Senior Buyer

As the UK's leading Social Enterprise, we move lives forward every day by building, managing and supporting thriving Communities. From new homes, social housing and student accommodation to leisure, education and Community initiatives, our work makes a positive difference to millions of People across the UK. And that takes People who care about doing the right thing. People who are ambitious, ready to grow and motivated to make a difference through the work they do.

We're looking for Colleagues who bring energy, curiosity and ownership. People who enjoy being challenged, support those around them and want to keep raising the bar. Because when we perform at our best, we create more opportunities to invest in our Customers, our Communities and each other.

Experience matters, but it's only part of the story. If you share our values and want to build a career where your work has real impact, we'd love to hear from you.

More about your role

We're looking for an experienced Senior Buyer to join our Regional Commercial Team (South East), supporting a portfolio of live residential developments across Kent and West Sussex. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who can hit the ground running, taking ownership of existing live projects and ensuring procurement activities continue to support programme delivery, quality and commercial performance.

You'll be site-based across Kent and West Sussex as required, attend our London office two days per week, located just five minutes from King's Cross station, and spend at least one day per week on site working closely with project teams, suppliers and stakeholders.

In this varied role, you'll manage material schedules, complete material take-offs from drawing packages, negotiate competitive supplier agreements and procure materials in line with project requirements. You'll work closely with Technical, Commercial and Operational teams to support project planning, programme delivery and cost control, whilst identifying opportunities for value engineering and process improvement.

You'll also provide market intelligence and pricing insights, manage rebates and purchase orders, support the procurement of design-led and non-standard materials, and build strong supplier relationships that drive quality, service and value across our developments.

Essential criteria

• NVQ Level 3 qualification (or equivalent) in a construction-related discipline
• Extensive Senior Buyer or Buyer experience within the housebuilding sector
• Proven experience completing material take-offs from construction drawings and specifications
• Strong track record of negotiating material packages and managing procurement across multiple live construction projects
• Experience using COINS, Microsoft Office and procurement systems to manage buying activities and reporting

More about you

You'll be an experienced construction procurement professional with a strong understanding of the housebuilding sector and the ability to quickly take ownership of live projects. You enjoy building effective relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders and can balance multiple priorities across a fast-paced development portfolio.

You will have excellent attention to detail and be comfortable analysing technical information, drawings and specifications to support informed procurement decisions. A proactive and commercially minded approach is essential, along with the ability to identify efficiencies, manage costs and deliver value throughout the project lifecycle.

A CIPS Level 4 qualification (or higher) would be advantageous, although we're equally interested in hearing from candidates who can demonstrate strong industry experience and a successful track record within residential construction buying.

What you'll get

We know rewarding work deserves rewarding benefits. That's why, alongside a competitive salary, you'll have access to a package designed to support you at work and beyond.

You'll receive:

• Pension with matched contributions up to 7%
• Bonus scheme • 35 days holiday (including bank holidays) with the option to buy or sell days
• Healthcare cashback plan for everyday medical costs, with private GP and health support services available
• Comprehensive wellbeing support including counselling, flu jabs, our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and access to our Wellbeing Hub, supporting your mental, physical and financial wellbeing
• Access to Our Place Rewards, offering discounts and savings on groceries, travel, shopping, home products and other lifestyle purchases
• Ongoing training, professional qualifications, internal development programmes and career progression opportunities
• Recognition programmes including Star Awards and Colleague Awards, celebrating achievements and recognising great work
• Strong focus on inclusion, wellbeing and colleague engagement
• Free membership to Places Gyms
• Life Assurance to provide financial security for your loved ones, alongside access to will writing services to help you plan for the future with confidence

What's next?

If you meet the criteria and are ready to make the next step in your career then click apply. You will be redirected to our careers site where you can discover more about the role, read a full job description and apply directly to us.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we offer a guaranteed interview to candidates who are disabled, neurodiverse, or have served in the Armed Forces, provided they meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this in your application. We are dedicated to creating a supportive and accessible recruitment process for all.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview experience, please let us know. We're happy to work with you to ensure you have the opportunity to perform at your best.

If you are a Places for People customer and you're looking for support with your application, please contact our skills and employment team on skillsemployment@placesforpeople.co.uk.

We understand the importance of a supportive and inclusive work culture so please talk to us at interview about flexibility you may need. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we promise not to judge you for asking. For this role we are open to discussing the possibility of reduced hours, flexible start and finish times or compressed hours.

If you are a recruitment agency please note we operate a PSL and do not take cold calls

Safeguarding

At Places for People, safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We are committed to creating safe communities for our customers and colleagues by protecting children, young people, and adults at risk from harm, abuse, and neglect.

We follow robust safeguarding policies and procedures, ensuring all employees, volunteers, and contractors uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and accountability. Our recruitment process includes pre-employment checks, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where applicable, to promote a safe and secure working environment.

By joining Places for People, you are expected to contribute to our safeguarding culture, following our policies and reporting concerns to protect those in our communities