Procurement Manager
Premier Foods · St. Albans, Hertfordshire
Our estimate of how close this role sits to decisions about what gets sourced, specified, bought and served. How we score
Why this role matters
Where the work sits relative to real sourcing and menu decisions.
This role sits inside Premier Foods but its procurement scope is Central Services — legal, financial services, property, travel, recruitment, learning & development, occupational health and health & safety. None of that touches what Premier Foods sources, specifies or puts into its food products, so there's no route from this desk to influencing animal welfare or the protein transition. If food-system influence is your goal, this isn't the seat — a role with scope over raw materials, ingredients or supplier standards for the products themselves would be.
About the role
Premier Foods is hiring a Procurement Manager – Central Services to own end-to-end procurement across a portfolio of professional and corporate service categories: Legal, Financial Services, Property & Estates, Travel, Recruitment, Learning & Development, Occupational Health and Health & Safety. The role involves developing and implementing category strategies for value, innovation and continuous improvement; analysing spend data and market insight to identify opportunities and mitigate risks; leading sourcing activity including tender processes, supplier evaluations and commercial negotiations; establishing and managing contracts and framework agreements; building supplier relationships through performance reviews; ensuring governance, risk management and compliance across managed categories; and partnering with HR, Legal, Finance, Talent, Property and Learning & Development stakeholders. The advert also asks the postholder to support sustainability and ESG priorities through responsible sourcing practices and supplier engagement, and to deliver cost efficiencies and measurable value. Essential experience includes procuring professional and corporate services such as legal, financial, HR, recruitment, property, travel, health & safety or training services, strong sourcing, negotiation and contract management experience across multiple categories, a track record driving supplier performance, excellent stakeholder management skills, and strong commercial acumen balancing cost, service, risk and sustainability. The role is based in St Albans on a hybrid basis, permanent and full time, with benefits including a car allowance, bonus, holiday purchase scheme, Sharesave scheme, EV car scheme, private medical cover, pension up to 7.5%, and life assurance.
This is an extract. Read the full advert on the employer's site.
Key terms to include in your CV and cover letter
What this employer asks for, in their own words. Applications are often screened by software matching exact phrases, so where these genuinely describe your experience, use their wording rather than your own.
- category strategy
- spend analysis
- supplier evaluation
- commercial negotiation
- tender management
- contract management
- framework agreements
- supplier relationship management
- supplier performance management
- governance and compliance
- risk management
- stakeholder management
- ESG
- responsible sourcing
- cost efficiency
How to position yourself
The language that lands with hiring managers in this kind of role.
This role sits outside the food-sourcing mission this board screens for, so tailored framing toward animal welfare or protein transition doesn't apply here. If you want to build toward food-system influence at a company like this, target roles with explicit scope over raw materials, ingredients or product-facing supplier standards instead.
Applications are handled entirely by the employer — this board links you to their original posting and doesn't collect your details.