Category buyer

Actual Talent is the talent acquisition consultancy that offers Executive Search, RPO and Talent Solutions.

About the client:

Our client is a global food company based in Barcelona, Spain, that operates in over 50 countries across Europe and Africa, offering more than 30 local brands. 

Job description:

Strategy & Planning

• Provide data and insight to Category Managers for strategy development (e.g., supplier performance trends, recurring issues, market analyses)
• Draft budget and support CatMan in its development
• Lead supplier homologation, performance evaluation and KPI monitoring
• Participate in supplier segmentation and input for risk assessments

Operational Sourcing & Execution

• Ensure all procurement activities and business needs are in compliance with category strategies and policies
• Lead execution of local tenders (RFXs), negotiation with local suppliers and contracts, including ESG clauses when needed, to drive the Sustainability strategy
• Contribute to executing SBU-specific initiatives.
• Ensure correct spending categorization, contract usage, and policy compliance
• Monitor performance of suppliers (incl. SRM), have recurring meetings with them, ensure up-to-date data, and facilitate meetings on sustainability with key suppliers when needed
• Support the maintenance of SAP master data relevant to procurement
• Manage price lists and ensure they are up to date
• Support blocked invoices resolution

Value Delivery

• Implement savings and value creation initiatives, contributing to overall procurement targets
• Perform basic cost and opportunity analyses to identify value creation opportunities (e.g., Pricing/TCO assessments, benchmarking)
• Identify, formalize, and share insights with CatMan
• Monitor and record savings and other impacts from procurement initiatives
• Ensure category supports broader business initiatives (e.g., ESG, innovation)
• Introduce the Sustainable Sourcing Manager to suppliers if needed

Cross-functional collaboration

• Collaborate closely with other functions (Finance, SC, Quality, Marketing, Sustainability, Innovation, Industrial, etc.) to align on operational priorities and ensure procurement process is followed and respected (e.g., in NPD projects)

Capabilities

• Deep understanding of policy, compliance and overall procurement process
• Strategic understanding of procurement value-add and knowledge of business requirements and priorities, including sustainability and innovation
• Strong communication, coordination and project management, comfortable managing frequent and parallel supplier and internal interactions w/ clarity &responsiveness and under pressure
• Analytical mindset, problem-solving solving and ability to derive insights from data
•  Familiarity with key procurement documents (Category strategy, POs, contract terms, SLAs, etc.)
• Ability to work in a matrix organization

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Economics, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Proven experience as a buyer, ideally within the FMCG or other fast-paced industry (3+ years of experience).
• Proficient in using procurement tools, especially ERP & S2P (e.g., SAP, Ariba, Jaggaer)
• Fluency in English (French, Spanish, German, Italian as a plus, not mandatory).
• Strong data analytics skills (Excel) to perform assessments on offers sent (functional, business case/ROI, etc.)
• Skilled in communication, presentation and reporting (PowerPoint, dashboards)
• Strong market and supplier research across geographies and categories
• Basic project management, negotiation and strategic thinking
• Financial acumen to understand impact to P&L of contracts (e.g., working capital)