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Purchasing Manager - Procurement | Manufacturing | £18m Spend | Team Leadership

We are partnering with a leading manufacturing business within a low volume manufacturing environment, part of a major international group, to recruit an experienced Purchasing Manager. This is a high-impact role combining both strategic and hands-on procurement, with responsibility for leading a team of four buyers and managing an annual spend of approximately £18 million.

Reporting to the Supply Chain Manager, you will take ownership of sourcing, supplier performance, cost reduction and material availability to support production. The role offers significant scope to drive change, improve systems and deliver group-level procurement synergies.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and develop a team of Buyers, providing day-to-day direction and longer-term capability building.
Manage end-to-end procurement of direct and indirect materials, services, and CAPEX.
Develop and deploy sourcing strategies, leveraging group-wide frameworks and economies of scale across the group.
Drive cost reduction, contract negotiation and supplier consolidation initiatives.
Ensure high levels of material availability and OTIF performance for manufacturing operations.
Own supplier performance management, including quality, delivery, compliance, and continuous improvement.
Oversee MRP accuracy, inventory control and material loss reduction.
Support risk management, import compliance and outsourcing decisions.
Play a key role in SAP implementation and optimisation of material operating systems.
Track and report procurement KPIs, working cross-functionally with Production, Planning, Finance and Engineering.

Key Challenges

Managing critical material shortages in a constrained supply market.
Improving inventory accuracy and working capital performance.
Reducing material loss and process inefficiencies.
Stabilising and enhancing material planning and operating systems.
Driving OTIF improvements across the supplier base.
Supporting a successful SAP implementation and adoption.

Candidate Profile

Proven experience in a Purchasing or Procurement Manager role within a manufacturing or engineering environment.
Strong mix of strategic sourcing and hands-on transactional procurement.
Demonstrated people management experience, ideally leading a small to medium-sized team.
Track record of cost reduction, supplier negotiation and performance improvement.
Solid understanding of MRP, inventory management and ERP systems (SAP highly desirable).
Comfortable operating in a change environment with systems implementation and process improvement.
Commercially astute, analytical, and able to influence cross-functional stakeholders