Job Description
New Program (NPI) Buyer – 12 month FTC
Pitstone, Tring, Hertfordshire
£ Competitive
Benefits: 8% Bonus, Excellent Pension, 33 Days Holiday, Dental, BUPA, EV scheme, Workplace nursery scheme, Midday finish on Fridays, Enhanced family friendly policies, Wellbeing programme, Employee assistance programme including health and finance, Onsite subsidised canteen
Skills: SAP, Purchasing, NPI, Engineering, Relationship building, Supply chain management, Negotiating, Analytical, Data visualisation and presenting
At Safran Electrical & Power, we recognise that aviation needs to innovate and change in order to protect our environment. We believe that future aircraft power systems will be hybrid-electric or full-electric, which is why we are working to develop and deliver advanced electrical solutions to help decarbonise flight.
If you want to help deliver this future, we are looking for enthusiastic and creative people to join our team.
The UK Safran Electrical & Power team has expertise in designing and developing electrical systems comprising generators, power conversion, distribution and control, with developing expertise in electric motors for aircraft propulsion.
The Role
As a New Program Buyer at Safran Electrical & Power you will manage and coordinate new programs and projects for Safran, whilst building positive relationships with vendors and suppliers, securing the best quality programs in the aerospace industry. You will manage and align core commodity strategies, greatly contributing to supplier selection and the development of future product roadmaps to ensure high quality output for ongoing and future programs. You will work closely with the engineering team to ensure design evolutions and developments correspond with manufacturing lead times.
•Manage and facilitate all sourcing activity, aligning core commodity strategies with supplier selection.
•Coordinate and manage new programs at the site, building robust and solid relationships with high quality vendors and suppliers.
•Ensure design evolutions synchronise with from initial concept through to new product introduction phases.
•Work with Supplier Account Manager and Commodity Manager to negotiate prices, terms, conditions and agreements.
•Follow a robust design-to-cost methodology, challenging design requirements to ensure they correspond with program and product roadmaps.
•Escalate, when appropriate, any significant issues that require management intervention or awareness.
•Work with suppliers to resolve any issues impacting performance, such as quality discrepancies.
•Coordinate with the purchasing teams and vendors to enable robust and efficient supply chains.
•Report and present program reviews to various stakeholders.
Complementary Description
•Challenge, negotiate, secure and report fulfilment of program targets in terms of Quality, Cost, Delivery (QCD)
•Ensure that the suppliers are able to meet the Safran Quality requirements and where needed, facilitate negotiations between Engineering and Supplier
•To provide rolling cost data for project showing current and future state
•To secure parts in line with program schedule
•Initiate long term agreement negotiations with programme and strategic suppliers, ensuring that development and supply agreements are structured in line with customer terms and programme objectives, working with Commodity Management Team
•To report and present at programme reviews
Other key interactions include working within cross functional project teams, reporting to internal stakeholders (SLT & CODIV level), liaising with other Safran sites on multi-site programs (particularly Twinsburg, Reau, Niort and other Safran Business Units – SLS, SVS, SHE, SES)
No direct reports
Candidate will be expected to make decisions relating to supply of components without supervision from manager. Will also be expected to make decisions relating to terms and conditions, and cost reduction activities without supervision
Job Requirements
Desirable Experience
We are looking for candidates with a range of skills and experience, but we're also keen to help people grow and develop in this role. If you have some or all of the following, we'd love to hear from you:
•Minimum 5 years of purchasing/sourcing experience within a manufacturing environment (Aerospace sector experience is desirable but not mandatory)
•Technical background. Able to understand Engineering drawings and requirements. Engineering degree a plus.
•Proven ability to lead cross-functional sourcing projects, manage supplier performance, and drive cost reduction initiatives
•Demonstrated project management knowledge or experience, including budget tracking, risk management, and milestone reporting
•Strong commercial awareness and negotiation skills, with a track record of supplier engagement and contract management
•Comfortable making autonomous decisions related to supply, cost, and terms without supervision
•Experience working in low-volume, high-complexity environments is highly preferable
•Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills, able to work across engineering, design, and manufacturing functions
•Strong analytical and organizational skills, with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities
•Ability to think strategically, contribute to the development of purchasing strategies, and align sourcing decisions with long-term program and business objectives
•Proficient in MRP systems (SAP) and Microsoft Office tools (Excel, PowerPoint); experience with BOM and planning parameters is a plus
•High motivation to learn and perform in a prototype-driven environment to a high-pace manufacturing ramp up.
•Excellent communication skills. Evidence of written and speaking English proficiency required (certification or SHL test)
•Demonstrates versatility in working across different cultures and time zones
But what else? (advantages, specific features, etc.)
Travel specificity: 15%, mostly within the UK and EU for supplier visits and cross-site collaboration
Company Information
Safran is an international high-technology group, operating in the aviation (propulsion, equipment and interiors), defense and space markets. Its core purpose is to contribute to a safer, more sustainable world, where air transport is more environmentally friendly, comfortable and accessible. Safran has a global presence, with 100,000 employees and sales of 27.3 billion euros in 2024, and holds, alone or in partnership, world or regional leadership positions in its core markets.
Safran is in the 2nd place in the aerospace and defense industry in TIME magazine's "World's best companies 2024" ranking.
Safran Electrical & Power is one of the world's leaders in aircraft electrical systems. The company is a key player in equipment electrification and in the electric and hybrid propulsion sector. It has over 14,000 employees across 13 different countries.