Procurement Specialist Salary: £36,000 - £40,000 Location: Leeming Bar Hours: Monday – Friday Type: Permanent Imperial Recruitment Group are working with a large FMCG manufacturer in Leeming Bar who is looking to appoint a Procurement Specialist Duties: Build strong, effective working relationships with the production and process teams to ensure seamless day-to-day operations. Prepare, issue, and maintain purchase orders in line with company procurement policies and procedures. Confirm purchase orders with vendors including delivery dates, quantities, etc. Proactively manage lead times, delays, and logistics by working closely with vendors and carriers. Maintain purchase orders within SAP to support operational planning and material availability. Support the procurement strategy to reduce costs and drive efficiencies through optimisation of sourcing raw materials and packaging materials. Build strong working relationships with suppliers and cross-functional team members to support efficient procurement. Calculate packaging quantities based on production plans and place orders with suppliers using MRP systems to ensure timely availability. Monitor and evaluate supplier performance for materials. Provide analysis and recommendations for continuous improvement initiatives for materials. Ensure SAP reflects accurate inventory parameters, regularly reviewing to maintain optimal stock levels across the network. Proactively identify risks related to slow-moving or outdated materials, report and collaborate with functional teams to mitigate the potential impacts on production. Monitor material supply levels such as minimum/maximum levels to allow the procurement planning team to meet daily production requirements by escalating and resolving delivery issues proactively. Work closely with the warehouse team to ensure space optimisation. Conduct supplier and site approvals for raw and packaging materials, ensuing safety, legality and authenticity standards are met. Ensure all purchased materials are traceable back to their source of manufacturing and reject any unauthorised substitutions without senior management approval. Take ownership of the procurement of bespoke materials, this includes project specific requirements. Challenge suppliers on invoice errors and negotiate to find agreeable solutions. Act quickly to address procurement issues, whether arising internally or from external suppliers. Support forecasting activities – based on customer and business requirements. Attend daily planning and operations meetings, as well as strategic supplier and customer meetings when required. Provide guidance and support to procurement team members, ensuring they have the tools and information needed for daily success. This role is primarily office-based, occasionally out-of-office hours availability (weekends/evenings) may be required for critical decision making. Develop positive working relationships with key internal stakeholders, particularly Planning, Customer Accounts, NPD & Technical Projects team. Requirements: 3 years of experience in Procurement. Ability to build strong working relationships and collaborate with internal stakeholders. Good understanding of supply chain, sourcing and supplier management. Effective negotiation skills, both commercially and from a strategic planning perspective. Strong organisational, leadership and communication skills, with the ability to guide teams effectively and communicate clearly across all levels of the organisation. Strong analytical and system acumen (SAP, MS Excel, MS 365, etc). As you will be accurately updating and maintaining documents and systems. Strong multitasking skills, capable of managing workload effectively. Excellent time management, ensuring tasks are completed efficiently and within set timeframes with the ability to work to deadlines, by managing priorities efficiently while maintaining high standards of work. Excellent report writing and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate detailed and technical information in a clear and structured format. Excellent problem-solving skills. Willingness to work flexibly, understanding the difference between reactive work and proactive work with a willingness to adjust to changing demands when required. For more information about this opportunity please get in touch with Imperial Recruitment Group