Purchasing Manager

Greggs are looking for a Purchasing Manager to join our food procurement team on a full time and permanent basis.

Location for this role is flexible. The food procurement team is based at our Head Office in Newcastle upon Tyne so we are looking for someone who is able to work a mixture of 1-2 days a week office with the rest of week being flexible/home working.

You will be part of a team responsible for the purchase of over £300 million of food both as Ingredients for our Manufacturing facilities and for 2200 Retail Shops as well as for items for direct sale. The role will encompass the negotiation of Commercial Terms, Supplier Relationship Management and the development of delivering our Socially Responsible goals with and through our supplier base.

This is a great opportunity for someone to develop a career across a broad number of food categories, with negotiation, strong interpersonal, communication and supplier management skills being the key attributes we are looking for

It is expected that the successful candidate will have some food, or commodity, procurement experience, and will have worked in a fast paced, demanding environment.

Salary and benefits

Up to £55,000 depending on experience + up to 12.5% Management Scheme Bonus plus great benefits:

• Our Greggs Employee discount Scheme is very generous, offering you up to 50% off our food
• Your holiday entitlement starts with 5 weeks, in addition to bank holidays, which increases with service up to a maximum of 6 weeks after 25 years’ service. (Pro-rata for part time)
• After 6 months service you may be eligible  for our profit share scheme
• You will be invited to participate in our Management Bonus Scheme which is worth up to 12.5% of your salary, subject to the Company meeting certain performance criteria.
• You will automatically join our Greggs pension scheme which is a fantastic way to save for your retirement and allows you to benefit from employer contributions and tax advantages
• The Management Pension Scheme is supported by a free life assurance scheme.  This is a death in service benefit which provides a lump-sum payment equal to 4 times your year’s salary
• Private Medical Insurance which is free for you and subsidised for your dependants
• Permanent Health Insurance which is a replacement income scheme
• Share Save and Share Incentive Schemes
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Healthcare Plans
• Cycle to Work Scheme

Work Pattern

This is a Full Time role (40 hours), we know that having a work-life balance is really important so we offer our colleagues as much flexibility as possible in line with the needs of their role

What you'll do

The successful candidate will need to be able to build effective relationships with both suppliers and internal stakeholders, ensuring that the appropriate quality and quantity of raw material is available, when and where required. They will be responsible for managing a specific portfolio of Suppliers and Ingredients while being able to embrace continuous improvement. As part of the Team there will also be a requirement to manage supplier issues and work cross functionally to resolve.  

Key Responsibilities:

• Developing the strategy for the areas of responsibility to ensure certainty of supply, mitigation of risks, best quality and value.
• Negotiating Commercial and Contractual terms for Food ingredients
• Driving value for money ensuring that key research, monitoring and evaluation is completed to ensure value is maintained
• Developing key relationships with suppliers to ensure Greggs receives commercially attractive terms ahead of the market average
• Managing and resolving day to day issues with suppliers in a timely and effective manner
• Identifying and negotiating appropriate specifications and SLAs for all food supplied
• Support and contribute to our Responsible Sourcing processes and goals ensuring we work within the ISO20400 framework
• Reviewing processes and standards to maintain customer focus and ensuring best practice is achieved
• Developing and fostering good relationships with both internal and external stakeholders

What you'll bring to the role

• Food/commodity procurement experience
• Strong negotiation experience
• Evidence of development and execution of category strategies
• Highly numerate with strong analytical skills
• Track record of delivering value and continuous improvement
• Articulate with excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Assertive and tenacious with ability to manage internal and external contacts with diplomacy
• Ability to research key cost drivers and ensure that procurement of items are undertaken accordingly
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 suite and ideally SAP
• Strong Line Management experience, and a track record of developing teams and talent