<p>Sainsbury’s Buying Teams ensure that we get the best products at the best prices to help us deliver quality and value to our customers. We aim to deliver on a mission that matters: Helping Everyone Eat Better.</p> <p>You will own, deliver and optimise the sourcing, buying and selling strategy for the Cooked and Continental Meats buying area. This will be achieved through brilliant sourcing, buying and selling strategies. Great product selection, product innovation, value and profit optimisation and supplier management.</p> <p>This is a great role for someone looking to get involved in delivering a large scale strategy project as we aim to deliver several projects covering end to end sourcing and selling, considering quality, environmental credentials, sustainability and the future needs of our customers as we meet our corporate ‘Plan for Better’ objectives’. Cooked Meats is a key area within MFP and being able to think short and long term in this area is key in the current and future success of the area.</p> <p>The role requires strong supplier management, P&L management. and delivery and training. We are looking for someone with positive energy, who thinks independently but works well in a team environment and can lead cross-functionally and own critical commercial recommendations.</p> <p><strong>As a Senior Buyer you’ll:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Develop and execute a customer-focused, source and selection strategy for Cooked and Continental Meats</li> <li>Lead a matrix cross functional team (Agriculture, Development, Technical, Supply Chain, Finance)</li> <li>Manage complex E2E buying models</li> <li>Identify and negotiate cost savings through brilliant supplier relationship management and understanding of the end-to-end supply chain</li> <li>Taking a leading and driving role in key category projects to outperform the market</li> <li>Implement Pricing, Promotional & Ranging strategies</li> <li>Analyse financial, market and customer data to identify opportunities to deliver a market-leading product range, including regularly review own label products against their appropriate competitor benchmarks</li> <li>Accountable for Category plan at Sub Cat level</li> <li>Work with Supply Chain, Own Brand and Retail to drive product range</li> <li>Deliver to business targets on sales, profit, value and range</li> <li>Support the implementation of NPD (New Product Development)</li> <li>Liaise with the Product Technologist/Developer in setting the quality criteria for products, ensuring the optimal balance between quality and price is maintained</li> </ul> <p><strong>Essential Criteria:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Demonstrable experience in Fresh Food Buying</strong>, ideally with exposure to own-branded products and the ability to deliver results quickly in a fast-paced environment.</li> <li><strong>Flexibility to Travel</strong>: Willingness to travel to supplier locations as and when needed & travelling to weekly meetings at London Store support centre.</li> <li><strong>Track Record in Fresh food Category Management</strong>- Showcasing the ability to manage a category P&L, balancing profitability, volume and market performance</li> <li><strong>Experience managing relationships & proven negotiation skills</strong> <strong>within a long-term supplier agreement framework&nbsp;</strong>with a track record of leveraging commercial terms and driving value in supplier agreements.</li> <li><strong>Ability to handle complex stakeholder interactions</strong>, demonstrating resilience and confidence in challenging conversations and decision-making.</li> <li><strong>Evidence of continuous improvement mindset</strong>, including solving complex problems creatively and challenging existing processes to deliver innovative solutions.</li> </ul>