Background
The world around us is experiencing significant change, the greatest in generations.
At Motion Applied, we're accelerating the response to that change. Our vision is that our people and technologies will pioneer a better future. Our mission is to achieve breakthroughs in performance.
We're at the cutting edge of innovation in industries including automotive transportation and motorsport. We create solutions that drive efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
We want to help to reduce the carbon footprint and become more sustainable. Our focus is on electrification and telemetry, control and analytics.
To deliver efficient lightweight electric powertrain and vehicle development; motorsport solutions that make series more sustainable and efficient; reliable connectivity solutions for transportation and insightful analytics and monitoring of transport fleets.
By applying our expertise, we deliver real benefits and pioneer a better future.
Role Overview – Purchasing to Procurement Transformation
As Motion Applied continues its journey from a traditional Purchasing model to a fully embedded, strategic Procurement function, the Category Buyer – Indirects plays a pivotal role in shaping how the organisation manages spend, suppliers, and commercial risk.
This role moves beyond transactional buying to focus on category strategy, supplier value creation, and business partnering. While grounded in today's purchasing operations, the position is instrumental in building future Procurement capability — embedding governance, driving smarter sourcing decisions, and delivering sustainable commercial outcomes across the business.
Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy & Strategic Sourcing
* Develop and execute category strategies across key indirect spend areas (e.g. IT, HR, Professional Services, Marketing, Facilities).
* Segment suppliers, assess risk, and identify opportunities for consolidation, innovation, and value creation.
* Conduct market and supply analysis to inform sourcing decisions and long-term category plans.
* Align category strategies with business objectives, budget cycles, and risk appetite.
Commercial & Contract Leadership
* Lead commercial strategy for tenders, negotiations, contracts, SLAs, and long-term agreements.
* Develop negotiation plans that balance cost, service, risk, and flexibility.
* Own contract lifecycle management, including renewals, performance clauses, and governance.
* Reduce commercial leakage and ensure value realisation from contracted suppliers.
Cost Optimisation & Value Delivery
* Own category savings plans, including cost reduction, cost avoidance, and demand management initiatives.
* Partner with Finance to forecast, validate, and track savings and budget performance.
* Actively reduce off‑contract spend and improve compliance to preferred suppliers and processes.
Stakeholder Engagement & Business Partnering
* Act as a trusted commercial advisor to internal stakeholders across corporate functions.
* Influence decision‑making through insights, benchmarking, and data‑led recommendations.
* Lead cross‑functional initiatives to improve supplier performance, processes, or commercial outcomes.
Process, Governance & Capability Building
* Contribute to the development of procurement policies, tools, and standard ways of working.
* Support reporting, dashboards, and performance metrics to increase transparency and maturity.
* Ensure compliance with regulatory, ethical sourcing, and corporate governance requirements.
Skills & Experience
* Proven experience in strategic purchasing, category management, or procurement roles.
* Strong commercial acumen with advanced negotiation and contract management capability.
* Ability to develop and communicate clear category strategies and value cases.
* Confident stakeholder influencer with strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
* Experience using ERP/purchasing systems and performing financial or commercial analysis.
* CIPS or equivalent procurement qualification (desirable).
What we can offer you
In return for everything you bring to the table, we can ensure an exciting, challenging role in a dynamic business surrounded by some of the best people in their respective fields.
At Applied we firmly believe it's the relationships and friendships we create while working that make us special. We're also aware that the world is changing and we are part of that change. We all want and need different things from our work and home lives, so, if you have commitments outside of work, we're open to talking through flexible working options that work for you and us.
* Annual leave (25 days + bank holidays, pro-rated for part time colleagues).
* Enhanced Company Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave and pay.
* Flexible working policies, including Hybrid Working.
* Life assurance to the value of 4 times base salary
* Opportunity to join the Applied Pension Plan
* Company funded individual private healthcare with the opportunity to extend to partner or spouse and/or dependents at a discounted rate.
* Electric car scheme – opportunity to drive a brand-new car in a more affordable way through this salary sacrifice scheme. Employees are eligible to join the scheme after successful competition of their probationary period.
Who we are
Motion Applied (formerly McLaren Applied) are a medium-sized tech firm spun out of McLaren Group. We're looking for people who will thrive in a non-hierarchical, growth-orientated company, self-starters who are flexible and somewhat entrepreneurial in their approach.
Applied are committed to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) and promote DEI in all we do. Motion Applied are also members of the UK Government Disability Confident Scheme