Job Title: Senior Buyer
Salary: £35,200 - £45,700
Location: Cambridge - The Triangle Building, UK
Contract: Fixed Term/Secondment (12-month Maternity Cover)
Hours: Full time (35 hours per week)
We have an exciting opportunity for a fixed‑term Senior Buyer to join our dynamic Global Procurement team. You'll be determined, focused and curious, ensuring we get the right suppliers in place balancing the need to drive value and manage risk.
We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world‑leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.
About The Role
Under the leadership of the Global Procurement Manager, this role offers the opportunity to deliver high‑value outcomes across a broad range of indirect procurement categories, including facilities management, professional services, HR and resourcing and property. You will secure value‑for‑money deals and negotiate robust contractual frameworks that reduce commercial and operational risk while supporting timely project delivery. The role plays a pivotal part in shaping long‑term supplier relationships through effective SRM, ensuring accountability aligned to our Procurement and Group policies, sustainability commitments, and EDIB values, while influencing the wider supply‑chain strategy across our indirect spend portfolio.
Responsibilities and accountabilities include
* Manage moderate‑ to high‑value/risk categories, providing analysis and guidance to support negotiation of critical supply agreements.
* Oversee specific spend categories, ensuring compliant processes and providing commercial support to stakeholders.
* Maintain supply security through long‑term contracts, SRM relationship models, knowledge transfer, and identification of alternative sources.
* Maintain accurate, auditable records and systems to demonstrate process compliance.
* Negotiate with vendors and internal stakeholders to secure value, quality, timely delivery, and mutually beneficial contractual terms.
* Monitor performance through SRM, SLAs, and KPIs, producing clear and accurate management reports.
* Work collaboratively with stakeholders and product teams across the full sourcing lifecycle—buy, implement, operate, and review.
* Manage commercial inputs and vendor relationships through SRM.
This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40‑60% of their time collaborating and connecting face‑to‑face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements, should you require adjustments due to a disability or long‑term health condition.
About You
Essential skills
* Strong knowledge of sourcing and procurement methods (RFI, RFQ, RFP), cost avoidance, and outsourcing.
* Experience in procuring indirect services, capital equipment, and supporting building, facilities, soft services, and HR procurement.
* Experience in supplier relationship management.
* Skilled at stakeholder management.
* Skilled negotiator.
Experience
* Strong customer focus with excellent interpersonal skills across all levels.
* Ability to build influential relationships and guide commercial decisions.
* Highly organised with strong project awareness.
* Solid procurement experience with financial analysis capability.
* Knowledge of SLAs, KPIs, and supply‑base rationalisation for cost savings.
* Experienced in negotiating value‑focused, risk‑mitigated, future‑proofed vendor terms.
* Strong analytical, problem‑solving, presentation, and communication skills.
* Clear and confident presentation and communication skills.
If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria:
Desirable
* A degree level qualification, working towards CIPS Professional Stage Diploma or time serviced in a procurement experience.
For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.
We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long‑term health condition, and best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long‑term health condition.
Please note that Cambridge University Press & Assessment will not ordinarily be able to provide sponsorship for vacancies of less than 12‑months in duration. Applicants must therefore have an existing right to work in the UK to be eligible for this position.
Rewards And Benefits
We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world‑class, flexible rewards package, featuring family‑friendly and planet‑friendly benefits including:
* 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
* Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
* Discretionary annual bonusGroup personal pension schemeLife assurance up to 4× annual salaryGreen travel schemes
Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.
We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will 13 April 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place from the week commencing 23 April 2026.
If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:
o First stage virtual interview via MS Teams.
o Final stage interview: in‑person at our offices in Cambridge.
If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long‑term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.
Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.
We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.
Why join us
Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background. We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.
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