Procurement Category Manager - Food & Ingredients

Procurement Category Manager

The Opportunity

A well-known name in food manufacturing is looking for a seasoned procurement leader to own their packaging and commodities category. You'll be the go-to person for sourcing, negotiating, and managing supplier relationships across a network of manufacturing sites, distribution centres and third-party partners - with real influence over how the business buys and who it buys from.

This isn't a back-office procurement role. You'll be working shoulder-to-shoulder with Planning, Operations, Quality, Finance and the Executive team, and your negotiations and category strategies will directly shape the bottom line.

What You'll Be Doing

• Running the sourcing process from strategy through to negotiation, landing deals that balance cost, quality and service
• Building out category plans for packaging materials and commodities (think sugar, cocoa, vegetable oils, dairy, plastics, paper)
• Keeping supply risk in check - financial, operational and service-related - and having a plan when things go sideways
• Partnering with Planning on forecasts and purchase orders, and with Accounts Payable when invoicing hiccups crop up
• Owning supplier performance: regular reviews, relationship management, and holding vendors accountable on quality
• Keeping data clean and current in Dynamics 365
• Feeding into Finance's budgeting and reporting cycles
• Championing sustainability initiatives where you can

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years in procurement, ideally with FMCG experience under your belt
• A track record of end-to-end category ownership - packaging and/or commodities specifically
• Confidence negotiating and managing contracts with suppliers of all sizes
• Comfort operating in a multi-site, complex business
• Hands-on ERP experience (Dynamics 365 highly regarded)
• The communication chops to talk shop with a site operator and an executive in the same day
• A degree or CIPS qualification in procurement, supply chain, business or project management
• Genuine curiosity about how AI tools can sharpen your reporting and decision-making

Why This Role

You'll get autonomy, a seat at the table with senior leadership, and a category that genuinely matters to the business. If you like owning outcomes rather than just processing purchase orders, this is built for you.

Interested? Get in touch to find out more.

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