Purchasing Assistant

Purchasing Assistant

Salary: £28,000 – £29,000 | Location: Thame, UK (Hybrid: Office Mon–Thu, Home Fri)

Are you ready to take your procurement career to the next level? We’re looking for a Purchasing Assistant to join a dynamic team supporting local and international purchasing activities. This is your chance to play a key role in sourcing, supplier management, and process improvement across a growing organization.

Job Purpose

• Provide support and contribute to local purchasing activities, implementing key procurement strategies and contingency plans in line with organizational goals.

Job Context

• Report to the Site Purchase Manager, supporting activities in the UK and interactions with subsidiary companies globally.
• Role based in Thame, UK, with occasional travel to suppliers domestically and abroad.
• Achieve defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for procurement functions.
• Actively participate in operational teams on a daily basis.
• Undertake duties as required to maintain or improve procurement function and supplier relationship management.
• Support projects external to procurement, including continuous improvement, sustainability, and new product introduction initiatives.

Job Dimensions

• Outsourcing and component development for parts and new products.
• Vendor base management.
• Statutory documentation and master data maintenance in D365.
• Compliance with organizational procurement policies.
• Non-inventory (indirect) procurement support.

Key Accountabilities

• Ensure compliance with procurement policies and procedures.
• Assist in purchasing functions, including raising RFQs, preparing comparison statements, updating vendor trade agreements, maintaining approved vendors in D365, submission of price approvals, maintaining price logs, communicating prices to supply chain teams, raising OSRs for new parts, and quarterly price updates.
• Vendor onboarding documentation, arranging approvals, and maintaining records.
• Non-inventory purchasing: raising POs, expediting deliveries, monitoring overdue POs, monthly consumables, and tooling record management.
• Support annual maintenance contracts related to maintenance, facilities, and infrastructure.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills

• Understanding of procurement and purchasing principles.
• Working knowledge of ERP systems, preferably Microsoft Dynamics D365.
• Numeracy skills to interpret data and make commercial decisions.
• Experience in a manufacturing environment.
• GCSE-level numeracy and literacy (NVQ level 3 or above).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and ERP systems.

Behavioral Competencies

• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for cross-department collaboration.
• Effective time management and multitasking abilities.
• Proactive problem-solving approach.
• Resilience and flexibility.

If you’re a proactive, detail-oriented professional ready to make an impact, we want to hear from you!