Manager - Inflight Services Supplier Relationships: Virgin Atlantic

Job Details

Salary: Competitive

Hours: Full Time

Location: The VHQ, Crawley (hybrid with 3 days a week in the office)

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: 4th February 2024 

Many of our staff at Virgin work flexibly and in many different ways, different core hours or remote working. Please talk to us at your application or interview stage about the flexibility you need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we are happy to explore what's possible for the role. 

In a nutshell

We're seeking a commercially focused Supplier Relationship Manager (SRM) with a background in the airline catering industry - it's essential that you have experience in negotiating and working with external suppliers.

Reporting to the Head of Inflight Services, this role is accountable for supplier performance and contractual management as well as driving commercial performance of a £40m+ annual budget across Inflight Service Charges, Catering, Laundry, Systems and associated services. 

Day to day

This is a highly varied role and the main day to day activities associated with it are below:  

Budget and financial planning, analysis and management of a set of strategically important In-Flight services. 

Key to this is setting/achieving relevant budgets as well as leading SRM activity with strategic global suppliers and cultivating a commercial/performance management culture across the IFS organisation. 

The role has overall responsibility for delivering RFP tender activity including the scoping of services and the commercial negotiation and analysis together with the Procurement Category Management team. 

The role is also accountable for ensuring invoices/spend is audited and agreed via approved systems/processes and is in line with internal audit requirements.

The Manager is also responsible for supporting the IFS team in commercial discussions and performance management as well as being the Subject Matter Expert (SME) in developing financial "what-if" scenarios and budget analysis. 

The postholder will also be responsible for the financial performance of non-food catering budgets, mitigating overspend and driving efficiencies 

About you

Are you an experienced manager, with exceptional influencing and analytical skills? If this sounds like you and you have the below skills and capabilities, then we'd love to hear from you!

• You will be an experienced networker with an ability to influence and manage both internal and external customers, using a range of different approaches as required
• Experience working within an aviation catering unit
• Commercially astute and comfortable operating with significant levels of detail, including assimilating complex data for decision making and budget preparation and tracking
• Excellent time management, planning and organisation skills - a self-starter who sees things to completion 
• Senior-level business experience ideally with broad experience of in-flight service management, delivery and support services
• Emotional resilience, remaining effective under pressure as well as dealing well with ambiguity - plotting a robust track through it
• Ability to assess complex business situations and propose recommendations, balancing being a champion for the customer with cost
• Track record of success in project/programme management and delivery of significant change in complex commercial and operational environments.
• Ability to travel at short notice
• Good understanding of In-flight product and service supply chains and processes

Be yourself

Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. That's why we're proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and everything that makes our colleagues unique by upholding an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive. So that everyone at Virgin Atlantic can be themselves and know they belong.

To make your journey with us accessible and individual to you, we encourage you to let us know if you'd like a little extra help with your application, or if you have any individual requirements at any stage along your recruitment journey. We are here to support you, so please reach out to our team, (recruitment@fly.virgin.com) feeling confident that we've got your individual considerations covered.