Category Buyer in Bicester

The Menu Partners is a diversefood business supplying hotels, pubs and restaurants up and down the UK withwhole, prepared or cooked food.  Within our group of businesses, we alsohave Absolute Taste, a leading event catering company, Absolute Taste Inflight,our Private Jet catering business along with two farm shops, a pub and so muchmore.

The Menu Partners and AbsoluteTaste, two distinct business both at the cutting edge of their sectors,building future business via great people, operating at some of the biggest andgreatest events on the planet, prepared to challenge the status quo, buildingnew cultures and operating procedures that will meet the future business needs,attracting the best, supporting everybody, open minded, not afraid of change,prepared to go that extra mile for our customers etc. 

We have the exciting opportunityto join our fast-paced and quickly expanding company.  This role can bebased either at our London or Bicester (Oxfordshire) office locations. 

This role can based either in NewCovent Garden, London or Bicester, Oxfordshire depending where the candidate isbased. 

This is a great opportunity foran ambitious, commercially driven category manager with experience in categoryprocurement to join fast-moving/paced. 

 You will take ownership forcategory procurement at The Menu Partners, including developing your portfolio,negotiating commercial opportunities with suppliers and work with otherdepartments to drive customer satisfaction across the business.

As the Category Buyer, you will have a central role by leading and controllingthe procurement activity within your category. You will get involved in avariety of projects and contribute directly to driving the overall success ofthe business.

This is a role critical to thegrowth and development of the business. You'll be working within a small, highperformance buying team, reporting to the Head of Procurement.

KEY DIMENSIONS

• Development and evolution of a commercially competitive portfolio of products.
• Take ownership of the end-to-end sourcing process.
• Effectively liaise with suppliers on range development and commercial terms.
• Working with sales teams to facilitate the company budgeted sales and margin targets.
• Support inventory buying and stock control teams.
• Produce detailed, informative, market information to support sales teams and customers.
• Set clear savings plans with objectives, goals, strategies, and measures.
• Provide regular updates to the Head of Procurement on progress, opportunities, and roadblocks.
• Partner Head of Procurement to develop a world class procurement team.
• Shielding the business against cost inflation.
• Ensuring effective cross functional communication

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Ideally, you will be experienced in buying/procurement within the food andbeverage industry.

The candidate is required to havestrong knowledge of the sectors diverse products and supply chain, withappreciation for what is required to be a success in the Hospitality sector.

The key qualities required to perform the role successfully include:

• Product & Industry knowledge.
• Enthusiastic and committed attitude.
• Agile thinker
• Develop and conclude substantial agreements.
• Effective communication skills
• Project management capability
• Ability to work at pace
• Proven track record of delivering category growth and cost savings