Fastmarkets is an industry-leading price-reporting agency (PRA) and information provider for global commodities, providing price data, news, analytics and events for the agriculture, forest products, metals and mining and new-generation energy markets.
Fastmarkets' data is critical for customers seeking to understand and predict dynamic, sometimes opaque markets, enabling trading and risk management. Fastmarkets is a global business with a history dating back to 1865 and is built on trust and deep market knowledge. It has more than 600 employees spread across global locations in the UK, US, China, India, Singapore, Brazil, Belgium, Finland and beyond.
Procurement is a newly created function for Fastmarkets, following separation from a FTSE 250 PLC. This role will be crucial in developing the IT procurement category including developing a set of procurement opportunities agreed with the stakeholders, delivering the associated activities and delivering sustainable benefits for the company.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
- Design and build with the Technology function key stakeholders a category strategy including developing a robust set of Procurement priorities that will deliver sustainable benefits to Fastmarkets.
- Specifically, collaborate with key stakeholders to understand IT requirements and forecast future needs to help contribute to their budgeting process, focusing on cost-saving opportunities and efficiency improvements.
- Lead the engagement with suppliers for the acquisition of technology to deliver the best value for Fastmarkets.
- Lead all procurement activity from the Technology function in accordance with the Procurement Policy and playbooks including new requirements, renewals and projects.
- Provide support to the Technology Function in the procurement policy and process, where they can self-serve.
- Ensure that robust contracts are agreed with all key suppliers and all suppliers.
KEY INTERFACES
This role will work closely with the rest of the Procurement function and all colleagues within the Technology function but will also work across all other business functions as required, particularly Finance, Legal, Risk & Compliance and Information Security.
We recruit talented, dynamic people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all united by a belief in our mission to provide the world’s leading and most trusted price reporting, events, and intelligence service for the markets we serve. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating a fully inclusive workplace, where everyone feels able to participate and contribute meaningfully.
If you are open-minded, curious, resilient, solutions-oriented and committed to promoting equality, then read on.
KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
We are looking for an individual who is highly motivated, driven, and have a passion to be part of a fast-paced, successful team. Being a strong team player is also important as well as someone who is happy to work flexibly.
Experience
- A great track record with category management experience within the assigned IT portfolio, particular in SaaS, managed service providers, cloud, Telecomms, data and voice, licensing and hardware.
- Experience in relationship management and networking skills, required for both key stakeholder and supplier engagement.
Skills and Knowledge
- A strong knowledge of commercial models and approaches/techniques necessary to achieve great commercial outcomes for Fastmarkets.
- An in-depth knowledge of the IT category.
- A good knowledge of contract drafting with the ability to work with Legal colleagues to achieve a robust agreement.
- Good negotiation, influencing skills
- Good communication skills to be able to extract detail and evidence as required from colleagues and/or suppliers.
- Strong analytical skills and being comfortable in analysing and interrogating data to support any category plans.
- Advanced level of PC literacy particularly in the Microsoft Office suite.
Behaviours and Characteristics
- Enthusiastic, proactive and keen to work on own initiative as well as part of a team.
- Results, deadline and quality driven.
- Uses own initiative to identify problems and deliver solutions.
- Confidence and desire to take responsibility for deliverables.
- Good attention to detail.
- Strong time management skills and the ability to meet and/or exceed deadlines.
If you're excited about the role but your experience, skills or qualifications don't perfectly align, we encourage you to apply anyway.
Our Values
Fastmarkets people come from all different walks of life. It’s this mix of brilliant personalities, experiences and insights that gives us that warm, open, and friendly culture you can feel as soon as you meet us. But however wonderfully different we all are, there are six things we all have in common – and they form our Fastmarkets values.
Created by our own employees to reflect some of the personal traits that Fastmarkets people have, our values are key to what makes our culture unique. They reflect who each of us are and they're embedded in everything we do. Our values are:
- METRICS DRIVEN. We use insights to improve our customers’ experience and our business performance
- ACCOUNTABLE. We are accountable to ourselves and those we work with: we keep our promises and get things done
- GROWTH MINDSET. This value enables us to be nimble to the changing realities and operate with a sense of urgency
- INCLUSIVE. We are inclusive and respectful, celebrating each of us and giving everyone a deep sense of belonging with the desire to bring their best self to work every day.
- CUSTOMER CENTRIC. We are customer-centric in all that we do
- COLLABORATIVE. We are collaborative, able to work across teams and capitalise on the diversity of intellect, perspectives, and experiences.
You’ve read a little about us – now it’s over to you!
If you like what you’ve read so far and think you can see yourself as a Fastmarkets person, it’s time to fill in your application form. This form is an important part of the selection process: it’s used to determine whether or not you’ll be chosen to have an interview and acts as a basis for the questions we’ll ask you on the day.
It’s vital that you try to capture all the relevant information we have asked for on the form so we can get a good feel for who you are and why you’re great.