Little Moons are frozen and chilled mochi, a fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine – soft and chewy rice flour dough wrapped around balls of ice cream, cheesecake, or chocolate ganache to create a distinctive, bite-sized, and delicious dessert that’s bursting with flavour.

Their rollout across Europe has been pioneered by sister and brother duo Vivien and Howard Wong, who founded Little Moons in 2010.  The product’s roots are in high-end restaurants, but over the last five years retail packs have swept the ice cream category in grocery and food service.

The business has rapidly established mochi, and snacking ice cream across Europe. In FY22 we generated more than £50m in revenue, and in FY23 we are targeting +50% YoY growth.  Based on experience in the USA, mochi ice cream is likely to make up 2-3% of the total ice cream category within 1-2 years.

We are very proud of the culture that we have built at Little Moons. Not to stroke our own egos, but we are a great bunch of people—smart, passionate, interesting, and funny—who work hard to support and live our values, all the while keeping our mission in our forethoughts.

The Role:

We are looking for a new Category Buyer to join our growing Procurement Team at Little Moons. This role will assist the delivery of the Little Moons Procurement Strategy delivering a robust and sustainable supply base.  The role will be working in a cross functional environment delivering against agreed challenging targets, driving efficiencies and ensuring best total cost of purchase whilst minimising risk.  The Category Buyer will be responsible for delivering and executing category strategies.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Responsible for the development and delivery of strategic category plans for key ingredients and packaging
  • Submitting monthly reports focusing on category performance, market developments, risk mitigation plans and budget performance
  • Conducting full assessment of the supply base to ensure suppliers compliance to Little Moons Procurement, Technical and Sustainable requirements.
  • Working closely with the supply chain teams to report category concerns and supporting supply resolution and that suppliers perform in line with expectations
  • Deliver negotiation plans for key ingredients and packaging and successfully negotiate terms with suppliers to achieve optimum commercial benefit
  • Drive adherence to the Little Moons sustainability strategy within the supply base and work within a cross functional team to deliver the sustainability targets
  • Support the innovation team on supplier selection and sourcing new ingredients and packaging and in line with project critical paths
  • Develop and implement cost-based reduction strategies capable of delivering annual target savings

Essential Requirements:

  • Strong and proven negotiation skills
  • Excellent commercial awareness
  • At least 2 years of experience in a category buying role preferably in FMCG
  • Good IT Skills, Microsoft Office
  • Strong numeracy skills
  • Ability to work effectively within a team and on own initiative
  • Experience developing category strategies
  • Strong time management and problem solving skills

Some of the benefits of working here include:

Little Moons is a fast-growing and dynamic business, the nature of which means roles and responsibilities can change and grow quickly and at scale. We never stand still for long, and for the right person this represents an opportunity to grow and evolve your role and responsibilities with us and to develop your career at pace.

We will provide you with as much support, guidance, and training as you need, and offer the below benefits to boot:

  • Medicash, Private Health Scheme & Life Insurance
  • Enhanced New Baby Leave available.
  • We understand that mental health matters. We partner with Health Assured to provide remote emotional support to team members.
  • Discretionary annual bonus based on personal & company performance.
  • Up to 4 weeks of paid sick leave
  • Respect, trust, and honesty. Personal and professional maturity is important to us, and we keep each other honest
  • Your holidays – We believe in finding your work-life alignment and encourage all staff to use their 25 days, plus public holidays
  • Additional days off with long service
  • Personal CPD budgets & team volunteer days

To be engaged, you must feel included and valued, so we have built, and nurtured, a culture where inclusiveness is not a buzzword, but a way of being.

Our approach to diversity is simple —it’s about embracing everyone, and everyone is welcome at Little Moons.   We are committed to welcoming everyone, regardless of gender identity, orientation or expression.   We are diverse in age, race, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective. Our diversity fuels our innovation, bring diversity of thought, and connects us closer to our customers and the communities we serve.

All applicants must have the right to work in the United Kingdom.

To make your application, please visit: https://app.beapplied.com/apply/xfpudbhqfz?utm_source=CareersPage