Category Assistant

Job Title: Category Assistant

Location: Cumbernauld

Contract and working pattern :Permanent, Hybrid (3 days in office), 37.5 hours

Are you ready to Be Your Best Barr None? 

Lets Grow!!!

We are all about Being Your Best Barr None and having a career with real Moments that Matter!

Employing around 850 people across the UK, we are proud to be a responsible business that takes care of our people, values diversity, gives something back to our communities and works to minimise our environmental impact.

For 150 years AG Barr has been building great brands and is home to some of the nations favourite flavours.

At our core is  IRN-BRU, launched in 1901 and still going strong today, the vibrant RUBICON fruit based brand, Boost making every moment better with a caffeine kick, hydration hit or tasty treat, and FUNKIN where real fruit means authentic taste.

We also have a number of exciting owned brands within our portfolio including MOMA, which crafts quality oats into great tasting oat drinks and porridges.

There's never been a better time to join us!

What we’re looking for…

The Procurement team manages sourcing activities for the entire AG Barr group, ensuring all tenders are managed professionally, delivering the best financial results, and conducting due diligence to ensure all suppliers meet our requirements.

The Category Assistant is a pivotal role bridging the gap between procurement administration and category management. You will be responsible for supporting delegated direct procurement categories, ensuring company procurement activities are effectively maintained and supported to the highest standards. 

This role ensures that the "Procure-to-Pay" (P2P) process runs smoothly by managing vendor data, delivering key data reporting and executing routine purchasing tasks. The role also will support business projects, representing the Procurement function. The Category  Assistant will also be responsible for managing transactional spend categories as part of their personal development as agreed with their Category Manager.

Your responsibilities will include...

• System Administration: Act as the super-user for the Procurement software. Accurately upload new supplier details, price lists, contract terms etc.
• PO Management: Ensuring all invoice queries are dealt within SLA and identifying opportunities to improve right first time invoicing from suppliers including maintaining price tables and other key data points within the ERP environment and look for and implement ways to improve
• Due Diligence: Ensuring all new purchase requests have been logged via the Buying Barr and  suppliers have been correctly onboarded including all due diligence checks have been completed, including, CoC, Ecovadis, credit check before approving the supplier. 
• Data Reporting: Run weekly identified reports such as  "Spend Reports" and "Savings Trackers" to help the Category Managers identify trends or anomalies.
• First-Line Inquiry Handling: Act as the primary point of contact for external suppliers regarding payment status or basic procedural questions.
• Category Support: Supporting the Category Managers on a daily basis to effectively manage the supply of goods and services ensuring continuity of supply is maintained. 
• Project Representation: Represent Procurement on selected projects ensuring all actions are executed in a timely manner and any risk or issues are escalated to the Project or Category Manager.
• Category Ownership: Where appropriate, you will be responsible for certain transactional categories. Ensuring all necessary category responsibilities are conducted.
• Spend Analysis & Reporting: Execute weekly spend reports and savings trackers. You will use this data to identify trends, monitor purchase price variance (PPV), and highlight opportunities for cost consolidation.
• Cross-Functional Teamwork: Work in a busy environment with frequent and integral cross-functional involvement, acting as a primary point of contact for external suppliers and internal stakeholders.

What you’ll bring...

• Procurement Experience: 0-2+ years of experience in a procurement, supply chain, or high-paced administrative environment, preferably within FMCG.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy required. High attention to detail is critical for managing price uploads and contract data.
• Commercial Support: Proven ability to conduct basic cost analysis
• Technical Skills: Comfortable with Excel (sorting, filtering, formulas, Vlookups) and ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Coupa, etc.).
• Communication: Good communication skills required to build professional relationships internally and externally. 
• Organisation: The ability to prioritise tasks and respond dynamically to a fast-paced, changing business environment.
• Professional standards: Student membership of CIPS (working towards MCIPS) is highly desirable, with a firm commitment to the CIPS Professional Code of Practice.

What we offer…

We believe in creating a diverse and inclusive culture where your voice can be heard.  Our skilled, loyal and committed people are critical to the future success of AG Barr which is why we are continually investing in our employees to develop their talent.

We look after our employees by offering a competitive salary and benefits package which includes;

• Annual bonus linked to business performance
• Defined contribution Pension
• Up to 34 days holiday (depending on shift pattern)
• Flexible holiday trading
• Flexible cash pot to spend on benefits
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Flexible benefits e.g. discounts & cashbacks, gym memberships, technology purchases etc
• Life assurance
• Save as you earn scheme
• Staff sales discount
• Free AG Barr products throughout your working day and staff sales
• Annual salary review 
• Ongoing professional development and access to Learning and Development programmes and content

And much more! 

To find out more about what it is like to work for AG Barr, please visit our careers platform here.

We are an equal opportunities employer and happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments that may be needed for successful candidates with a disability, health or mental health condition.

While we have highlighted our ideal requirements for this role, we are realistic that the successful candidate probably won't meet every single requirement in this advert, but we are big advocates of people growing in role. So even if you don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to submit an application - you may be just what we are looking for.

Speculative CVs from agencies will not be accepted.

Please note, we may close vacancies early where we receive significant numbers of applications, so apply now!