Department: Supply Chain
Reporting to: Supply Chain Manager
Location: Portlaoise, Ireland
The Business Support Specialist role is a hybrid position that combines key responsibilities of a Buyer and Customer Service Specialist. This role plays a central part in managing vendor relationships, supporting purchasing activities, and ensuring seamless communication across departments. With a strong focus on data accuracy, trend analysis, and customer service, the role contributes to the overall efficiency of the supply chain and supports strategic decision-making through business intelligence and reporting tools.
Key Responsibilities
- Continuously update competitor knowledge within both off-price and full-price sectors to ensure the business is positioned as the premier off-price destination.
- Maintain and develop the best position with vendors to ensure we are the exclusive or first point of contact for any off-price activity.
- Maintain a high level of trend awareness for responsible departments and the market in general.
- Feed ongoing ideas and strategies internally to all relevant teams, including Marketing, Upload and E-commerce, ensuring the buying function is up to date with all developments.
- Assist departments with following purchasing procedures, as well as following up on their orders to ensure accuracy.
- Create supporting spreadsheets and other related documentation as directed.
- New Vendor & Customer Set-Up.
- Conduct business user master file audits.
- Analyze costing inputs/trends for each product category.
- Manage seasonal order purchases and reorders, ensuring deliveries are received on schedule.
- Ensure clear and timely vendor communication in a concise, accurate, and professional manner.
- Process vendors’ purchase orders and follow up to ensure on-time deliveries, correct pricing, terms, and specifications.
- Handle special projects/research for the department.
- Standardize and manage supply chain data to streamline operations from vendors.
- Assist in the direct site's purchasing of materials and deliverables.
- NLPE/NPI strategic actions.
- Business Intelligence and Data Analysis
- Use Power BI and other business intelligence tools to create reports and dashboards for export operations.
- Analyze export data to identify trends, inefficiencies, and areas for improvement.
- Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track export performance and operational efficiency.
- Present data-driven insights to leadership to support strategic decision-making.
- Sales and Operations Planning Collaboration
- Collaborate closely with the Commercial Sales Team & Marketing Manager.
- Participate in planning and forecasting processes to manage demand and address the right product mix.
- Work with the Sales Team to forecast inventory needs and optimize inventory management.
- 3+ years of experience in procurement or a related field.
- Certifications in dangerous goods handling (IATA, IMDG, and DOT) preferred.
- Understanding of global supply chain dynamics and international market trends.
- Experience with data analysis and creating data visualizations.
- Strong problem-solving abilities and analytical thinking.
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
- Proficiency in procurement software and tools.
- Strong negotiation skills
- Strong written and oral communication skills.