Uk Head of Procurement

**UK Head of Procurement**

**Thorpe Park / Chessington / Alton Towers**

A job with Merlin isn’t like a job anywhere else. With attractions around the world, from rollercoasters to wax figures, we don’t trade in suits, handshakes or briefcases. We trade in fun. In smiles, shrieks and spine-tingles. In Memories. In magic. But there are no tricks behind our magic. Instead, there are people like you. Passionate, dedicated people who are committed to making sure our worldwide attractions and guests’ experiences are the best they can be.

We're looking for an experienced **UK Head of Procurement** to join our dynamic team at Merlin Entertainments.

**About the Role...**

As the Head of Procurement, you will be responsible for managing strategic supplier contracts, negotiating cost reductions, ensuring key supplier performance and supporting the business to achieve high levels of guest satisfaction across our UK resorts.

You will be responsible for managing a budget of approximately £30M-£50M and work closely with contract owners across the business and Group Procurement and Group legal teams to ensure purchases and agreements are inline with all applicable company policies and procedures. You will negotiate with suppliers to deliver cost reduction initiatives and ensure key supplier performance to support the business to achieve high levels of guest satisfaction. Key responsibilities include:

- Use best practice procurement techniques to deliver cost, quality, and service benefits to the Merlin business.
- Recommend solutions to leverage Merlin scale and synergies.
- Develop detailed knowledge of supply market for relevant categories/region.
- Tendering, negotiation and renewal of high-value supply contracts leveraging scale.
- Effective contract management in conjunction with Group Legal and Group Procurement.
- Identify ways to streamline existing processes to eliminate waste and reduce transactional workload.
- Provide support to sites in order to resolve supplier performance issues
- Support environmental and sustainability initiatives and be a champion for ethical sourcing principles.

**About You...**
- To be successful in this role, you will need to have substantial Procurement experience, excellent quantitative and data analysis skills, and strong project management and process improvement skills.
- A degree in Business or a related discipline and CIPS certification would be ideal (but not essential).
- You will be comfortable with ambiguity and managing potentially conflicting views.
- You will need to be a strong communicator and have excellent negotiation, interpersonal, and leadership skills.
- You should be able to operate independently with limited business direction and be comfortable rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in.
- A passion for driving the best deal is essential, as is a sense of fun and a commitment to getting the job done in a fast-paced environment.
- You must be willing to travel on a regular basis.

**About the Perks...**

In return for your hard work, we offer a competitive salary and benefits package, as well as the opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team in one of the world's most exciting industries.

We’re growing fast and alongside a fun and friendly environment, we offer a fabulous package and amazing prospects - ideal if you’re already fantastic and can quickly become even better (our magic can help here). Benefits include Pension, Life Assurance, discretionary company bonus, 25 days’ holiday and, of course, a Merlin Magic Pass which gives you and your friends and family free admission to all of our attractions worldwide, as well as 25% discount in our retail shops and restaurants and 40% discount on LEGO.

**Everyone Matters at Merlin.**

At Merlin we welcome the world to our magical attractions and resorts every day and we want to reflect that same multicultural mix inside our business too. We strive to create an inclusive and diverse workplace where people can be themselves, have the same opportunities and thrive together. Because at Merlin, everyone matters
Together, we work to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, no matter their age, race, gender, disability or sexual orientation. Although we understand that we'll always be learning and growing, we aim to be the most inclusive and flexible employer in our industry.

**Returning to work**

We have an active Return to Work programme, which offers training, mentoring and more, to support with the transition back into working life. So, if you’ve been on a career break for any reason we can support you.