Procurement & Supply Chain Manager

Wickford, Essex
Salary- £50,000-£60,000 plus profit related bonus
Private Healthcare

Our client is a well-established manufacturing business based in Wickford, Essex. They are looking for an experienced Procurement & Supply Chain Manager to join their team.
As Procurement & Supply Chain Manager, you will take ownership of procurement, supplier relationships and inventory strategy across the business.

Reporting directly to the Managing Director and sitting on the Senior Leadership Team, you’ll have real autonomy to shape the function, influence commercial decisions and deliver measurable improvements across cost, availability, stock and supplier performance.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll lead a team of three, but you’ll also be personally involved in key negotiations, sourcing decisions and inventory planning. Our procurement model covers both manufactured products, where you’ll buy raw materials and components against bills of material, and finished goods for resale, so you’ll need to understand the different commercial and planning challenges of both.

What you’ll be responsible for

• Own and develop the procurement and supply chain strategy across manufactured and factored products.
• Lead supplier selection, negotiation, contracts and performance management, including key overseas suppliers in Turkey and the Far East.
• Manage purchasing spend, pricing, freight, lead times, MOQs and supplier terms.
• Own inventory parameters, forecasting and safety-stock policy, balancing product availability with working capital.
• Drive down excess, slow-moving and obsolete stock.
• Identify and mitigate supply chain risks, including supplier concentration, FX, freight and geographic exposure.
• Work closely with Finance, Operations, Sales, Quality and NPD to improve forecasting, margins and service levels.
• Lead and develop a team of three, setting clear KPIs and standards.
• Improve procurement processes, systems and automation, making better use of ERP, inventory planning and reporting tools.
• Bring market intelligence and commercial insight to the SLT and make recommendations that improve the performance of the business.

Requirements

About you

We’re looking for someone who combines commercial procurement expertise with strong operational and analytical skills.

You’ll ideally have:

• Proven procurement experience within manufacturing, distribution or a similar product-led environment.
• Experience managing overseas suppliers and significant purchasing spend.
• Strong negotiation and supplier-management skills.
• A good understanding of inventory planning, forecasting and working-capital trade-offs.
• Experience managing and developing a small procurement team.
• The confidence to work autonomously and challenge senior stakeholders.
• A hands-on approach, you’ll be comfortable getting into the detail rather than simply managing from a distance.
• Experience improving procurement processes, systems or automation.

Why join?

This is an opportunity to own thefunction rather than simply manage a purchasing operation. You’ll report directly to the MD, have a seat at the senior leadership table and have genuine influence over sourcing, suppliers, stock and commercial strategy.

Please note- This is an office-based role, with occasional overseas travel.

Benefits

• Salary- £50,000-£60,000 basic plus profit related bonus
• Private Healthcare (following successful completion of probation)
• 25 days annual leave increasing by 1 day for each year’s service up to a maximum of 28 days
• Option to buy up to 3 additional holidays
• Breakfast and lunch ingredients provided
• Fresh fruit delivered weekly
• One paid Private Healthcare (following successful completion of probation)
• volunteer day per year
• £10 gift voucher on your birthday
• Free 24 hour employee assistance programme
• Staff discount