Assistant Buyer

Assistant Buyer Location: Stowmarket (Office-based / Hybrid following probation)Contract Type: Full-time, PermanentSalary: Up to £40k + Flexible Benefits

Freedom has an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Buyer to join our Procurement team in the South. Reporting to the Senior Buyer, you'll support the delivery of procurement activities across the business, helping to ensure contract requirements are delivered at best value for both Freedom and our end customers.This role is well suited to someone looking to build a career in procurement within a supportive, fast-paced environment.

Some of the key deliverables in this role will include:

• Support compliance with Health & Safety processes, promoting a safety-first culture.
• Assist with supply chain management, supporting key suppliers and resolving issues through to completion.
• Support supplier invoice query resolution in collaboration with Finance and Operations teams.
• Assist work-winning activities by obtaining and collating supplier and subcontractor pricing for tenders and pricing exercises.
• Carry out regular pricing reviews with suppliers to ensure competitiveness against market rates.
• Support supplier performance management, including meeting coordination and action tracking.
• Manage pricing requests, ensuring returns are tracked, recorded and filed to maintain a clear audit trail.
• Track pricing changes and support reporting on cost movements.
• Support delivery of savings and rebate targets.
• Maintain accurate procurement records and provide regular progress updates.

What We're Looking For:

• Experience working within policies and procedures to deliver defined tasks.
• Experience working collaboratively as part of a team to achieve wider goals.
• Ability to work on own initiative and solve problems proactively.
• Strong organisational and communication skills.
• Good IT literacy and numeracy skills.
• A positive, collaborative approach aligned to Freedom's values and behaviours.

Benefits:

We're always evolving our benefits to ensure we're attracting and retaining great people. Some of what you can expect includes:

• Pension with a leading provider and up to 8% employer contribution
• 25 days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
• Salary sacrifice car scheme (Hybrid/Electric Vehicle)
• Personal Wellbeing and Volunteer Days
• Private Medical Insurance
• Free 24/7 365 Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible benefits including Dental Insurance, Gym Memberships, Travel Insurance, Tax Free Bikes
• Personal development programme

Next Steps:

As a business, we're on a journey to build on our culture where everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. This starts with recruitment and how we bring people into the organisation.

We'll do our best to outline the recruitment process to you ahead of time with plenty of notice. If you require any accommodations to participate in the application or interview process, please let us know and we will work with you to ensure your needs are met. About Us:

Freedom are part of the NG Bailey Group, one of the leading independent engineering and services businesses in the UK. Founded in 1921, with a turnover of £500m and 3000 employees, we are proud of our history of developing great people through our investment in training.

You will be working as part of a team where we are committed to creating a culture where we treat each other fairly and with respect, recognising everyone as an individual.

Progression is something we value and we will make sure that when you join us you have a clearly defined development path, supported by regular reviews, training and ongoing support to enable you to be the best you can be.