Procurement & Supply Chain Manager

Location Outskirts of Canterbury
Salary Paying £55k - £65k DOE
Contract Permanent
Job Ref

Procurement & Supply Chain Manager – Newly Created Role

Location: Based near Canterbury (site based, with some flexibility)

Contract: Full time, permanent, Monday to Friday

Salary: £55,000–£65,000, depending on experience, plus bonus

Reporting to: Financial Controller

The opportunity

A high-growth, profitable group with manufacturing and project operations across East Kent is creating its first dedicated Procurement & Supply Chain Manager role.

The business is in a strong position, both financially and in performance, and is now investing in roles where it can ask: how much better would we be with someone fully focused on this? Nobody is leaving. This is a brand-new position, and despite everything the business has achieved, it still feels like the start of its growth story.

Until now, procurement has been covered by people across different parts of the business. You will come in, learn from them, take ownership, and then build the strategy. The right person will understand what this role is here to achieve and shape what their day-to-day looks like, rather than being handed a fixed script.

The role reports to the Financial Controller, reflecting the close link between procurement, supply chain and cash, and works closely with Sales, Projects, Production and Operations.

The culture, and who will fit

This is a professional, polite, genuinely team-first business, with a culture built over several years and excellent staff retention. Fit matters here as much as experience.

We are looking for someone who is hungry, humble and smart: ambitious to make a real impact, grounded enough to listen and learn from the people around them, and sharp enough to turn what they learn into a clear plan.

What you'll be doing

Your time will be split roughly evenly between running purchasing day to day and building procurement strategically.

Procurement and supplier management

  • Develop and implement a procurement strategy aligned to the group's growth plans
  • Build and manage relationships with key UK and international suppliers
  • Lead negotiations on pricing, payment terms, lead times and service levels
  • Identify, evaluate and onboard new suppliers, maintaining the Approved Supplier List
  • Review supplier performance across quality, cost, service and delivery, and drive improvement
  • Analyse spend to find savings, better terms and efficiencies

Tendering and sourcing

  • Lead RFQs and tenders across key categories, and make clear, commercially grounded recommendations
  • Develop sourcing strategies that protect continuity of supply and long-term value
  • Support contract and framework reviews, and consolidate suppliers where it makes sense

Supply chain and purchasing

  • Work with the wider business to understand future demand and material requirements
  • Raise and manage purchase orders, and plan replenishment against forecasts, stock policies and lead times
  • Balance stock availability with working capital, reducing excess stock and waste
  • Identify and reduce supply chain risk through diversification and contingency planning

Governance, systems and reporting

  • Establish procurement policies, controls and best-practice purchasing disciplines where none existed before
  • Build procurement KPIs and supplier performance reporting
  • Lead purchasing workflows and improvements within the ERP system
  • Give finance better visibility of purchasing commitments to support cash flow planning
  • Use technology, automation and data to make procurement faster and smarter

About you

Essential

  • 3–5 years or more in procurement, purchasing, supply chain or a similar commercial role
  • Experience in manufacturing, engineering, industrial, infrastructure, construction or a comparable sector
  • Proven supplier negotiation and relationship management experience
  • Experience running RFQs, tenders and sourcing exercises
  • Experience setting up procurement processes, policies and controls, ideally from scratch
  • Strong commercial awareness and analytical skills, with advanced Excel
  • Strong communication skills and the confidence to challenge constructively
  • Based in, or open to commuting across, East Kent

Desirable

  • CIPS qualification or equivalent experience
  • International sourcing and import/export knowledge
  • ERP experience
  • Experience using automation, digital tools or AI to improve performance

What's on offer

  • £55,000–£65,000, depending on experience and what you bring
  • Bonus, payable after successful completion of probation
  • 24 days holiday plus bank holidays
  • Workplace pension
  • A newly created role with real ownership, in a growing, well-invested business
  • Some flexibility around site-based working

Apply now

Consultant

Dan Gladwin

Director