{"id":2441923,"url":"https://alion.io/job/pineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers","title":"Sourcing Specialist - Plastics & Polymers","company":{"id":5474,"name":"Pineapple Contracts","domain":"pineapplecontracts.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/pineapple-contracts","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":null},"role":"Operations","role_family":"Operations","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Aylesford, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":36000,"max_usd":80000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":550},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Microsoft Office","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-13T12:20:32Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-13","last_verified_at":"2026-10-29T05:17:02Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":15,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":15},"description":"Sourcing Specialist - Plastics & Polymer\nLOCATION: Aylesford, Kent, Office based or Hybrid\nWORKING HOURS: 8.00am - 4.30pm\nCONTRACT: Full-time, Permanent\nJoin Our Team\nWe’re looking for a commercially driven sourcing professional with strong technical knowledge of plastics manufacturing to help shape and develop our supplier base.\nThis is a specialist role sitting at the intersection of strategic sourcing, polymer-processing technology and supplier development. You’ll work closely with internal stakeholders and external manufacturing partners to improve cost, quality, capacity, innovation and long-term supply performance.\nWe’re particularly interested in people who understand how plastics components are manufactured and can translate that knowledge into better sourcing decisions, stronger supplier relationships and measurable commercial results.\nWhat We’re Looking for\nYou will develop and implement sourcing strategies for plastics, polymers and associated manufactured components. \nIdentifying, evaluating and developing suppliers, including assessing technical capability, capacity, quality and commercial competitiveness. \nLeading supplier negotiations, cost-reduction initiatives, cost breakdown analysis and commercial agreements. \nWorking with new product development, materials development, and purchasing teams on new products, materials, tooling and manufacturing processes. \nSupporting tooling investment decisions, supplier industrialisation and new product introduction. \nAssessing manufacturing methods such as injection moulding, rotational moulding, extrusion, blow moulding and thermoforming. \nManaging supplier performance, risk, continuity of supply and continuous improvement. \nBuilding a resilient, competitive supply base that supports our product development and business growth. \nAny other ad hoc duties as required by the business.\nWhat success looks like\nSuccess looks like developing a competitive, reliable supply base for plastics and manufactured components, delivering cost savings, strong supplier performance and supporting new product development and business growth.\nRequirements\nIdeally, you’ll have:\nProven experience in strategic sourcing, procurement or supplier development within a manufacturing environment. \nStrong practical knowledge of plastics or polymer manufacturing and the commercial implications of different processing methods. \nExperience negotiating with suppliers and delivering measurable cost, quality or performance improvements.The ability to assess manufacturing capability, challenge supplier quotations and work effectively with technical stakeholders. \n\nA structured, analytical and commercially minded approach to decision-making.\nComfortable travelling to supplier sites in the UK and internationally.\nStrong IT skills, including Microsoft Office and Excel.\nA practical, solutions-focused approach and a genuine interest in turning concepts into manufacturable products.\nInjection moulding, rotational moulding, extrusion, blow moulding or thermoforming. \nTooling procurement, mould costings, material selection or polymer component development. \nSupplier selection, new product introduction and manufacturing process optimisation. \nExperience working with UK and international manufacturing supply chains. \nYou don’t need to have held this exact job title. We’re interested in people who can demonstrate the right combination of technical plastics expertise, sourcing capability and commercial judgement. If you combine technical understanding of plastics manufacturing with strong commercial sourcing skills, we’d like to hear from you.\nBenefits\nBenefits and Perks\nHere’s what you can look forward to when you join us:\nWe’re proud to be recognised as one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work for three consecutive years) - and we work hard to make sure our people genuinely feel it\nCompetitive salary and a discretionary annual bonus\n15 work from home days per year or Hybrid working\nPension scheme\nHealthcare Cash Plan - claim back medical, dental and optical costs\nPerks & rewards platform - access hundreds of deals and discounts\nGym discounts through our perks platform \nEmployee Assistance Programme - confidential support when you need it\n23 days’ holiday plus UK bank holidays, increasing to 26 with length of service\nAn extra day off for your birthday\nLoyalty reward for increasing years of service\nDeath in service\nLearning & Development platform with online courses, certifications and professional development tools to support your career growth\nTree planted in your honour when you join - with trees already planted in the UK, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Madagascar\nSustainability-focused business - committed to low-carbon operations, renewable energy and recycled materials\nRegular team socials and events, including summer and Christmas parties\nChristmas gift\nMonthly Pizza Friday\nFree fruit, snacks, hot drinks and cold beverages\nRefer a friend scheme - £250 reward\nEV car charging facilities\nHigh-quality, modern office environment\nFree onsite parking / within walking distance from the train station\nAbout Pineapple\nPineapple is a global leader in designing innovative furniture for challenging environments. Founded in 1975 as a family-run business, we've grown into an international organisation with headquarters in Kent and offices in France, Germany and the USA.\nWith more than 200 employees worldwide, we're passionate about creating furniture that not only looks great and performs exceptionally but also helps create calm, safe and inspiring spaces for the people who use it.\nWe're proud to have been recognised as one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work for three consecutive years. Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported and empowered to succeed.\nOur Values\nWe're proud of the culture we've built and are looking for someone who shares our values:\nTeamwork - We work collaboratively, supporting one another and recognising that the best results come from working together.\nCommitted - We take pride in what we do, showing dedication, reliability and a strong work ethic every day.\nOwnership - We take responsibility for our work, act with integrity and continually look for ways to improve.\nPositive - We approach challenges with optimism, enthusiasm and a solutions-focused mindset.\nResponsive - We act quickly, communicate effectively and always strive to exceed customer expectations.\nIf you’re looking for a supportive, people-first workplace where you can grow your career and genuinely enjoy coming to work, you’ll feel right at home with us.\nDiversity & Inclusion - Pineapple is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.\nRecruitment agencies: Thank you for your interest in working with Pineapple. We will reach out directly if we require support.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6986,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work","Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Plastics & Polymers","Legal Software","Procurement & Spend Management"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-13T12:20:32Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":71,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.788,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":15,"expected_fill_days":32,"reasons":["conf:0","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/pineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/pineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-29T08:39:25Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":13057,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":5474},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=5474"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fpineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fpineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/pineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpineapple-contracts-sourcing-specialist-plastics-polymers"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":2441923}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"pineapplecontracts.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":2441923},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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