Supply Chain, Procurement and Vendor Management Recruitment Bulletin September 2025
Back in June we started to see an increase in job activity, suggesting we might be moving towards a more active and robust Procurement and Vendor Management jobs market. Since then, we have been busy, having successfully fulfilled multiple assignments ~ both Interim and Permanent ~ for various existing and new clients. Overall, UK Procurement and Vendor Management permanent jobs growth has remained largely flat over the last 3 months, but we have seen a definitive increase in Interim demand over the last 4-6 weeks. Most recent market/job activity suggests a slight up-tick in permanent recruitment over the last 2-3 weeks, and we hope this is an indicator that September will bring new impetus to the market. ~ SEE MORE ~ Supply Chain, Procurement and Vendor Management Recruitment Bulletin September 2025 Presentation
STRONG DEMAND from sectors that are led by 1) high customer demand / expectations 2) stringent regulatory requirements 3) changes in government / legislative policies 4) have complex logistics & global supplier networks: -
- 58% of UK employers have struggled to find the right talent in the last 12 months (Source: CIPS Procurement & Supply Salary Guide 2025)
- 70% of the roles we work on, are for clients that have tried other sourcing methods and have not found, attracted or secured the procurement people they need (Source: Beaumont Select , August 2025)
- 58% of employers expect to expand procurement teams over the next 12 months, despite recruitment challenges (Source: CIPS)
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59% of employers can’t find enough suitable candidates (Source: CIPS)
PERMANENT Recruitment…
- FINTECH ~ Driven by changing global trading relationships, technology investment and movement from traditional high street banking to on-line and new financial services/banking products. Roles primarily London based
- RENEWABLE ENERGY AND UTILITIES ~ In particular, the Water sector ~ investment in environmental /pollution solutions and in the Energy sector ~ working towards net zero, minimizing UK energy vulnerability ~ Roles UK wide
- LIFE SCIENCES AND BIOTEC ~ Roles UK wide, Cambridge, Oxford
- LOGISTICS ~ Roles UK wide
- DEFENCE ~ Roles UK wide
PASSIVE CANDIDATES: We are talking to a lot of great candidates not active in the market, but happy to receive ideas. These people are looking for very specific roles and employers; and they are using specialist agencies like us to keep them aware of possibilities.
CANDIDATE EXPECTATIONS: We continued to see dichotomy between organisations demanding their staff ‘back in the office’ and candidates wanting flexible hybrid working options. Salary alignment challenges and scarcity of suitably qualified professionals are derailing some firms recruitment campaigns, as have slow recruitment processes, as employers exercise recruiting caution in uncertain times. Employers brand value, reputation, interview processes, on-boarding process, hybrid working options and salary/package offered, have a significant effect upon employer’s ability to attract and secure the best people.
2025-26 Predictions…
INTERIM Procurement Jobs: Amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty, and increased recruitment costs, we see many employers looking to more flexible staffing solutions and expect to see more engagements on FTC or Day Rates. The competition for exceptional specialist interim talent, may push up interim rates a little bit further, but are likely to slow as more ‘flexible’ permanent to interim candidates become available.
SECTOR Demand: Infrastructure/Utilities Sectors, Life Sciences/Biotech, Fintech, Defence, Construction and Logistics sectors will be the most active areas over the next few months.
STRATEGIC v Tactical: Strong demand for procurement professionals with ‘strategic’ over tactical / transactional skills. As increased employment costs make automation and AI solutions more attractive to many employers, we are seeing a reduction in opportunities for solely cost-focused ‘tactical’ candidates. Strong demand for procurement professionals that possess up-to-the minute technical/AI skills, strong stakeholder engagement/management, business partnering, and value creation skills, in conjunction with strong subject matter expertise.
We will continue to see many organisations using their Internal Recruitment Teams / MSPs to source procurement people, but they won’t always identify and secure the best talent available. Lack of sector expertise, market knowledge and resources, risks Internal Teams / MSPs not identifying best fit passive talent. 75% of our candidate's placed were not actively looking for a new job when we identified, assessed, attracted and placed them for our clients.
SEE MORE DETAILS ~ Supply Chain, Procurement and Vendor Management Recruitment Bulletin September 2025 ~ SEE FULL PRESENTATION (PDF)