Procurement Manager
Golden Delight Foods
Location: Birmingham
Hours: Full-time
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
Reporting to: Senior Management
About the Role
Golden Delight Foods is looking for an experienced, highly organised and commercially aware Procurement Manager to take ownership of our purchasing, supplier management, stock planning and procurement data.
This is a hands-on role within a busy food manufacturing environment. We need someone who can not only place orders, but who can look ahead, anticipate requirements, work accurately with data and take responsibility for ensuring the right products arrive in the right quantities, at the right time and at the right cost.
The successful candidate will be comfortable managing a large amount of information across suppliers, production requirements, stock levels, lead times and incoming deliveries. You will need excellent attention to detail and the ability to identify discrepancies before they become operational problems.
This role would particularly suit somebody who enjoys bringing structure, accuracy and forward planning to a fast-moving purchasing environment.
Key ResponsibilitiesProcurement & Forward Planning
- Take overall responsibility for day-to-day procurement activity.
- Plan purchasing requirements in advance using production forecasts, sales information, current stock levels, supplier lead times and historical usage.
- Maintain a clear forward purchasing plan covering upcoming requirements and expected deliveries.
- Identify potential stock shortages early and take appropriate action before production is affected.
- Avoid unnecessary or excessive purchasing by checking existing stock, outstanding orders and future requirements before placing orders.
- Ensure appropriate safety-stock levels are maintained without unnecessarily tying up cash in excess inventory.
- Understand seasonal demand, changing production requirements and longer supplier lead times and plan accordingly.
- Proactively identify procurement risks rather than waiting for shortages or problems to arise.
Purchase Orders & Supplier Management
- Raise accurate purchase orders with the correct:
- product;
- product code;
- specification;
- pack size;
- quantity;
- price;
- currency;
- delivery date; and
- delivery location.
- Check purchasing instructions carefully and clarify anything uncertain before committing an order.
- Maintain professional relationships with UK and international suppliers.
- Negotiate pricing, lead times, minimum order quantities and commercial terms where appropriate.
- Follow up outstanding orders and proactively manage delayed or incomplete deliveries.
- Ensure supplier confirmations match the purchase order placed.
- Maintain clear written records of purchasing decisions and supplier communications.
Stock & Incoming Goods Management
- Maintain accurate records of all outstanding purchase orders and expected incoming goods.
- Ensure management has a reliable view of:
- what has been ordered;
- quantity ordered;
- supplier;
- expected delivery date;
- current status; and
- outstanding actions.
- Reconcile expected deliveries against actual receipts.
- Investigate discrepancies promptly.
- Work closely with production and warehouse teams to understand current and future stock requirements.
- Identify slow-moving or excessive stock and take this into account when planning future purchasing.
Excel, Data & Systems Management
A strong ability to work with data is essential for this role.
The successful candidate must be confident using Microsoft Excel to manage and analyse procurement information.
You should be comfortable with:
- maintaining detailed purchasing and stock spreadsheets;
- filters and sorting;
- formulas;
- lookups such as XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP;
- SUMIF/SUMIFS;
- pivot tables;
- conditional formatting;
- checking and reconciling datasets;
- identifying missing or inconsistent information;
- analysing historical purchasing and usage data;
- producing clear management reports; and
- creating structured tracking tools where required.
You will be expected to check your own data for accuracy rather than relying on colleagues to identify errors.
Experience using Sage 200, another ERP system or purchasing software is highly desirable.
Accuracy & Attention to Detail
Procurement is a business-critical function within Golden Delight Foods.
The successful candidate must have a strong track record of accuracy and understand that seemingly small errors in purchasing can have significant consequences for production, stock levels, storage capacity and cash flow.
You will be expected to:
- independently check your work before orders are committed;
- notice when quantities, prices or specifications do not look correct;
- investigate discrepancies rather than simply processing information;
- identify your own errors and correct them promptly;
- learn from previous errors and put controls in place to prevent recurrence;
- accurately interpret both written and verbal requirements; and
- ask appropriate questions where information is unclear.
Ownership & Problem Solving
We are looking for somebody who takes genuine ownership of procurement.
You should be able to:
- manage routine purchasing independently;
- prioritise multiple requirements;
- make sound commercial decisions;
- investigate problems logically;
- identify the cause of an issue;
- propose solutions rather than simply escalating routine problems;
- recognise when something does not look right;
- remain calm and organised when priorities change; and
- take responsibility for seeing issues through to completion.
You will have support from the wider team, but this is a manager-level position and should not require routine procurement work to be continually checked or corrected by others.
Working With Production
You will work closely with production supervisors and management to convert manufacturing requirements into accurate purchasing plans.
This requires someone who can listen carefully, understand operational requirements and convert them into accurate orders.
You must be comfortable working in an environment where some requirements may be communicated verbally as well as electronically. Where an instruction is unclear, you will be expected to confirm it before placing the order.
Reporting & Management Information
The Procurement Manager will provide management with accurate and up-to-date information including:
- upcoming purchasing requirements;
- outstanding purchase orders;
- expected deliveries;
- stock risks;
- supplier delays;
- excessive or slow-moving stock;
- purchasing costs;
- significant price changes;
- supplier performance; and
- issues requiring management attention.
Management information must be sufficiently accurate that it can be relied upon when making operational and financial decisions.
Essential Experience & Skills
We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:
- previous procurement/purchasing experience;
- experience taking ownership of a purchasing function or significant product categories;
- excellent Excel skills;
- strong numerical ability;
- excellent attention to detail;
- strong stock and inventory awareness;
- forward planning and forecasting ability;
- experience managing multiple suppliers and purchase orders simultaneously;
- confidence analysing data and identifying anomalies;
- strong organisational and prioritisation skills;
- the ability to work independently;
- good written and verbal communication;
- commercial awareness; and
- a practical, solutions-focused approach.
Desirable Experience
Experience in any of the following would be advantageous:
- food manufacturing;
- FMCG;
- chilled or frozen food;
- packaging procurement;
- ingredients/raw-material procurement;
- Sage 200;
- international purchasing;
- import documentation;
- landed-cost calculations;
- supplier forecasting;
- stock forecasting; or
- working within a manufacturing/production environment.
What Success Looks Like
A successful Procurement Manager at Golden Delight Foods will ensure that:
- production requirements are anticipated rather than reacted to;
- required materials are available when needed;
- orders are accurate first time;
- purchasing quantities reflect actual requirements;
- unnecessary stock is minimised;
- expected deliveries are clearly tracked;
- procurement records can be relied upon;
- supplier issues are identified early;
- purchasing decisions are commercially sensible;
- management receives accurate information; and
- routine procurement activity can be managed independently and confidently.
The Person We Are Looking For
We are particularly interested in candidates who are naturally methodical, analytical and forward-thinking.
You should be someone who likes checking the detail, understands the importance of accurate data and does not simply assume that information is correct because it appears on a spreadsheet or system.
You should be comfortable asking:
“Does this quantity make sense?”
“Do we already have stock or an outstanding order?”
“When will we need this?”
“Does this price look correct?”
“What is the lead time?”
“What happens to production if this does not arrive?”
If you enjoy taking ownership of a busy procurement function, working with data and creating a controlled, forward-planned purchasing operation, we would be pleased to hear from you.
How to Apply
Please submit your CV together with a short explanation of your relevant procurement experience, including examples of:
- purchasing or stock planning you have personally managed;
- how you use Excel or data to support procurement decisions; and
- how you have prevented or resolved a significant purchasing or supply issue.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £37,000.00-£45,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Experience:
- Procurement: 2 years (required)
- Purchasing: 2 years (required)
Work Location: In person
