Senior Buyer

£45,000 - £50,000 DOE + benefits + 33 days holiday (includes bank holidays) An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Buyer to join a well-established and highly respected manufacturing and engineering organisation. This position offers the chance to play a pivotal role within the procurement team, taking ownership of strategic sourcing activities, supplier performance, and cost optimisation initiatives that directly impact business success. This role would suit a commercially astute procurement professional who enjoys building strong supplier relationships, driving continuous improvement, and delivering tangible value through effective sourcing and negotiation strategies. The Role As Senior Buyer, you will lead sourcing and supplier management activities across a diverse portfolio of products and services. Working closely with internal stakeholders, you will develop procurement strategies that support business objectives while ensuring quality, cost, delivery, and risk requirements are met. You will also contribute to wider procurement excellence initiatives, support junior team members where required, and help drive continuous improvement across the supply chain function. Key Responsibilities Develop and implement category and sourcing strategies to achieve cost, quality, and service objectives. Lead supplier identification, evaluation, selection, onboarding, and ongoing performance management. Negotiate commercial agreements, pricing structures, contract terms, and long-term supplier partnerships. Analyse spend data, market trends, and supplier performance to identify cost saving opportunities and process improvements. Build strong relationships with suppliers and key stakeholders across the business. Support supply chain risk management and business continuity planning activities. Ensure procurement and ERP system data is maintained accurately and efficiently. Monitor supplier KPIs and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Support budgeting, forecasting, KPI reporting, and procurement planning activities. Provide guidance and support to procurement colleagues and contribute to departmental development. About You To be successful in this role, you will be an experienced procurement professional with a strategic mindset, excellent commercial awareness, and a proven ability to deliver results within a manufacturing, engineering, or technical environment. You will ideally possess: Previous experience in a Senior Buyer, Buyer, Category Buyer, or Procurement Specialist position. Proven success in supplier negotiation, contract management, and strategic sourcing. Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret spend data and procurement performance metrics. Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills. A proactive and collaborative approach, with the confidence to influence and drive change. CIPS qualification or actively working towards. Experience within manufacturing, engineering, aerospace, automotive, defence, or other technical sectors would be highly advantageous. What's On Offer Competitive salary of £45,000 - £50,000 (depending on experience) 35-hour working week Flexible start and finish times, option for early finish on Fridays Company pension scheme Life assurance Health cash plan 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays Opportunity to join a stable and growing organisation with excellent long-term career prospects