Buyer

Here at Blueleaf, we're looking for a passionate and talented Buyer to join our Procurement team. In summary you will be responsible for the sourcing and purchasing of consumables, equipment and furniture for the healthcare market in line with cost, quality and delivery targets, always ensuring customer needs are met. You will have previous buying experience, CIPS Level 4+ qualification and demonstrable experience in supplier management and negotiation skills. To negotiate effectively and maintain profitable supplier relationships you will need to be a team player with exceptional commercial awareness, great organisational and problem solving skills along with a creative mindset. This is a permanent full time role working 40 hours per week between 8am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

**Your day to day responsibilities**:

- Live and promote Blueleaf's Culture and Values
- Identifying the Company’s purchasing needs for healthcare consumables, equipment and furniture.
- Understanding the target market and analysing market trends to enable informed buying decisions.
- Lead and undertake full supplier sourcing and onboarding process from tender through to supplier contract award, including pre-qualification, evaluation of 'best value', co-ordination of both commercial and qualitative assessments, credit checks, and the negotiation of prices and terms.
- Research and develop new product sourcing options as necessary.
- Build and maintain long term relationships with exiting suppliers and manage and negotiate contract price reviews and terms.
- Challenge and manage suppliers to deliver the required standards and measure their performance against agreed objectives and SLAs, putting in place corrective actions where necessary.
- Maintain supplier compliance and non-conformance records.
- Coordinating with Stock Planning team, Management, and operational Managers.
- Communicate regularly with management to keep them updated on supplier / product issues and shortages, price fluctuations, and deliveries.
- Maintain product specification records, including Safety Data Sheets / COSHH.
- Interaction within the team as well as the Sales and Marketing departments.

**S**kills & Experience**
- CIPS Level 4+ qualification
- Proficient level of Microsoft Office - Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint
- Minimum of 3 years buying experience
- Demonstrable experience in supplier manager and negotiation skills
- Ideally knowledge of healthcare products and furniture
- Ideally working towards MCIPS qualification
- Commercial awareness
- Ability to make decisions
- Great team work
- Creative mindset

**About Blueleaf**

At Blueleaf, we believe those who care for others are extraordinary. We're here to support them and ensure they never feel alone, and by understanding our clients needs and challenges, this allows us to find the right solutions to achieve their desired outcomes, as well as providing the essentials that every care home needs. In an industry which is all about people, we value relationships above all else, we take the time to get to know them, listen to them, and walk in their shoes and those of their residents - always living our values: 'Stronger Together, Achieve the Outcome, Lead the Way and Care. Always'. Blueleaf is an equal opportunities employer.

**What will we offer?**

We will offer a salary between £43,000 and £45,000 per annum, 33 days holiday inclusive of bank and public holidays. You will be eligible for inclusion in a discretionary bonus scheme and a number of welfare benefits, such as auto-enrolment into our pension scheme, Death in Service benefit, access to our Medicash scheme that provides cash back towards everyday healthcare bills and a wide range of other wellbeing benefits including access to an employee assistance program.

**Location**

You will be located at our Head office in Southwater, West Sussex.

**Next Steps