Job Title
Senior Programme Buyer
Ref #
54122
Date posted
Monday, September 22, 2025
Country
United Kingdom
Location
Woking
Business area
Procurement
Department
Programme Procurement
Position level
5 - Supervisory / Professional​ - (L-16)
Working time
Full Time
Contract type
Permanent
Working pattern
8:30am - 5:30pm Monday to Friday
Salary
TBC
What to Expect

The Procurement Programme team is part of the Procurement organisation and is the interface between Direct Procurement, Programme Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance and the wider business. To support the Business's delivery of its upcoming Vehicle Programmes, your role will be to Project manage the sourcing and supply chain delivery for all commodities within Direct Procurement. This will require ensuring stakeholder adherence to Procurement policies, processes and procedures whilst facilitating alignment across the Engineering, Supplier Quality, Programme, Finance and broader cross-functional teams. This role will require an element of leadership as the successful candidate will be responsible for supporting and guiding Procurement team members, and influencing key senior stakeholders.  

Location: Woking or Bicester, Oxfordshire
What You'll Do
  • The Senior Programme Buyer is accountable for the following key activities:
  • Drive and maintain Direct Procurement sourcing timelines against key Programme deliverables such as cost, supplier selection, supply chain risk management and programme milestones.
  • Early engagement with Engineering, Vehicle Line Delivery & other functions to apply the McLaren Development Process (MDP) for that New Model, considering strategy, cost, quality, timing and resources.
  • Be the gatekeeper and owner for Procurement sourcing and nomination planning, considering programme content, milestones, sourcing lead times and category strategies.
  • Actively contribute to the creation of cost targets (Bill of Material (BoM) and Capex) from a Procurement view-point to ensure that tough but achievable programme goals are set and clearly communicated. Actively feeding back and influencing targets in VLD, Finance & EFL based on Procurement intelligence.
  • Manage and coordinate cross functional stakeholders including Engineering and Manufacturing partners to develop plans for supply chain delivery.
  • Responsible for representing the Procurement team through metrics, KPIs and status in key management reviews whilst maintaining their accuracy.
  • Strong awareness and governance of pre-SOP BoM cost and CapEx positions, including:
  • Bom cost status, relative to Programme Budget’s and Should-Costs.
  • Driving delivery of cost reduction opportunities, and supporting risk mitigation.
  • Supplier CapEx position, including phasing, relative to Programme Budget’s and Should-Costs.
  • Carry-over component cost forecasting and risk provisioning.
  • Create the required information release plans based on needed dates and negotiate them with Procurement and VLD / Engineering. Publish and hold everyone to account. Manage deviations from plan.
  • Full understanding of relevant Programme change content, and evolutions to this.
  • Supply chain capacity confirmations, and awareness of constraints and bottlenecks.
  • Managing carry-over part availability and any associated sourcing activities.
  • Supply continuity; ensuring a strong understanding of continuity risk, limitations on supply, and associated mitigation plans.
  • Working closely with our SQD team, support supply chain launch readiness and associated APQP processes. Identification of prospective programme risk and co-development of mitigation plans.
  • Govern technical and commercial change management process, ensuring clear transparency of BoM cost evolution.
  • Component delivery: understanding of any risks to build phases and proactive mitigation.
  • Drive and support key Procurement workstreams, understand critical issues & work with teams to formulate mitigation responses and ensure successful programme delivery.
  • Support in driving continuous improvement across the Business.

What You'll Bring

Business Knowledge
  •  A good understanding of the ‘partner’ functions that Procurement must work with and influence, in order to deliver Procurement’s programme objectives;
  • A strong understanding of Manufacturing Development Processes, systems, and procedures;
  • An understanding of the typical commodity lead times and complexities would be beneficial;
  • Understanding of project management principles and tools would be advantageous.
  • An understanding of the Product Development process.
Essential Functional / Technical Skills
  • Minimum of a university degree in Business or Engineering or equivalent (ideally automotive, aerospace or industrial)
  • Ideally, professionally qualified or experienced in Programme Management
  • Well versed in successfully delivering complex cross functional projects;
  • Deep understanding of the Procurement function and processes, ideally with at least 5 years of Programme Management, Supplier Quality or Procurement experience
  • Highly proficient in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Visio etc.
  • Experience in digitalisation tools and methodologies for a Procurement department would be beneficial.
  • Experience with structured Problem Solving (8D) would be advantageous
Personal Attributes / Competencies

  • A multi-tasker who successfully prioritises and executes against tight deadlines in a rapidly evolving work environment.
  • Courageous and ambitious – has a “can-do” attitude and willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve great results.
  • Personable with the strong capability to work cross-functionally and develop collaborative relationships.
  • Able to effectively influence at all levels of the business from buyer to senior manager, with the appropriate level of detail;
  • Results driven and able to deliver against challenging targets to achieve the overall programme and business objectives.
  • Excellent organisational skills, deadline adherence and exceptional attention to detail and ability to analyse and summarise large data sets.
  • The determination to drive forward the business to ‘Best in Class’ performance standards.
  • Good working knowledge of both manufacturing and quality processes.
  • Strong written, verbal and presentation skills.


What We'll Do for You

We offer a wide – ranging benefits package, which includes:

  • Structured career development framework
  • 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holiday. Annual buy & sell up to five days
  • Enhanced company pension scheme
  • Discretionary annual bonus award
  • Private medical insurance and health cash plan
  • Life assurance benefit
  • Ability to apply for a sabbatical of up to one year after only two years’ service
  • Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
  • Generous parental leave policies
  • A range of wellbeing initiatives, such as employee assistance programme and free financial & mortgage advice
Who Are We?

No restraints. No limitations. We don’t simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars.

It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks. 

McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey. 

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