Senior Procurement Manager

One of the most recognised and iconic brands on the South Coast has weathered the Covid storm and is preparing for a strong second half of the year.

This is wonderful news for the sector as the vaccination programme gives the market confidence to start thinking about travelling again. A longstanding client of ours, we are delighted to see recruitment taking place once again.

The Procurement Director is seeking an experienced Senior Procurement Manager to support her in taking ownership for the entire Indirect spend for the organisation supported by a team of 5. Procurement has played an essential role in keeping operations moving for the past year and as such, stronger relationships have been forged across key functions as stakeholders have appreciated the way that procurement have managed to keep costs down whilst keeping critical supplier relationships warm for when the recovery kick starts.

This role is all about strong, robust leadership. It doesn’t matter what categories you have managed previously (Directs and Indirects welcomed), it doesn’t matter what industry you have worked in (customer-facing would be useful) but it does require you to evidence strong leadership and process improvement when it comes to best practice procurement. Ensuring the team are given the appropriate tools and training to perform their roles is paramount.

The role is based in Southampton with a hybrid working model. The expectation will be that you will be on site 50% of your working week.

As Senior Procurement Manager, your key responsibilities will be:

• Lead cross functional teams and develop effective relationships
• Work as commercial business partner to the Leadership Team ensuring the strategies deliver the specification and quality of services required and enable the business to deliver best value and quality its customers.  
• Lead on collaboration with the Global and European Procurement teams, and design, develop and implement procurement plans and strategies that drive down costs and enhance performance.
• Provide appropriate challenge and thought leadership to influence and support business decision making
• Implement best practice procurement within relevant categories as well as category management and development of sourcing strategies
• Strong process orientation, with the ability to apply clarity of purpose and define simple, robust operating processes

Skills and experience:

• Be a commercially astute analyst and a natural problem solver with a strong understanding of leveraging operating efficiencies and opportunities to gain added value from suppliers and logistics partners.
• Excellent negotiating skills are essential and you will have experience drawing up and dealing with contracts of varying values and complexities, and managing supplier Service Level Agreements
• You will be comfortable working in complex, changing environment and be a concise and influential communicator who is able to discuss complex issues with clarity and credibility to a cross functional audience of varied experience
• You will have the ability to drive understanding and staff development through high quality, consistent feedback.
• Coaching and developing a team in both tools and techniques of purchasing best practice.