Production Buyer - 37253769 (1259)

An exciting opportunity for an experienced Production Buyer to join a leading automotive manufacturer in Warwickshire on a maternity cover contract. The role focuses on supplier performance, commercial contract management, cost reduction, and supply chain support across production commodities. Working closely with Purchasing, Engineering, Logistics, and Manufacturing teams, you will lead supplier negotiations, resolve commercial issues, and support strategic sourcing activities. Ideal for candidates with procurement or supply chain experience within automotive or high-volume manufacturing environments.

Location: Warwickshire

Maternity Cover

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Regional Purchasing Manager this role will see you have responsibility for managing the external supply chain.
• Your main focus and priority will be ensuring supplier performance to meet Quality, Cost, Delivery, Innovation and Sustainability (QCDIS) requirements.
• Responsible for all post sourcing commercial contract and change management activities for designated commodities and suppliers.
• This role is also pivotal for interface with other key functions. Acting within a core team of Production Purchasing, Product Engineering, Supplier Technical Assistance (STA), Material Planning and Logistics (MP&L), Cost Estimating and Manufacturing.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities
Cost Management :

• Ensuring effective cost management of particular commodities and suppliers, which will involve launching new products at their target cost as well as achieving year on year cost reduction on current spend to deliver against savings targets.
• Responsibility for resolution of in-contract commercial issues including invoices relating to price queries, annual cost reduction, tooling costs, design changes and all liability claims.
• Lead negotiations with external suppliers for both current and future products.

Supplier Relationship Management :

• Participate in and lead Supplier Business Reviews with your suppliers to develop supplier relationships and ensure performance.
• Support stakeholder engagement and internal relationship management, and act as the primary interface with Product Engineering for designated commodities/parts, to ensure cross-functional alignment on quality, cost, delivery, innovation and sustainability requirements.
• Support the Global Strategy Leaders, to develop the supplier relationships globally for your designated commodities
• You will be responsible for commercial contract validation activities which includes but is not limited to:
• Validation activities of core commercial/contractual elements and costs for example
• Labour (direct and indirect)/Manning (direct/indirect) and overall supplier programme resources
• Process time for manufacturing process, key material flows and information flows
• How parts are manufactured - bill of design and bill of process (method of manufacture/key materials/location(s) of manufacture/BOF content and understanding of key BOF cost elements and drivers)
• Tooling and location of manufacture
• OEE/Shift Patterns/JPH achievement and capacity flexibility, breakpoints and sensitivity analysis around volumes
• Value Stream Maps - all key material and information flows mapped and understood at production system, supply chain, sub tier and sub tier supply chain variables
• BOF Parts and Supply Chain maps
• Tariffs duties and incentives around total value stream and any contingency and business continuity considerations which need to be incorporated into contractual or commercial framework moving forward

Other :

• Contribute where appropriate to process improvement and ensuring the adoption and sharing of best practice in Regional Purchasing Teams e.g. leading programmes of cost reduction
• Manage Supplier, and Supply Chain Risk, management for assigned commodities post SCPA, ensuring the supply chain operates in accordance with automotive quality standards, customer and governmental regulations
• Ensure compliance to the company Way and KWS processes. Driving system compliance throughout the supply chain, by maintaining the purchasing systems to ensure data integrity and therefore system performance
• Undertake any other work as directed by your line manager in connection with your job as may be requested

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Essential:

• Degree qualified or equivalent experience
• Delivering complex supply chain solutions in a fast paced, high pressured manufacturing environment
• Ability to work independently, results driven, demonstrating tenacity, drive and perseverance with the ability to deliver operational plans in a complex, highly demanding environment.
• Implementing and delivering purchasing strategies with the focus on total value chain delivery
• Identify opportunities for creating value in a commodity or commodities
• A resilient and enthusiastic individual who responds constructively to new ideas and inputs
• A strong communicator with the ability to communicate effectively with key stakeholders to influence cross-functional engagement
• An effective team player, actively develops and supports team members
• Maintaining compliance with standard policies and procedures

Desirable:

• An individual with a proven track record in delivering results in both favourable and unfavourable conditions
• The ability to challenge in a positive way whilst building credibility and trust through experience and personal style
• Experience of working in a global, multi-cultural environment

Personal Profile
Essential:

• An individual who works independently, is results driven, demonstrating tenacity, drive and perseverance with the ability to deliver operational plans in a complex, highly demanding environment.
• An individual with the capability to combine a short term, pragmatic focus with medium term planning
• A resilient and enthusiastic person who responds constructively to new ideas and inputs
• A good communicator with the ability to communicate complex ideas
• An effective team player, actively develops and supports team members

Desirable:

• An individual with the ability to challenge existing thinking in a positive way whilst building credibility and trust through experience and personal style