Senior Buying Manager

Senior Buying Manager 
Up to £80,000 plus great benefits (Work Level 5) 
Manchester City Centre, in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home, visiting suppliers and coming into the office around two to three times a week 
Permanent and 12-month fixed-term contract roles available

We’re looking for Senior Buying Managers to join our Co-op Commercial team. This is an exciting opportunity to influence one of the most dynamic areas of our business and play a key role in our ambition to become industry leaders.

In this role, you’ll have the scope to make your mark, securing standout deals, strengthening supplier partnerships and driving momentum in categories that move fast and matter to our customers. We’ve shaped the Senior Buying Manager role to allow you to focus on what you do best: negotiation and buying.

Why this role matters

You’ll lead and deliver a market leading, omnichannel, multi mission range strategy across your categories. That means building a compelling blend of private label innovation and leading brands, adapting quickly to changing customer needs and staying ahead of market trends.

At Co-op, we do things differently. Our values guide every decision we make, and we’ll look to you to bring them to life. Getting great value for customers can’t come at the cost of fairness or long-term supplier relationships. You’ll negotiate commercial terms, drive cost efficiencies, and work collaboratively with our supply base to deliver success for everyone involved. It’s a big job, but you’ll have the flexibility and support you need to thrive.

What you’ll do

• Drive the growth of our categories, manage supplier relationships and source products our customers love
• Negotiate cost and terms with suppliers to deliver simple, value generating agreements for Co-op and our channel partners
• Own the strategic delivery of the commercial budget, forecasts and key performance measures
• Collaborate across a wide range of internal teams to ensure clarity of workflow and aligned deliverables
• Plan, prioritise and coordinate work within your team, ensuring the right capabilities are in place to deliver effectively
• Represent Co-op across the industry and wider supply base
• Inspire and support our team of commercial analysts and assistants to deliver category growth and strong performance
• Maintain a robust understanding of legal, regulatory and compliance requirements, including GSCOP

This role would suit people who have

• Significant experience in buying within food retail, or national/senior account management experience within the food supply industry
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills
• A track record of building strong, productive relationships with suppliers and internal partners
• The ability to inspire, develop and empower a team to deliver our commercial plan
• Strong commercial insight, with an analytical and strategic mindset

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Private healthcare for you 
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Stream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.
If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme - Co-op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.