Category Procurement Manager

We are the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK, and our presence in the US and China positions the Group well in these high-growth markets. We leverage our consumer insight and scale to provide innovative food that offers quality, choice, convenience, and freshness. Around 18,500 colleagues operate from 44 sites across our three markets supplying a portfolio of over 2,900 products across meals, pizza & bread, salads and desserts to leading grocery retailers in the UK and US, and international food brands in China.

Location: Spalding – Lincolnshire / Flexible          

Contract Type: Permanent

Business Area: Bakkavor Ltd

Working Hours: Monday to Friday – 37.5 hours

We're the biggest name you've never heard of. You've probably eaten our food - you just didn't realise it. We make innovative fresh products, with around 18,500 colleagues working across the UK, US and China. We’re the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry supplying meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers (including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's and Waitrose). We’re ambitious. We’re full of ideas. And we’re ready for more people who share our values and passion for quality to join us.

Category Procurement Manager

We’re proud to offer you a career with real scope for development. To reward your hard work and ambition as a talented Category Procurement Manager with plenty of support and opportunity. And empower you to drive your own success and create a career you can be proud of too.

In this busy and exciting role, you will lead the procurement category management process across the fresh and frozen veg categories - ensuring maximum commercial value and expenditure.

Influencing internal, external and customer stakeholders throughout the sourcing process to successfully deliver agreed category plans, group goals and business needs – whilst ensuring all risks are managed and commercial advantage is maximised – will be top of your agenda.

Main Duties

• Leading allocated category using your expert market and product knowledge, which is recognised both internally and externally within the value chain and the customer
• Leading, developing and delivering the medium to long term procurement strategy - maximising value to Bakkavor and its customer base by ensuring business and customer needs are understood and managed to deliver long term sustainability
• Ensuring that all category areas have a clear and robust risk management strategy and operational plan in place, encompassing all Bakkavor business needs
• Presenting and agreeing risk plans with the appropriate stakeholders, to ensure full implementation and effective contracting
• Owning any crisis management issues across designated category, ensuring stakeholders are fully informed and internal teams are supported
• Undertaking full ownership for all category prices within the group’s financial forecasts and tracking ongoing performance, ensuring the live tracker is updated accordingly
• Developing senior relationships with all suppliers and ensuring performance measures are in place which are reviewed regularly. Using these measures to ensure that key suppliers are meeting continuous improvement targets relating to value, quality, service, risk management and innovation
• Developing and leading robust Category Improvement Plans (CIP) for expenditure which is aligned and approved by the relevant stakeholders - maintaining as a live and evolving document and holding regular reviews to drive delivery
• To be recognised as the Category expert for Bakkavor within the value chain, managing and influencing on procurement matters to meet our strategic objectives – maintaining strong relationships across the group and with customers, demonstrating effective leadership to deliver category plans and strategy
• Coaching, training and motivating direct reports to support their development needs ensuring Bakkavor leadership behaviours are always demonstrated
• Utilising a deep knowledge of the technical risks for allocated category and working closely with the Technical function to proactively manage change to products or suppliers in order to deliver sourcing strategies
• Ensuring the agenda is fully embedded and that all category sourcing strategies / plans take into account the Bakkavor Responsible Sourcing Policy

Qualification, skills, knowledge and experience:

• Vegetable or at least fresh produce procurement experience
• Strong negotiation skills and commercial expertise
• Strong presentation skills including the ability to present complex information clearly
• CIPs or relevant demonstrable experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong influencing skills and relationship building capability across all levels
• Solid understanding of Procurement processes
• Experience within category, contract law and commodity or base raw material tracking methods
• Sound understanding of financial accounts
• Full understanding of the principles of ETI base codes
• Comprehensive MS office including excel
• Sound understanding of food safety
• The ability to challenge effectively whilst maintaining relationships
• Strong analytical and operational execution skills with a high degree of attention to detail
• Strategic and operational mindset with a focus on collaborative working to share knowledge and expertise to drive the performance of others
• Solid leadership skills with the ability to achieve results through others

What you can expect from us

When joining us you can expect a highly competitive rewards package including group pension, bonus, private medical insurance, and other flexible benefits - alongside excellent career progression prospects across the Bakkavor group.

Proud to be Bakkavor

We’re proud to deliver outstanding quality, service, and value to our customers. We’re proud to be the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK. And we’re proud of the hard work, quality focus and loyalty of our people. Join our team and we’ll make you proud too.

#LI-JM1