Category Buyer

**Category Buyer (Third Party Manufacturers/Finished Goods)**:
***Who we are looking for.**:
Butternut Box is looking for an experienced Category Buyer to co-manage our spend with Third Party Manufacturers. In this role, you will be responsible for an International & varied supply base, purchasing various finished goods that we call 'Additional Products'. This category is currently made up of products such as treats, chews, broths, supplements and gifting items such as toys and merchandise with a current annual spend of £3.5m.

This is a high growth category and our aspirations are to consistently launch new and exciting products in each quarter. It is a fast paced role, playing a pivotal part in sourcing new suppliers, negotiating contractual terms and ensuring products are delivered against programme and in budget

This is an extremely dynamic role flexing across our operations and across our 5 international regions (which continues to grow each year). This person will work closely with the teams in Production, Product Development, Technical, Fulfillment, Brand, Supply Chain and international teams, giving the unique opportunity to have a full view of our total supply chain.

You are a great communicator, entrepreneurial and a self-starter who works proactively, and is excited about the opportunity to work in a rapidly scaling business We are looking for someone to come in and hit the ground running, bringing fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the current Procurement & Additional Products teams. Whilst we are looking for someone with strong experience working with third party manufacturers, we are flexible on what types of products these manufacturers were producing e.g. food, toys, cosmetics etc

***A bit about the role.**:
You will report into the Senior Buyer who heads the Packaging and Third Party Manufacturing categories and will work alongside an energetic team. Your focus will be to co-manage the Additional Products Category along with another buyer. The products in their entirety (the food element and the packaging) will be yours to source & launch as part of a team. This person is ideally CIPS qualified and works well under pressure with the flexibility to adapt to changing Business requirements and priorities. This may mean managing alternative & additional spend categories as the business continues to scale. International travel & over night stay will be required on an ad hoc basis to our suppliers, trade shows and our 'box office' in London. The role is hybrid working with weekly presence at our production site in Blyth (_S81 8HG)_

**_ Key responsibilities:_**

Goals & KPIS
- Support building the long-term Additional Products strategy cross-functionally to deliver value & quality & minimise risk
- Working with the Operations team and the supply base to identify and deliver continuous efficiency and/or cost improvement opportunities
- Challenge and manage suppliers to deliver the required standards and measure their performance against agreed objectives, putting in place corrective actions where necessary.
- Accountable for forecasting, reporting & delivering your categories budget
- Manage complex supplier relationships and own regular commercial meetings, to ensure engagement, alignment and clear communication.
- New Product Launches_
- Use reporting tools and communicate regularly on the progress of projects
- Manage our continuously growing supplier base, ensuring we are building a network of strategic partner suppliers
- Undertaking the full supplier sourcing & onboarding process through to contract award, including pre-qualification, evaluation of 'best value', co-ordination of both commercial and qualitative assessments, credit checks, negotiation of terms and conditions
- Demonstrate excellent project management skills by delivering launches on programme and in budget

**A bit about you**:

- Experienced working with third party manufacturers, however we are flexible on what type of product this is e.g. food, toys, cosmetics etc
- Preferred
- someone with packaging experience with an end-to-end understanding of the packaging & printing process,
- Preferred
- E-commerce (direct to consumer) packaging experience
- Preferred
- food raw materials category management experience
- Exceptional stakeholder management & alignment abilities
- Organised with a very keen eye for detail and the ability to work under pressure
- Flexible with a strong ability to adapt to changing priorities and needs of the business
- Commercial awareness; you should be comfortable in leading Supplier negations and able to take a holistic view of the impact of your role in the business
- Ability to travel Internationally including overnight stays
- Passion for e-commerce and dogs

**A bit about us.**:
At Butternut, we put the food back into dog food. We believe dogs deserve to eat the healthiest, most natural and tastiest food with none of the nasties. That's why we make freshly prepared dog food. Cooked like you would