Purchasing and supply management involves buying the goods and services that enable an organisation to operate. You may be responsible for sourcing raw materials from suppliers worldwide and bringing them into the organisation to enable the production of goods for customers. Your role could involve the purchasing of marketing, advertising or IT related services. A company can spend more than two thirds of its revenue on buying goods and services, so even a modest reduction in purchasing costs can have a significant effect on profit.

You will need to be able to demonstrate a wide variety of skills including a good business sense, financial management, a flair for communication and negotiation, an understanding of the global market place, creativity and innovation.

An average salary for an entry level graduate with no purchasing experience is about £18,000. A good graduate trainee moving into purchasing and supply management could expect a quick promotion. Many purchasing directors, especially in a large organisation, can command salaries well in excess of £100,000.

Growing number of relevant courses are available

A growing number of undergraduates are choosing to join the purchasing and supply profession upon graduation. There are now a wide variety of UK universities offering purchasing and supply related degree courses. General business degrees also often include some core elements of purchasing a supply discipline in their syllabus.

There is also our degree level professional qualification which most people study once they start work to gain the professional standard of MCIPS (Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply).  Some University degree courses are accredited by us and graduates of accredited courses can apply for full membership once they have three years’ experience.

Transferable skills give you choice and variety of potential workplaces

One of the most beneficial things about this career is that a well-qualified purchasing professional can walk into a wide range of environments where they can use their skills to buy a whole variety of products and services. 

For example, in a manufacturing environment, such as a car plant, the purchaser would be directly involved in buying components such as wheels, lights and shock absorbers as well as more general services such as advertising and marketing services. Whereas in retail some purchasers within the organisation buy goods and services for use by the company and other buyers are responsible for selecting products which are sold in the shops themselves.

The scope and choice within this profession is what makes it so diverse with no two jobs ever being the same.

Traditional purchasing skills and relationship management

In today’s strategic procurement environment, the most successful individuals combine traditional purchasing skills with good relationship management skills - listening, understanding, communicating and empathy.

Traditional purchasing skills, such as financial management, contract management, cost reduction and basic negotiation will always be fundamental to the procurement process.

The current relationship between partners (suppliers) is relatively equal in terms of the relationship. The buyer and supplier work together right from the start of the relationship to share information, training, support, technical input and ideas in order to reduce the total overall cost.  At the same time the buyer also needs to work closely with internal customers to ensure their needs are met and to gain their buy-in to the process.