Buying Operations Lead

Job description

Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life-changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges. We are looking for an experienced Buying Operations Lead to help shape and lead effective buying operations across the Wellcome Sanger Institute. This is not a purely reactive purchasing role. You will be expected to take ownership of the buying activity, anticipating issues before they arise, actively managing exceptions, challenging non-compliance with agreed processes. You will work proactively with stakeholders to resolve issues, remove blockers and find practical, compliant solutions. Working across Supply Operations and closely with Finance, suppliers and colleagues across the Institute, you will lead the operational journey from requisition through to purchase order. You’ll use your judgement and step in, when needed to challenge and when to escalate, ensuring issues are addressed before they become problems. You’ll also play an active role in supporting and improving our buying processes. With a view for making them simpler, more reliable and increasingly automated, while ensuring they remain practical, compliant and fit for purpose. About the Role: As Buying Operations Lead, you will take ownership of requisition-to-purchase order workflows within Oracle Fusion, ensuring purchasing activity progresses accurately, efficiently and in line with agreed controls and buying policies. A key part of the role is exception management. Rather than simply responding to queries as they arise, you will actively identify blocked, overdue and higher-intervention purchasing activity, assess the risks and bring the right people together to resolve issues. This may mean facilitating conversations across teams, constructively challenging stakeholders or established ways of working, and ensuring agreed actions are followed through. You will coordinate supplier onboarding and enablement and help resolve purchase order, receipting, invoice, pricing and delivery issues that could affect payment or continuity of supply. You will also look beyond individual transactions. Using operational data and exception trends, you will identify recurring problems, control weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, contributing to better workflows, greater automation and increased use of self-service buying through Oracle Fusion. About You: You will bring experience from procurement operations, purchasing, supply chain, finance operations or a related operational environment, together with a strong understanding of requisition-to-purchase order and procure-to-pay processes. You will be comfortable operating in a busy environment where the answer is not always straightforward. You can assess risk, investigate the root cause of an issue and decide what needs your intervention, what can be resolved through standard processes and what needs to be escalated. Just as importantly, you will be a confident facilitator and constructive challenger. You will be able to build effective relationships while being prepared to question and push back when needed. You can bring people with different priorities and levels of process knowledge together, explain requirements clearly and maintain appropriate operational controls without losing sight of the practical outcome. You will enjoy using data and operational insight to spot patterns and prevent recurring problems, rather than simply resolving the same exceptions repeatedly. Essential Knowledge, Experience and Skills: Strong understanding of buying operations, requisition-to-PO workflows and procure-to-pay processes within a controlled operational environment Understanding of operational governance, workflow controls and the management of non-standard or exception-based purchasing activity Knowledge of purchase order, supplier, receipting and invoice data dependencies and common exception types Understanding of operational controls, approvals, audit trails and compliant record keeping Working knowledge of ERP or e-procurement systems; Oracle Fusion knowledge desirable Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Excel or equivalent reporting tools for operational data analysis Experience in procurement operations, purchasing, supply chain administration, finance operations or a related customer-facing operational role Experience managing operational purchasing activity, transactional exceptions or workflow issues within a procurement, finance or supply operations environment Experience identifying operational risks, process weaknesses or recurring issues and contributing to workflow, automation or process improvements Experience maintaining accurate transactional records and working to operational controls or audit requirements Operational judgement - able to assess risk, prioritise interventions and determine appropriate escalation routes within defined controls and policies Accuracy and attention to detail - able to maintain reliable data and identify inconsistencies quickly Planning and prioritisation - able to manage multiple queries, exceptions and deadlines in a busy operational environment Problem solving - able to investigate root causes and coordinate practical resolution across teams Communication - able to explain process requirements clearly in writing, by telephone and face to face Stakeholder support and influence - able to guide users through operational processes while reinforcing compliant and standardised ways of working Analytical skills - able to use reports and spreadsheets to monitor activity, exceptions and trends About Us: We are a small, supportive, and mission-driven team. Supply Partnerships & Operations manages the relationships, processes and infrastructure that underpin our research supply chain. We partner with scientists and institute stakeholders to understand what they need, work with suppliers to deliver it, and continuously improve the way we operate. Our focus is not simply on buying things. It is on enabling research, building supply resilience, managing risk, creating value and removing friction from the stakeholder’s experience. We anticipate challenges rather than simply reacting to them, challenge where things can be done better, and use data, technology and strong partnerships to create simpler, smarter and more reliable ways of working. Other Information: Hybrid role, minimum of 3 days per week on campus Application Process: Please apply with your CV and a cover letter outlining your motivation for applying and how your skills and experience meet the essential criteria for the role. As previous experience is particularly important for this position, please use your cover letter to provide specific examples of how you have: proactively identified and managed purchasing, operational or transactional issues and exceptions; used your judgement to assess risk, prioritise interventions and determine when an issue should be resolved, challenged or escalated; and worked across different stakeholder groups to influence ways of working, facilitate solutions and reinforce effective and compliant processes. Salary per annum: In the region of £45,000 Role Profile Job family: Supply Partnerships and Operations Grade 2 Contract Type: Permanent Recruitment Process: Interviews will take place on w/c 5th October and w/c 12th October Closing date: 27th September 2026 Hybrid Working at Wellcome Sanger: We recognise that there are many benefits to Hybrid Working; including an improved work-life balance, with more focused time, as well as the ability to organise working time so that collaborative opportunities and team discussions are facilitated on campus. The hybrid working arrangement will vary for different roles and teams. The nature of your role and the type of work you do will determine if a hybrid working arrangement is possible. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: We aim to attract, recruit, retain and develop talent from the widest possible talent pool, thereby gaining insight and access to different markets to generate a greater impact on the world. We have a supportive culture with the following staff networks: LGBTQ+, Parents and Carers, Disability, Gender Equity and Race Equity to bring people together to share experiences, offer specific support and development opportunities and raise awareness. The networks are also a place for allies to provide support to others. We believe people do their best work when they can be their authentic selves. That’s why we’re committed to creating a truly inclusive culture at Sanger Institute. We will consider all individuals without discrimination and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, where everyone can thrive. Our Benefits: We are proud to deliver an awarding campus-wide employee wellbeing strategy and programme. The importance of good health and adopting a healthier lifestyle and the commitment to reduce work-related stress is strongly acknowledged and recognised at Sanger Institute. Sanger Institute became a signatory of the International Technician Commitment initiative In March 2018. The Technician Commitment aims to empower and ensure visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians working in higher education and research, across all disciplines.