Head of Buying - #2149116

Head of Commercial Buying

Manchester

£60,000 + Bonus + Car and Benefits

If working for a business with a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and customer excellence is important to you, then this opportunity could be exactly what you're looking for.

We're partnering with a leading UK distributor within the healthcare and care sector that is looking to appoint an experienced Head of Commercial Buying. This is a highly influential leadership role where you'll shape the commercial buying strategy, develop strategic supplier partnerships and drive profitable growth through effective procurement and category management.

Working closely with the senior leadership team, you'll lead the buying and procurement function, ensuring the business continues to deliver exceptional value, resilient supply chains and market-leading customer service. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys combining strategic thinking with commercial delivery and wants to make a genuine impact across the organisation.

Ideal for someone with experience in Healthcare, Medical Devices, Care Home Supplies, Personal Care, Cleaning & Hygiene or other regulated product environments.

What Does the Role Entail?

• Developing and implementing the company's Buying & Procurement Strategy in line with commercial objectives.
• Leading category management activity, creating long-term category strategies that maximise growth, profitability and customer value.
• Building and maintaining strategic supplier relationships, negotiating commercial agreements including pricing, rebates, payment terms and service levels.
• Driving gross margin improvement, cost savings and supplier performance across the product portfolio.
• Identifying new product opportunities, market trends and innovation to strengthen the company's offering.
• Developing supplier segmentation strategies and rationalising the supplier base while maintaining supply resilience.
• Working collaboratively across Sales, Finance, Customer Success and Supply Chain to ensure procurement decisions support wider business objectives.
• Managing commercial risk through robust supplier governance, continuity planning and multi-sourcing strategies.
• Producing procurement dashboards, category performance reporting and commercial insights to support business decisions.
• Ensuring compliance with relevant regulatory, quality, ethical sourcing and sustainability standards.
• Leading, coaching and developing the procurement team to create a high-performing, collaborative culture.
• Supporting pricing strategies through market benchmarking and commercial analysis.

Skills & Experience

• Proven leadership experience within Buying, Procurement or Category Management.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills with experience managing complex supplier agreements.
• Experience developing category strategies and delivering measurable margin improvements.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret commercial data and market trends.
• Experience working with ERP systems, procurement reporting tools and advanced Excel.
• Ability to influence stakeholders at all levels and build long-term supplier partnerships.
• Knowledge of regulated sectors such as Healthcare, Medical Devices, Care Home Supplies or similar would be highly advantageous.
• Passion for continuous improvement, innovation and delivering exceptional customer outcomes.
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to develop high-performing teams.

Want to recruit a similar role?

Cast UK is a leading executive consultancy, providing national recruitment solutions to both clients and candidates. Specialising in, HR, Procurement, Buying, Supply Chain, and Logistics, each member of our specialist team has a professional background specific to their recruiting sector. With this unique insight and knowledge, our consultants are able to place individuals from trainee through to main board. For more information on Cast UK or to discuss how we can find talent for your business then please visit www.castuk.com