Assistant Buyer
Location: Plymouth
Package: Basic salary £27,00 - £30,000 dependent on experience plus bonus and flexible benefits package including up to 27 days holiday (Plus additional annual leave purchasing scheme)
Sector: Packaging distribution



Protecting what matters, together
We`re dedicated to protecting what matters most - our people, our customers, our communities and the environment. At Macfarlane Packaging, our commitment to customer satisfaction, sustainability and continual improvement creates a highly collaborative, supportive and friendly workplace where you can unpack a career that grows.

With history stretching back over 75 years, we offer stability whilst always striving for continual growth. Our fast-paced, results-driven approach will challenge and often stretch you, but it will also give you opportunities for personal and professional development. Every colleague has the chance to directly influence our success, leading to real job satisfaction and achievement, at all stages of your career.

We provide competitive pay and personalised incentives, alongside adaptable benefits to make your rewards package go further. And additionally, the way we work prioritises work-life balance and flexibility, empowering our colleagues to manage what is most important to them. Our business values commitment, diligence, teamwork, adaptability and a thirst for learning... so if this sounds like you, come and join us to help drive change that enables businesses to plan for a better future.

The Assistant Buyer Role
Working as a member of our local procurement team, the Assistant Buyer role will support the site at which you are based whilst upholding the company wide National procurement strategy. This position is integral to the overall success of the business, as you will be instrumental in helping to coordinate the management and development of the regional supplier base.

Please note, training for this role will take place at our Exeter site (expenses will be covered).

Assistant Buyer Key Duties * Managing a large portfolio of suppliers
* Sourcing and negotiating with existing suppliers, challenging prices where relevant
* Ensuring supplies adhere to quality, service and best practise initiatives
* Managing performance of the supplier base
* Assisting with tendering activity, product inquiries, and ad-hoc project work
* Purchasing of standard and non-standard stock items
* Carrying out supplier benchmarking activities
* Reporting and statistical analysis
* Upholding procurement strategy
* Maximising profitability and minimising risk to the Business
* Undertaking stock control and administration activities


Do you have the correct profile£
We welcome your application provided that you have a minimum of 1-2 years commercial buying experience. That way, we are hopeful that you will already have gained exposure to the majority of key duties mentioned above. Ours is a fairly fast-paced sales led distribution business, so although identical experience isn`t essential, any obvious synergy would be useful. You will naturally have strong communication and negotiation skills with the ability to at times, perform under pressure and fulfil exacting timeframes. Excellent interpersonal skills are necessary to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues and departments. You may have already gained CIPS accreditation via previous studies but if not, we do as a business offer a pathway to do so.

We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds irrespective of your age, gender, disability, race, nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, religion,