Job Details
Job Title: Strategic Sourcing Manager - Commercial
Location: St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, Royston, Hertfordshire & hybrid working
Contract Type: Full-Time Permanent
Closing Date: 10/11/2024
This is not your ‘normal’ procurement role – you’ll be partnering to strategically source, the reinvention of chocolate, for people and for nature.
As a trusted expert in broad commercial categories like Marketing, IT, and Digital, you will balance value, innovation, savings, and new capabilities. We seek excellent procurement professionals to drive strategic, transformative initiatives and take pride in their work. Our Indirect procurement team is in its early stages but has already achieved significant wins. This role has the exciting potential to enable further strategic transformation, including managing 30% of all indirect spend. As a relatively young but commanding brand, we offer autonomy and the chance to make visible impacts. We need self-starters who can lead projects through ambiguity and capitalise on valuable opportunities. If this excites you, we want to hear from you!
As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits including private healthcare cover, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and Company pension contributions, you’ll receive 50% discount on all products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia.
Here at Hotel Chocolat, we've adopted hybrid working. You’ll join us on site for 3 days a week to engage and collaborate as a team, with our stakeholders and suppliers, but you can figure out which sites, which days and where you need to be to get your work done. Stakeholders for this role are mainly based across our on-site locations in Royston and St Neots. For the other 2 days – you can work from wherever you like!
This is a full-time, Monday to Friday role, however we’re not ‘clock watchers’ here at Hotel Chocolat, we simply ask that you are available between the core hours of 10am to 4pm and you can flex your remaining hours accordingly.
We are open to conversations around flexible working.
What you’ll be doing:
* Business Partner: Serve as a trusted advisor for procurement across Commercial categories (Marketing, IT, Digital, Professional Services), building stakeholder relationships to maximise supplier performance, innovation, and ethics.
* Procurement Delivery: Lead and manage the category sourcing plan and end-to-end procurement, using various sourcing approaches (e.g., direct negotiation, RFI, RFQ) to secure commercial value and lead critical supplier negotiations.
* Targets and Plans: Develop and manage Commercial category plans with Finance and functional colleagues, delivering savings and operational improvements, and adjusting to evolving business needs.
* Policy, Process, and Governance: Support the Head of Indirect Procurement by ensuring compliance with procurement policies, processes, and tools, and identify opportunities for enhancement.
* Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): Guide contract owners in supplier management, build performance-focused supplier relationships, and integrate innovation into SRM activities.
* Performance Escalation: Act as the escalation point for supplier performance issues within the category, resolving and escalating further as needed.
* Risk and Sustainability: Manage supplier risk and improve supply chain transparency, aligning procurement activities with the ESG/Sustainability strategy.
Who you are:
* Business Partnering: Skilled in building and maintaining stakeholder relationships at all business levels, supporting strategic and operational decisions with procurement insights.
* Commercial Acumen: Combine market and supplier insights with business objectives to enhance value throughout the supplier lifecycle.
* Procurement Delivery: Proven track record of delivering tangible value through effective category strategies and procurement techniques.
* Planning and Monitoring: Capable of delivering projects on time and to agreed objectives using project management skills.
* Contract Development: Skilled in negotiating contracts that enhance quality, cost, risk management, and innovation, fostering sustainable supplier relationships.
Essential
* Demonstrable understanding of commercial categories with broad category management experience.
* Proven ability to establish trusted relationships and influence senior stakeholders.
* Trained and skilled in most elements of procurement.
* Experienced promoting Procurement Policy.
* Demonstrable ability to lead complex negotiations.
* Comfortable working with ambiguity with the acumen to take initiative.
Desirable
* Strong understanding of commercial categories spanning at least two of the following IT, Marketing, digital, HR or professional services.
* Trained and skilled in all elements of procurement, CIPS qualified is desirable.
* Background from CPG, Retail, Logistics, Airline or Hospitality.
* Educated to Bachelors or Master’s degree level.
Who are we?
We’re one of the UK’s favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser.
A cacao pod takes years to grow – it can’t be rushed if it’s going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about.
Now, we’re market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 100 stores across the UK, and we’re still growing… Today, we’re multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.
To learn more about us and read about our People Pledge – our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – click here: hotelchocolat.com/uk/engaged-ethics/our-people.html
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