Buyer
Department: Purchasing
Reporting to: Purchasing Manager
Location: Neasden Head Office
The role:
The Buyer plays a strategically important part in our commercial strategy, enhancing profitability by negotiating and sourcing the best product at competitive prices. Working very closely with the Product Managers and with guidance from the Purchasing Manager, you will execute purchasing strategies, track metrics, negotiate deals, and manage vendors to ensure optimum product availability at the right cost, quality and availability to support our LED lighting sales efforts
Main Job Responsibilities:
- Responsible for executing purchasing transactions, proactively negotiating pricing and regular benchmarking other suppliers, alongside the other buyers
- Understand the product lifecycles and market dynamics to negotiate prices with suppliers and agree with Product Managers
- Build up a sales forecast based on outstanding quotations and inputs from the sales team
- Optimise levels of stock holding to maximize sales but avoid inventory losses due to deterioration, obsolescence, and other causes.
- Release, process, and chase orders to ensure goods are available.
- Liaise with suppliers on specification changes, and work with the design and marketing teams to make necessary changes
- Utilise demand forecasting and inventory planning tools to analyse orders and sales data to understand what is selling, what is not, and what is in short supply etc.
- Be aware of supplier’s strengths and weaknesses and develop relationships with their competitors.
- Monitor competitors and provide feedback to Product Managers on situation.
- Suggest new products to the Product Managers and report on developments in markets and products you see through your contact with suppliers.
- Liaise with quality control, the light lab colleagues and ensure all necessary inspection, certifications for all products.
- From time to time, travel to suppliers in East Asia and visit trade shows
- Build and maintain relationships with the European and East Asian vendors
Requirements:
- Ideally, a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in a business-related field like Business Management, Contract Management or Procurement, alongside a CIPS qualification or similar
- At least 3 years’ experience of purchasing, ideally gained within a fast-moving electrical or electronic product environment (semi-conductor or LED Lighting background is especially of interest)
- Outstanding financial and numerical skills, with an entrepreneurial and commercial approach
- High-level of attention to detail
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
- Exceptional talent in negotiating and networking
- Solid knowledge of ERP software (Ideally Epicor and StockIQ), with high level Excel skills
- Exceptional communication skills with the ability to foster strong supplier relationships
- Past experience of negotiating with and purchasing from the Far East and China, ideally with fluency in Mandarin or Cantonese
The Company:
Integral Memory PLC is a long-established and fast-growing technology company founded in the UK over 30 years ago. It has grown into a highly successful and financially independent international business with offices in London and across Europe.
Integral Memory Division:
The link between high-end competitive gaming, encrypted military level memory drives and pushing the visual boundaries of creative photography. Our imaginative solutions to the ever-advancing demands of data storage that transcends the cloud has made the Integral logo synonymous with quality, sustainability and reliability.
Integral LED Lighting Division:
From lighting up industrial warehouses and retail spaces across Europe, to delivering soft ambient lighting in bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms. From expandable lighting systems for smart buildings, to transforming outdoor spaces with innovative lighting solutions to enhance the human experience – Our innovative and award-winning product range challenges the norm as we continue to bring cutting-edge lighting solutions to the market.
Our award-winning products are sold by resellers in more than 50 countries worldwide and are trusted by large corporations, government departments, and educational institutions.