Category Buyer

Category Buyer – 18 Month FTC

• Opportunities for professional development and career progression.
• A collaborative and supportive team environment.
• Hybrid working with up to 60% working from home and 40% at our Head Office in Stratford-upon-Avon.

About the role

We are seeking a proactive and commercially astute Category Buyer to join our Procurement team on an 18-month fixed term contract. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead supplier selection strategies, manage key supplier relationships, and deliver value across the business. You'll play a pivotal role in ensuring our procurement processes are efficient, effective, and aligned with our organisational goals.

In this role you'll
review and analyse supplier markets, spend data, and business requirements to identify opportunities for cost savings, enhanced value, and improved service levels. You'll develop and implement tender strategies that align with category and business objectives and lead and facilitate the tender process and negotiations, ensuring best commercial terms and risk mitigation. You'll oversee supplier management, driving effective, fair, and professional relationships that deliver contractual value and foster innovation. You'll define and monitor buying channels, ensuring robust risk control, contract compliance, and data quality and provide expert guidance on procurement policies and procedures, supporting a consistent and commercial approach across the business. Additionally, you'll build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, suppliers, and industry bodies.

If you are passionate about procurement, thrive on delivering results, and want to be part of a company that values your contribution, we would love to hear from you.

About you:

You have proven procurement experience ideally with IT and/or Consultancy - which is highly desirable. You have strong knowledge of procurement processes, contractual terms and conditions, and commercial risk. You can demonstrate experience in managing business stakeholders and suppliers and are skilled in negotiation to achieve best value and commercial outcomes. You are a pragmatic, logical thinker with strong problem-solving abilities.

To join our team, you must also have.

• A proven track record of delivering savings.
• Effective communication and influencing skills.

Desirable Skills

• Project management experience.

At NFU Mutual, we support an inclusive workplace and value all the differences that make us unique. We celebrate the creativity and innovation that comes from diverse perspectives and experiences and share a common vision of doing the right thing for our customers and employees.

We recognise that some candidates may experience barriers during the recruitment process. So, we encourage candidates to discuss any adjustments or accommodations they need to be the best they can be throughout our recruitment process.

We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Race at Work and Women in Finance Charter signatory and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, gender, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.

Benefits and Rewards:

When you join our team, you can expect a supportive culture and an attractive range of rewards and benefits including:

• Salary up to £60,000 depending on experience
• Annual bonus (up to 17.5% of salary)
• Contributory pension scheme, up to 20%, including your 8% contribution
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays + buy/sell/save holiday trading scheme
• A Family Friendly policy that helps you balance your work and family responsibilities
• Access to savings at High Street brands, travel and supermarkets
• £20 contribution to a monthly gym membership – subject to T&Cs
• Health and wellbeing plan - cashback for dentist, opticians, physio and more
• Access to voluntary benefits, including health assessments, private medical insurance and dental insurance
• Employee Volunteering - volunteer in the community for one day each year
• Unlimited access to Refer a Friend £500 bonus scheme
• Life Assurance cover of 4 x salary
• Employee discounts of 15% on a range of NFU Mutual insurance policies.
• Salary sacrifice employee car scheme - subject to eligibility

Working at NFU Mutual:

We're one of the UK's leading general insurance and financial services companies. For over 110 years we've put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Our people are just as important to us.

We pride ourselves on being "a great place to work" and our Gallup Exceptional Workplace 2025 award was not only awarded with Distinction but also named us as the first UK-based company to receive a Gallup Exceptional Workplace for ten years in a row. We are also the only Insurer to feature in the LinkedIn Top 15 Companies 2025 list of 'Best midsize employers to grow your career in the UK', the Glassdoor Best Places to Work UK List 2023 and 2024, and were recognised as a certified UK Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

We offer a supportive culture where we empower and inspire our people to perform, offer them opportunities to grow, and recognise and reward their contribution. Our people are proud to work for a company that respects them and their communities, and they trust us to be financially sustainable, so we are successful now and in the future.