Commodity Lead jobs
To get the most value out of a procurement operation, a commodity lead is often employed to deal directly with suppliers on behalf of the purchasing company. They will have a multitude of specific roles, but in essence they will be expected to keep costs as low as possible while maintaining the expected level of supply as per the business’s production requirements.
The commodity lead will need to keep a keen eye on the industry as a whole, checking out prices from a range of suppliers as a matter of routine. Identifying savings elsewhere will put the company in a stronger negotiating position with existing suppliers, creating a win-win situation as long as the competitor can meet delivery expectations. However a well negotiated long-term deal that saves future time and expense of seeking out new suppliers is far preferable.
Of course, it’s not all about saving money in simple terms; a good deal is about much more than that. Supplier might charge more for reasons that could prove highly advantageous to your own business, that save you more than they cost the supplier (perhaps because of their buying power in the sector, for example). So delving deep into bids from potential suppliers and modelling their propositions against your own company’s projections will form a key part of the job.
The skills required
The ideal commodity lead will have had some experience in procurement and will know their way around a negotiating table, representing their employer. They might well accompany superiors to such negotiations, where their in-depth knowledge of the particular deals in question will be used to strengthen the company’s position. Because negotiations are often fast-paced, a good grasp of maths, particularly mental arithmetic, will be vital for instinctively taking the temperature of a deal in progress.
Great communication skills and the ability to easily work in a team will be essential, as will competence at problem solving and forming firm, assertive decisions based on the best available data.
Commodity Lead Jobs in Rugby
The Warwickshire town of Rugby has several associations that make it well known, but by far the most notable is the game of rugby, which was supposedly invented when a boy, Webb Ellis, at school picked up the ball in a game of football in 1823 and ran with it (although some sport historians dispute the likelihood of this being true). The school in question was Rugby School, a public school that started off as a charitable place of education for local boys and ended up rather more exclusive.
The town is about as central in England as it’s possible to be. It’s located about 11 miles (18 km) east of Coventry, 18 miles (30 km) south of Leicester and 17 miles (28 km) north west of Northampton. Rugby is extremely well served by road and rail. It is surrounded to its north, east and south by the M6, M1 and M45 respectively, and has rail links to all the major metropolitan regions, a reminder of its importance in the railway golden age, when it was a key junction and engineering works.
Rugby might have a rather genteel image, and is quite a tourist magnet thanks to its beautiful Victorian architecture, but in reality it’s quite an industrialised town. It has log been a centre of engineering; the first jet engine was built there and the turbine tradition lives on today in the shape of a major Alstom plant and the Rolls Royce plc plant just up the road in Ansty. The town is also associated with cement making. Rugby is a good place to look for Commodity Lead work as it has diversified into being a centre of distribution thanks to its transport links, but also because of its industry in the town and nearby.
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Cast UK’s procurement opportunities
Cast UK were founded by specialists in the logistics, supply chain and procurement trade, and our consultants are also drawn from these backgrounds, so we know what employers and candidates are looking for.
If you’re looking for a job in procurement, whether you’re relocating for personal reasons or are simply looking for more job fulfilment, there could well be an employer who’s looking for the skills you have, so please get in touch with Cast UK. At any given time, we have jobs all over the UK, so wherever you live, or plan to live, we are well placed to find work that suits your skills. Employers often approach us to find managerial and executive candidates, so if you’re in logistics, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
To find out more about how Cast UK can help you recruit a Commodity Lead for your business or find you a job as a Commodity Lead then contact one of our consultant team on 0333 121 3345.
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