Senior Purchasing Manager - Food

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced negotiator with a strong background in food procurement to join the Greggs Procurement team as Senior Purchasing Manager - Food.

Based in Newcastle, the Senior Purchasing Manager - Food will lead a team of Food Purchasing Managers and Buyers, overseeing the Procurement of all food ingredients and products for manufacturing and retail requirements. This role involves commercial negotiations, supplier relationship management, and addressing food safety, ESG agendas, while developing risk strategies for supply continuity.

Working closely with stakeholders in manufacturing, logistics, retail, sales, product development, and technical teams, the Senior Purchasing Manager will procure ingredients to support product and category development, ensuring best value. They will also manage contract creation and resolve supplier performance issues.

What you'll do

• Day to day oversight of the Purchasing team responsible for the procurement of the required ingredients and products to enable the delivery of best value of goods expected to be more than £600m pa
• Drive operational excellence of contract and negotiation processes ensuring compliance with corporate standards
• Support the embedding of the animal welfare, ESG and carbon agendas into all procurement decision making
• Ensure the support to internal stakeholders to deliver the corporate, commercial and development agendas ensuring that technical requirements are fulfilled
• Assist in the development of appropriate risk strategies to protect the business against supplier / commodity disruption
• Develop appropriate category strategies to deliver optimum value and future proof against growth requirements
• Develop an appropriate supplier relationship agenda to ensure supplier performance is monitored and managed to meet required standards
• Responsible for resolution of supplier performance issues
• Work closely with finance business partners to manage and monitor cost inflation and budget targets

About you

The ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of the products the team procures, as well as knowledge of suppliers who can meet the needs of our business. They should be focused on value creation, risk management and building strategic relationships. In addition, the candidate should demonstrate experience in leading a Procurement team, ensuring budget achievement, and meeting internal customer requirements across a diverse range of purchases.

The successful candidate will also have:

• Strong leadership skills with a focus on coaching and mentoring both seasoned professionals and nurturing the development of future talent
• A demonstrated history of successful negotiation and cost reduction, with a focus on maximizing value
• Extensive experience in commodities and value-added food procurement
• Strong understanding of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and Sustainability agendas and their influence on procurement strategies
• Proven ability to develop and present proposals with confidence for Board and peer approval
• Highly numerate with exceptional analytical skills
• Adept at working under pressure and meeting tight deadlines while managing multiple competing priorities
• Are supportive of an inclusive culture – recognising and valuing that difference is good
• Want to develop and are ready to work alongside some great people and have lots of fun on your Greggs journey!

About Greggs

Here at Greggs, we love what we do, and we have fun! What makes Greggs so special is our culture – the way we are, the way we behave and the way we support each other. We're hard-working, but above all else we're family; and it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what your favourite bake is, we’d love you to join us! We want everyone to feel welcome at Greggs and our colleagues to be able to be themselves at work, whatever their background, preferences, or views.