Job Description:

• An opportunity to shape and lead a procurement function from the ground up
• Good benefits package and flexible hours 

This isn't a procurement job where you keep the wheels turning - it's one where you get to rebuild them.

Working for a manufacturer of precision technical equipment, they design, engineer and manufacture high-spec products used by customers around the world. This is an opportunity to take full ownership of a procurement function - shaping its processes, its team and its relationship with the wider business - rather than stepping into someone else's system.

You'll report into senior leadership and take full charge of buying for a complex, made-to-order product range - leading a small team and becoming the go-to link between suppliers, colleagues company-wide, and the technical design side. Here's what the role covers:

• Building and steering a small purchasing team, giving people clear direction, coaching their development, and stepping in when a problem needs a senior call
• Translating demand forecasts into smart stock decisions, so shelves stay full without tying up cash unnecessarily
• Keeping a constant eye on where suppliers could let the company down, and having a plan ready before it happens
• Partnering with the design team to question whether parts, finishes or materials could be swapped for cheaper or quicker alternatives without hurting performance
• Acting as translator between what suppliers can realistically make and what gets specified on paper, turning shop-floor insight into formal change requests
• Scouting and bringing on board fresh suppliers who can support growth and give the company more negotiating power

The Candidate: Supply Chain Manager

• Several years' hands-on buying experience for complex, made-to-order products - machined components, circuit boards and smaller assemblies rather than mass-produced commodities
• Comfortable working with ERP/MRP
• A natural people-leader who enjoys coaching a small team rather than just directing it
• Sharp with numbers, and just as sharp at the negotiating table
• Happy building relationships outside their own department, especially with technical colleagues

If you're ready to make a procurement function your own, we'd love to hear from you!