| Job Type: | permanent | Duration: | |
| Category: | Purchasing or Procurement | Recruiter Reference: | compass/TP/1545152/171829 |
| URL for Applications: | Apply Here | Salary: | Competitive Salary with bonus, healthcare and pension plan |
Foodbuy Group is a leading food procurement organisation based in the UK. With over £1.5B of managed spend, we bring together a wide range of foodservice and hospitality clients to buy food, and everything associated with it. We work closely with our clients to deliver expert procurement services saving them both time and money and enabling them to focus on what really matters to their businesses.
Proudly part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, who are our parent company and largest client, we purchase directly from manufacturers and growers and our suppliers range from the most recognised brands in the industry to regional and local providers. With a team of 200 procurement professionals driving us forward, our combination of unrivalled scale and outstanding data analysis sets us apart in our markets.
We are looking to hire a Category Lead to lead & deliver the overarching strategy and KPI’s for the Grocery, Bakery & Savoury Categories. You will be will be solely responsible for a cluster of Categories within Food while helping to lead the development & execution of the Food category plans to deliver category growth across Foodbuy Group through working collaboratively with suppliers & key stakeholders to meet & exceed our client needs.
Key Responsibilities:
- Support the Head of Food to create long-term strategies & solutions to enable Foodbuy Group Growth.
- Deliver best in class supplier management strategies through category planning to maximise the value of Foodbuy to Compass Group, Member & GPO clients.
- Engage regularly with sourcing to ensure governance against the Foodbuy Procurement Framework and maximise resources of both teams to successfully execute planned sourcing projects.
- Engage with Compass Commercial Directors, Member account managers and GPO Sales teams to understand and formulate key strategies to better support clients within each category.
- Support the Head of Food for the successful execution of finance activities across the category and supplier portfolios. This includes PI budget creation, forecasting, pipeline management, balance sheet and collections. This also includes continuous planning and execution of working capital improvements for Compass Group.
- Support and execute 1 of the 5 Foodbuy Group Strategic pillars (Net New, Making our Scale Count, Doing the right thing, Laying the Foundations, Winning Together).
- Deliver margin improvement across all areas of Foodbuy Group: Compass, CHCO, Members, GPO.
- Energise, inspire, and develop a large and diverse team to operate with pace, passion and resilience.
- Help Coach, develop & lead a high performing team of Category Managers and Buyers
- Build a high performing team culture and position Foodbuy as a destination for talent both internally and externally. Represent Foodbuy at influential market events to develop the Foodbuy brand proposition and awareness.
- Participate in raising the profile of the Grocery, Savoury & Bakery Categories through expertise and creative knowledge sharing activities.
Experience required:
- Strategic thinker who can demonstrate impact and influence across an organisation.
- An infectious “Can Do” attitude and strong interpersonal skills is a must.
- Experience of coaching, developing and leading procurement professionals.
- Knowledge in running Key Categories within Foodbuy.
- High expertise in Food Purchasing outside incumbent Category.
- Proven track record of high value projects on the Foodbuy Pipeline.
- Existing involvement outside the running of Category would be preferential.
- Strong decision maker, with good commercial acumen who is comfortable working under pressure.