Category Buyer – Non-Food

Job Introduction

Entegra was established by Sodexo in 1999 to help businesses with food facilities to buy more efficiently. Today, Entegra is the largest food group purchasing organization in the world. With the buying power of €20 billion in supplier contracts, we are the procurement partner improving the operational performance of clients at across Europe. Entegra boosts the performance of hospitality-driven businesses by cutting costs on food, supplies and services and improving operations. For our clients, great customer service is essential to their business. With our trusted expertise at their side, our clients get the support they need to achieve their goals - and see their work shine.

We are looking for a Fixed term Category Buyer Non-Food who will manage a category and is integral in delivering a customer focused range whilst driving profitability. As Buyer Non-Food you will source the most effective new and existing products that meet customer’s needs. Ensuring all products are sourced responsibly you will manage your supply base, negotiate terms, develop joint business plans and deliver profitability, product and service levels. Working with internal and external stakeholders you will develop the strategic plan for your category that will deliver long term growth.

To be successful in this role you will have proven experience working as a Category buyer or in a similar role. Working as part of a team you must have excellent relationship building skills you will be able to communicate and influence with stakeholders. You will be able to work independently on your own initiative, with can-do attitude.

Role Responsibility

• Total responsibility for non-food category, including packaging and disposables, chemicals, staff agency, laundry hire and uniforms
• Drive efficiency and commercial competitiveness
• Build strong and trusting relationships with vendors to maximise pricing and quality of services
• Manage supplier relationships to include Quarterly Business Reviews
• Manage category tenders for group clients
• Create supply chain solutions for new business sectors and markets
• New suppliers and/or product sourcing
• Support the analyst and sales teams with benchmarking activities
• Review data and market insights to determine industry and consumer trends
• Be the “go to” person for your categories for the Operational and Sales teams
• Support other departments such as finance, operations and systems with supplier related matters where needed
• Work in partnership with the category buyers in both the Entegra and Sodexo teams
• Maximise benefit of the Sodexo partnership
• Manage supply chain risk
• Support the Operations Team with face to face client meetings when required

The Ideal Candidate

• Proven experience as category manager or similar role  
• An analytical mind with a strategic ability
• Ability to manage various stakeholders at any given time
• Excellent communication and people skills
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• Good understanding of data analysis
• Proficient in MS Office
• CIPS qualification, or working towards
• Conscientious - Ability to work unsupervised
• Willingness to learn and to adapt to fast changing environment
• Strong focus on sustainable sourcing

Package Description

Competitive Salary + excellent benefits package

About the Company

In the UK and Ireland, Sodexo employs around 30,000 people, and partners with clients in many sectors across business and industry; schools and universities; sports and leisure; energy and resources; government and agencies; healthcare; justice and defence.

Sodexo’s connected; people-centric approach brings together a diverse range of expertise. The breadth of services it offers ranges from food and hospitality; cleaning; reception; concierge (Circles); security; property management and technical services through to data driven workplace strategy and design (Wx); employee engagement and recognition services (Sodexo Engage) and personal home services through Prestige Nursing + Care and the Good Care Group.

Vital Spaces is Sodexo’s value proposition that puts people at the heart of everything we do, bringing together services and solutions and focusing on the productivity and wellbeing of people wherever they are.

Sodexo is committed to being an inclusive employer; we welcome and encourage applications from people with a diverse variety of experiences, backgrounds and identities.

We’re a Disability Confident Leader employer. We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability, and making sure disabled people have the chance to fulfil their aspirations.

We are building on our support to the Armed Forces community through the development of specific pathways within our recruitment process to  support ex-forces personnel and reservists, those applying for jobs with us who meet the ideal candidate criteria for the role advertised are guaranteed to progress to the selection process