Wonderful opportunity for a MANDARIN speaker with a FOOD PURCHASING/PROCUREMENT background. This is a well-established food import/export business that specialises in importing specialists food products from China and supplies supermarkets and restaurant chains around the UK and internationally. The company has gone through a recent explosion in growth because of the increased interest in home-cooking that started during Covid.People are now experimenting with new flavours and new dishes and this company has been able to expand strongly to accommodate increasingly sophisticated and international dishes.In this role you will look after existing and new suppliers, manage a high performing sales team and use your expertise to support the business’s growth plans. It’s a senior role and you will use your Mandrin and English daily and you will be liaising with teams across the business to ensure that suppliers meet EU food import safety requirements, manage stock planning and ensure that customers get deliveries on time. It’s a lovely role for someone looking to take their next step PURCHASING !
TITLE: Mandarin Chinese Purchasing Manager FOOD
Salary : £60,000-£70,000 + excellent benefits
Work style: On site
Location : Kent ( free parking on site )
Language required: Mandarin and English
Essential experience: Import/Export in the Food sector
Team management: You will oversee a team of 3-5 people
Company details
Major food import/export business with specialist area of supplying Chinese foods to hotels/restaurants/retailers and wholesalers. In this role you will look after a portfolio of existing and new suppliers ( based in China & Europe)) and also track sales stock and help plan for new orders .It’s a senior role and you will use your Mandrin and English daily and you will be liaising with teams across the business including the sales team to ensure that stock levels match order levels and that customers get deliveries on time. Most importantly, you will be the link between the suppliers and the business. In this role you will be managing a team of around 4 sales and sales administration staff
Duties 4 elements : 1)Supplier management 2) Compliance 3) Demand planning 4) team Management
* Supplier Management
* Nurture and manage supplier relationships in Asia and Europe
* Manage buying strategy
* Identify opportunities to reduce total cost, and increase the profitability
* Negotiate pricing, delivery and KPI’s with new suppliers. Contract signing
* Conduct supplier assessments and manage supplier risks ( food hygiene/quality standards /EU food safety requirements )
* Oversee product lunches
* Supplier Compliance
* Monitor compliance within the purchasing process
* Ensuing there is accurate allergen, ingredient and nutritional information across all items
* Oversee food quality standards
* Working with food-related import/export rules
* Demand planning
* Oversee stock planning
* Liaise with warehouse to ensure sufficient stock levels are available .
* Team Management
* Coach, nurture and retain the sales admin support team
* Identify skills shortfalls
* Recruit and train new joiners
* Create a warm and collaborative work environment and help clarify responsibilities, and set team performance targets
REQUIREMENTS
* Degree educated
* Food related buyer/procurement experience (essential)
* Fluent Mandarin & English
* Familiarity with UK/EU import regulations and food safety standards.