Role Overview

Our Purchasing & Supply team are looking for a Product & Purchasing Officer to support our buying and product development activities.  This new role involves typical purchasing activities focused on inventory management, order decision making, order administration, negotiating with suppliers, and expediting deliveries, as well as supporting product development activities through coordinating of quotations, samples and tracking necessary activities to enable production, delivery & launch.

The role is based in the Birmingham office of Sanbra Group’s GB based Bathroom & Kitchen Company, Marflow Engineering Limited which trades under the Brand Name St James.

Company Overview

Sanbra Group designs, manufactures and wholesale distributes a wide range of quality approved products and brands to a long-established network of retail and trade merchant customers in Ireland, the U.K. and other Export markets.

Our customers supply the following business sectors: Plumbing & Heating, Electrical, Bathrooms, Kitchens, Construction, Agricultural, General Hardware, DIY and OEM.

We have built our reputation as a trusted supplier by offering a comprehensive range of quality products supported by the extensive manufacturing knowledge, experience and technical support of our dedicated staff.

Marflow Engineering Limited sits within the Plumbing & Heating Division of the Sanbra Group.

Role Responsibilities

• Identify potential suppliers, communicate requirements, obtain quotations and samples.
• Analyse options and provide recommendations.
• Evaluate samples and organise testing. Report up any issues found, collate feedback and communicate it to suppliers, find solutions. Take responsibility for sample library & track any samples distributed within business.
• Assist with new product purchase quantity decisions, raise purchase orders & track and expedite to meet target launch dates.
• Coordinate cross functionally to bring together all requirements for product launch, including for example sku set up, packaging, product spec information, warehousing information, and sales support materials from Marketing.
• Handle purchasing activities for both new and existing products, e.g. reorder decision making, raising orders, tracking production, expediting & scheduling deliveries, dealing with any goods receipt issues.
• Provide service to internal customers – answering queries from sales offices or other departments as required & proactively updating interested parties with delivery dates.
• Balance competing priorities of inventory management and stock availability.
• Negotiate with suppliers on pricing, terms, deliveries & problem solving.
• Be cost conscious and seek savings.
• Build & maintain strong, positive relationships with suppliers & colleagues.
• Participate in and sometimes lead, ad hoc projects as requested by the Leadership & Management Team. 

Candidate Requirements

Essential Behaviours, Skills & Experience

• Demonstrable numeracy. (e.g. GCSE grade 6 / Equivalent)
• Attention to detail
• Sense of urgency
• Organisational skills
• Negotiation skills
• Questioning & initiative
• Relationship building & effective communication, including by phone or video call
• A “can-do” proactive attitude and ability to solve problems.
• Able to adapt and thrive in a changing business environment.
• Ability, willingness, and flexibility to contribute to the work of a busy team.
• A good working knowledge of Microsoft Office packages, in particular Outlook and Excel.

Preferred Behaviours, Skills & Experience

• Degree in Business Administration, Purchasing & Supply, Product Management or similar.
• Further related study or qualifications, e.g. CIPS qualifications, Project Management, Product Management or Development, or other relevant areas.
• Experience in the Bathroom & Plumbing Industry
• Experience with International Supply Chains, Bill of Materials and Manufacturing
• Experience managing and/or playing a role in delivering cross functional projects
• Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g. Intaqt, Navision) and/or procurement software

If you are interested in this role please send your cv to [email protected]