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Senior Buyer - Packaging

Location: Kent, Canterbury / site based role Monday to Friday
Salary: £40,000 - £44,589
Type: Full-time, permanent

Ready to take full ownership of a high-value packaging category in a fast-paced FMCG environment?

About the Role
We're recruiting a Senior Buyer - Packaging to take full strategic and operational ownership of a core packaging category, with primary responsibility for a defined packaging category and an annual spend of approximately £4.3m.

This is a hands-on, end-to-end buying role where you'll develop and deliver category strategy, manage supplier relationships, lead tenders, and control day-to-day purchasing activity. You'll play a key role in supporting growth initiatives across the category over the next 12 months.

While there are no direct line management responsibilities, you'll act as a senior figure within the team, providing guidance and informal mentoring to Administrators and Junior Buyers.

Key Responsibilities

Own and deliver the packaging category strategy, balancing cost, availability, risk, and performance.

Lead supplier negotiations, commercial agreements, and preferred supplier frameworks.

Run tenders and sourcing initiatives to drive value and resilience.

Manage market movements, cost pressures, and pricing reviews.

Oversee day-to-day buying, MRP-driven ordering, and stock control to ensure continuity of supply.

Maintain supplier scorecards, performance reviews, and continuous improvement plans.

Support implementation across the category.

Provide insight-led reporting on spend, performance, and savings.

What You'll Bring

Proven experience as a Buyer or Senior Buyer within an FMCG or manufacturing environment.

Strong procurement fundamentals with the ability to operate both strategically and operationally.

Packaging experience is desirable but not essential - learning agility is key.

Confident working with performance targets and commercial KPIs.

Proactive, self-starting mindset with strong analytical capability.

Comfortable influencing without formal line management responsibility.

Why Apply?
This is a role with genuine ownership, visibility, and impact. You'll manage a critical category, work closely with senior stakeholders, and play a key role in shaping procurement performance in a growing, performance-driven business.

Interested?
If you're a commercially driven buyer ready to step into a senior, high-ownership packaging role, apply now or get in touch for a confidential conversation