Packaging Category Buyer

🔵 Packaging Category Buyer | Tata Consumer Products 📍 Eaglescliffe, UK Ready to turn commercial insight, supplier partnerships and smart procurement into meaningful business value? This is an opportunity to take ownership of an important packaging category, strengthen supply resilience and support the delivery of innovative and more sustainable products. About Us At Tata Consumer Products, you'll have the opportunity to support a global food and beverage business with a portfolio of recognised brands, including Tetley, Tata Tea, Eight O'Clock Coffee, Himalayan Natural Mineral Water and Tata Sampann. Our purpose is For Better, and we are focused on strengthening our core businesses, accelerating growth, driving innovation and embedding sustainability across our operations. The Role We're looking for a commercially focused and proactive Packaging Category Buyer to join our Procurement team in Eaglescliffe. You'll manage packaging purchasing activity, supplier relationships, pricing and inventory while identifying opportunities to reduce costs, improve commercial terms and strengthen service and supply continuity. Working across Planning, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Innovation, Projects and Tea Buying and Blending, you'll help ensure packaging materials are available at the right quality, quantity, time and price. This is more than a transactional buying role. You'll use market intelligence to challenge suppliers, support new product launches, manage supply-chain risks and help advance our responsible sourcing and sustainable packaging ambitions. 🔍 Your impact 💷 Negotiate competitive pricing and commercial terms that deliver value for the business 🤝 Build strong supplier partnerships and develop new relationships where required 📦 Manage packaging orders, inventory, forecasts and supplier agreements 📊 Monitor purchasing performance, packaging budgets and supplier KPIs 💡 Identify cost-reduction, value-engineering and commercial improvement opportunities 🚀 Support the introduction of new products and packaging changes 🛡️ Proactively manage supply, quality, service and business-continuity risks 🌱 Support responsible sourcing, waste reduction and recyclable packaging initiatives 💻 Improve procurement processes through automation, digitisation and accurate data ✅ What we're looking for 🔹 Experience or a strong understanding of category buying, procurement or supplier management 🔹 Strong commercial awareness with confident negotiation and influencing skills 🔹 Numerical, analytical and problem-solving capability 🔹 The ability to manage competing priorities and deliver against tight deadlines 🔹 Strong attention to detail and a commitment to seeing work through to completion 🔹 Clear communication and confidence to work with suppliers and stakeholders at different levels 🔹 Strong Microsoft Office capability, particularly Excel 🔹 A proactive approach to continuous improvement and delivering practical solutions Experience within packaging, FMCG, manufacturing or an international supply-chain environment would be particularly valuable. Exposure to SAP, contracts, forecasting, inventory management or supplier-performance reporting would also be beneficial. 💙 Why Tata Consumer Products? 🌟 Develop commercial expertise across pricing, negotiation and supplier management 🌟 Contribute to new product launches and wider business growth 🌟 Join a global food and beverage business with recognised brands and ambitious growth plans 🌈 Our commitment to inclusion 🌐 Right to work You must have the right to work in the UK and provide evidence before commencing employment. This is your opportunity to shape an important packaging category, build strategic supplier partnerships and deliver commercial, operational and sustainability improvements across the business.