Develop and deliver Category Strategy Plans (SCP) in line with annual targets
• Ensure category strategies remain up to date through regular review cycles
• Utilise supplier, market, and business analytics to inform decision-making
• Apply category strategies to sourcing activities, including supplier selection and route-to-market

Sourcing & Procurement

• Deliver sourcing activities in line with global sourcing processes and policies
• Lead complex supplier negotiations, including commercial, legal, and financial aspects
• Drive a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) approach across sourcing decisions
• Ensure alignment with regional procurement teams to deliver consistent strategy execution
• Identify and evaluate Make vs Buy opportunities with supporting business cases
• Manage supply chain risks within the category
• Collaborate with internal functions including Finance, Legal, and Risk

Contract Management

• Oversee contract implementation and ongoing governance
• Manage contract changes, disputes, and issue resolution
• Lead continuous improvement and benchmarking of contract performance
• Conduct regular contract reviews and audits
• Provide insights from contract performance to inform future strategies
• Support supplier onboarding and financial reconciliation processes

Supplier Relationship Management

• Manage supplier performance through structured review processes
• Conduct supplier performance surveys and track action plans
• Lead supplier business reviews, ensuring follow-up on actions
• Build and maintain strong, collaborative supplier relationships
• Contribute to supplier recognition and excellence initiatives

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Delivery of cost savings against budget and value targets
• Approval and execution of category strategy plans
• Supplier rationalisation and optimisation
• Adherence to sourcing timelines and governance processes
• Contract performance metrics (cost control, issue resolution, change management)
• Supplier performance and relationship metrics

Key Stakeholders

• Internal stakeholders and budget holders
• Suppliers (typically senior commercial or operations contacts)
• Finance and procurement teams
• Legal and risk functions
• Regional procurement teams
• External industry forums

About You

• Proven experience in a Category Buyer or Procurement role within a complex organisation
• Strong background in strategic sourcing and supplier management
• Experience leading supplier negotiations and managing contracts end-to-end
• Ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across regions
• Strong analytical and commercial acumen
• Experience working within global procurement frameworks and processes