Senior Buyer - Sub

Location: South West - Plymouth
Sector: Infrastructure / Heavy Civils

A leading Tier 1 civil engineering contractor, part of a major UK construction group, is seeking a Senior Buyer (Subcontracts) to join its procurement team in the South West.

The business delivers complex, high-profile infrastructure projects across sectors including maritime, flood risk management, defence, energy, water and regeneration, providing innovative engineering solutions through an integrated, multidisciplinary approach.

• Develop tender lists and undertake full due diligence of proposed subcontractors for approval by the project and procurement leadership teams

• Develop project-specific procurement strategies in collaboration with project teams, identifying and managing risk and opportunity to achieve best value

• Develop and manage procurement schedules aligned with project programmes

• Prepare and issue subcontract and materials enquiries for tender and project delivery

• Manage timely return of quotations, complete detailed commercial and best-value analysis, and present recommendations for approval

• Lead commercial negotiations with subcontractors and suppliers

• Arrange and chair mid-tender, post-tender, final negotiation and pre-let meetings

• Ensure compliance with internal governance and correct use of procurement documentation and approval processes

• Chair regular project procurement reviews, tracking programme dates, tender allowances, order values, risks and actions

• Support project teams by monitoring subcontractor performance and acting as a commercial mediator where supply chain issues arise

• Manage new subcontractor onboarding, including all required due diligence

• Maintain strong knowledge of the local supply chain, including capacity, capability and market conditions

• Implement and manage supply chain agreements, including frameworks and preferred supplier arrangements

• Build strong relationships with the supply chain to gather market intelligence and drive innovation

• Proven experience working in heavy civil engineering procurement, with a strong focus on subcontract buying

• Experience operating within regulated or secure environments is advantageous (e.g. defence, nuclear, critical infrastructure)

• Holding or working towards a CIPS professional qualification

• Strong understanding of civil engineering trades, subcontract packages and construction materials

• Good working knowledge of different forms of contract (e.g. NEC or similar)

• Strong commercial awareness with excellent analytical and negotiation skills

• Comfortable managing a varied workload with minimal supervision

• IT-literate, with experience using Excel, Word, Teams and procurement / document management systems

• Ability to obtain security clearance as required by project demands