Role: Senior Buyer

Location: Leamington Spa, UK

 

Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world

Ricardo plc is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and employing nearly 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional expertise in delivering leading-edge and innovative cross-sector sustainable products and solutions. Every day, we enable our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world.

  

Position Summary

Reporting to the Global Head of Procurement, the role of Senior Buyer is key to driving the Ricardo Automotive and Industrial Procurement team and its Supply Chain Sustainability programme.

The role will combine aspects of both procurement (with a focus on direct Project Procurement), supply chain management and supplier development, including interaction with the wider procurement community as well as with the supply base and clients alike. The successful individual will play a key role in supporting the Head of Procurement in setting the long-term strategy for a sustainable supply chain across all A&I sites.

 

Key Responsibilities

 

Deliver procurement activity for assigned projects within the global portfolio including:

Supplier assessment and selection
Contract negotiation and management
Supplier quality and performance assessment
Supplier development

Lead the Sustainable Procurement workstream within the Global Procurement Team to meet business ESG and SBTi goals
Drive improvement initiatives such as supply chain consolidation, development of preferred suppliers and cost reduction initiatives
Support Engineering functional teams in the identification and development of new supply sources
Support Practice and Business Development teams to add value to the proposal and contract development process of new projects and programs
Support ongoing development of procurement personnel
Engage positively with the Global Procurement Team and wider business to deliver continuous improvement actions for procurement systems, tools and processes
Performs other job-related duties as assigned

echnical leadership of teams of engineers involved in development of embedded software, including embedded software, systems, control, and functional safety engineers
Interface directly with clients on technical issues
Lead coordination of engineering teams, drawing on engineers from within Ricardo and from partners
Focus on delivery of projects on-time and on-budget
Technical negotiations with clients and support of commercial discussions
Driving the further introduction of quality procedures and validation processes
Support of the sales teams in the development of market opportunities through client interaction, proposal support and roadmap development
Promotion of capability throughout Ricardo’s global customer base
Provide technical input to Embedded Software team strategic development
Drive the development of future products and service.

QHSE responsibility for those with a team will include risk profiling, procedures, and provision of training.

To promote knowledge sharing and global delivery the role will involve occasional travel.

 

 

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION

 

Qualifications and Experience

 

Be degree-qualified in a relevant subject
Professional procurement qualification, CIPS preferred
More than 10 years operating in a procurement role
Developing and managing sustainable supply chains over a broad range of purchased / manufactured products
Contract and supplier performance management

 

 

 

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present to and manage internal and external stakeholders
Strong commercial skills with good negotiation skills and the ability to influence
Ability to drive efficiency and quality into process and tools
Demonstrated ability to effectively multi-task and work to tight deadlines
Proficient in the use of the MS Office suite
Knowledge of SAP ERP an advantage

 

Personal Attributes

 

Be a team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Be a self-starter who enjoys solving problems, driving towards efficiency and helping others achieve goals
Demonstrate good attention to detail and organisational skills
Ability to excel in a fast-paced, dynamic and matrixed organization

 

Working here

Ricardo is an exciting and rewarding place to work and you have the opportunity to make a difference. You will work with teams of talented, dedicated, and supportive individuals. Alongside having a fantastic opportunity to develop your career with us through our broad range of projects, mentoring opportunities and a personalized approach to your learning and development. We are always keen to hear from people who have driven, ambition and a flair for innovative thinking.

 

Wellbeing and work life balance

We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that's working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential. Our People are important to us, and we take pride in our wellbeing programmes and policies that support individuals including flexible working, careers policy, mental health first aiders and readily available support through our extensive Employee Assistance programme.

 

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach as explained here. We value diversity; recognizing that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment. Diversity also drives innovation, allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees and ensure an inclusive culture, we are a recognized as a 'disability confident' employer.

 

Benefits

Our core benefits include 25 days' annual leave, plus 8 flexible bank holidays, a competitive company pension scheme, life assurance and professional subscription reimbursement. We also offer a wide range of flexible benefits to suit your lifestyle.

 

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.