Local Category Specialist - Marketing Procurement

Join Asahi UK

At Asahi UK, we're home to some of the world's most iconic beer and cider brands, including Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Asahi Super Dry, Meantime, Fuller’s, Cornish Orchards and Dark Star.

We're looking for a Local Category Specialist to join our UK Procurement team, supporting one of the most dynamic and commercially visible areas of the business: Marketing.

If you're an early-career Procurement professional looking to develop your expertise and work closely with brand and marketing teams, this is a unique opportunity to build specialist category knowledge whilst helping shape how our brands show up in market.

The Role

This is a dedicated Marketing Procurement role supporting the sourcing and management of suppliers across a broad range of marketing-related spend.

You'll work closely with internal stakeholders to develop sourcing strategies, run competitive tenders, negotiate commercial agreements and manage supplier relationships, whilst ensuring our marketing teams have access to the right partners, services and capabilities.

You'll have the opportunity to support projects across:

• Creative and design agencies
• Media agencies
• Brand activations and experiential marketing
• Events and hospitality
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Point of sale materials
• Promotional merchandise
• Production and print services
• Digital marketing services
• Research and insight providers

No two projects are the same, making this an ideal role for someone who enjoys variety, stakeholder engagement and commercial problem solving.

What You'll Be Doing

• Supporting end-to-end sourcing and tender activities.
• Working with stakeholders to define requirements and develop supplier selection criteria.
• Managing RFQs, RFPs and competitive sourcing exercises.
• Evaluating supplier proposals and making commercial recommendations.
• Negotiating pricing, contractual terms and service levels.
• Supporting supplier relationship management and performance reviews.
• Delivering savings, cost avoidance and value creation opportunities.
• Maintaining category and supplier market knowledge.
• Building trusted relationships with Marketing stakeholders and becoming a valued business partner.

What We're Looking For

Essential

• Experience supporting sourcing, tendering or supplier management activities.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Commercially minded with an ability to challenge constructively.
• Comfortable managing multiple projects simultaneously.

Preferred

• Experience within FMCG, consumer goods, retail, hospitality or another fast-paced commercial environment.
• Exposure to Marketing, agency, events, media or promotional spend categories.
• Experience running RFQs or RFPs.
• Experience evaluating supplier proposals and negotiating commercial agreements.
• CIPS qualification or working towards qualification.

What Success Looks Like

The successful candidate is likely to be:

• A Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Procurement Executive or Assistant Category Manager.
• Looking to deepen their Procurement expertise rather than move immediately into people management.
• Interested in building specialist knowledge within a commercially important category.
• Comfortable balancing commercial rigour with stakeholder partnership.

Most importantly, you'll enjoy building relationships, influencing decisions and delivering value in a collaborative environment.

Why Marketing Procurement?

Marketing is one of the most visible and strategically important categories within our business.

Success in this role isn't simply about negotiating costs. It's about helping our marketing teams identify the right agency partners, support major brand campaigns and unlock value whilst protecting brand ambitions.

It's a category where commercial thinking, stakeholder engagement and creativity come together.

For the right person, it offers an excellent opportunity to develop a highly transferable Procurement skillset within a leading FMCG organisation.

What We Offer

• Hybrid working, typically 2-3 days per week in our Woking office.
• Competitive salary and bonus opportunity.
• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Exposure to some of the UK's most recognised premium beer and cider brands.
• A collaborative and supportive Procurement team.
• Excellent opportunities for professional development and category ownership.

We are committed to nurturing a workplace where we celebrate and respect difference, and support everyone to be true to who they are! At Asahi Europe and International we believe you can SHINE AS YOU ARE - no matter your age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We want to support you to be courageous in your individuality and to know that whoever you are and whatever your circumstances, you can belong with us without having to conform.