Strategic Buyer

Job - Strategic Buyer

Salary - £40,000 - £45,000 - Discretionary annual bonus

Location - Skelmersdale

40 hours per week - Informal flexibility on start and finish times.

Introduction to the company

Flowtech is one of the UK’s leading providers of hydraulics, pneumatics and process engineering solutions.

The business has been established for over 40 years and employs more than 600 people across multiple UK and international locations.

They support sectors including manufacturing, construction, agriculture, infrastructure, energy and engineering.

This is a newly created role within the Procurement & Supply Chain team. It has been added as part of continued investment in procurement capability across the business.

Role and responsibilities

You will support the Procurement Manager and work closely with teams across the business.

The role is focused on supplier performance, sourcing, commercial decision-making and improving how procurement works across Flowtech.

Key responsibilities include:

• Build strong relationships with internal teams.
• Understand business needs and support procurement objectives.
• Support sourcing plans across assigned suppliers and categories.
• Lead supplier sourcing, quotes and tender activity.
• Support contract negotiations.
• Use supplier and market data to guide buying decisions.
• Manage supplier relationships across cost, quality, service and delivery.
• Run supplier reviews and agree improvement actions.
• Support supplier risk and supply continuity planning.
• Identify cost saving and value creation opportunities.
• Improve procurement processes, policies and governance.
• Work with Operations, Sales, Commercial, Finance and Senior Leadership.
• Influence stakeholders so procurement gets involved earlier in key decisions.

Key requirements

• Experience in procurement, purchasing, category support or supplier management.
• Experience in manufacturing, engineering, industrial distribution, technical products or a similar setting.
• Strong commercial awareness.
• Good negotiation skills.
• Experience improving processes or ways of working.
• Strong Excel skills.
• ERP system experience.
• Good communication skills.
• Confidence working with stakeholders across different departments.
• Strong problem-solving skills.

Desirable:

• CIPS qualification or working towards it.
• Experience in a growing procurement function.
• Experience with strategic sourcing or category management.
• Supplier review and performance management experience.
• Hydraulics, pneumatics, MRO, automation, fluid power or industrial product experience.

Benefits and perks

£40,000 - £45,000 salary.

Discretionary annual bonus.

25 days holiday plus bank holidays.

Pension: 5% employee / 3% employer.

Life assurance at 3x salary.

Help at Hand / wellbeing package.

Informal flexibility on start and finish times.

Newly created role with clear scope to make an impact.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a growing business and be a key part of the developments in the department and work with some genuinely lovely people along the way.

Please apply now and I'll get in touch - Neil.