Procurement and Supply Assistant (Level 3) apprentice - Asymchem Ltd
Cogent Ssc Limited
Kent (CT13 9ND)
Closes in 11 days (Wednesday 26 August 2026)
Posted on 14 August 2026
Contents
Summary
Asymchem is looking to recruit a Procurement and Supply Assistant apprentice. You will help support procurement operations including assisting with sourcing materials, managing supplier relationships, processing purchase orders, and other key purchasing activities ensuring compliance with GMP and regulatory standards.
- Wage
-
£18,000 a year
- Training course
- Procurement and supply assistant (level 3)
- Hours
-
Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm, with 45 minute lunch break.
36 hours 15 minutes a week
- Start date
-
Monday 5 October 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 8 months
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
To support procurement operations at the Sandwich site, a regulated pharmaceutical laboratory and manufacturing environment. Assisting with sourcing materials, managing supplier relationships, processing purchase orders, and other key purchasing activities ensuring compliance with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) and regulatory standards. Working closely with procurement, quality assurance, production teams, and warehouse/logistics staff to help maintain a reliable, efficient, and cost‑effective supply of goods and services.
Job Responsibilities
Purchasing and Sourcing:
- Assist with sourcing raw materials, solvents, production consumables, and indirect goods required for pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Obtain and evaluate supplier quotations to support cost-analysis activities and decisions ensuring best value, quality, and delivery timelines
- Support negotiations for pricing, delivery timelines, and contract terms under supervision
- Prepare and process purchase orders while ensuring accuracy and adherence to internal procedures
- Track order status and follow up with suppliers to resolve delays or discrepancies to ensure on‑time delivery
Inventory and Material Planning:
- Support inventory monitoring to ensure adequate stock levels for production schedules
- Assist in reviewing usage reports and contribute to forecasting material demand
Supplier Relationship Management:
- Communicate with suppliers to obtain pricing, product information, delivery schedules, and order confirmations
- Assist in tracking supplier performance metrics such as quality, reliability, and delivery accuracy
Compliance and Documentation:
- Help maintain accurate supplier records, certifications, and compliance documentation
- Support supplier and material qualification processes
- Maintain audit-ready documentation for procurement transactions and supplier management
Continuous Improvement:
- Contribute to cost-saving initiatives and process improvements activities within procurement
- Support data analysis, reporting and KPI tracking for procurement activities
Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Liaise with warehouse/logistics to reconcile deliveries and obtain associated documentation
- Consult with production team to understand demand, project requirements, and material specifications
- Support finance with invoice matching, discrepancy resolution, budget tracking, and other procure-to-pay processes
Where you'll work
Discovery Park
Ramsgate Road
Sandwich
Kent
CT13 9ND
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
CIPS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED
Training course
Procurement and supply assistant (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Monitor and order products, stock, equipment and services at appropriate times using the appropriate procurement method.
- Communicate to procurement's internal stakeholders, suppliers and other stakeholders in order to develop effective relationships and networks
- Create, maintain and amend purchase order and contract records.
- Interpret, evaluate and compare procurement information such as historical spend and usage using databases and spreadsheets.
- Present findings and data in all formats e.g. mathematically, written and oral.
- Determine value for money (VFM) and added value through the use of Total Cost of Ownership during the evaluation process, and apply the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) criteria to the evaluation of quotes and tenders to support the recommendation at award. This may include the inclusion of green, low carbon, sustainability, and ethical criteria.
- Utilise relevant Procurement computer systems or internal databases.
- Select the supplier of the most appropriate products and services for purchases within their remit and place purchase order.
- Undertake appraisal of adhoc and low spend suppliers including setting them up on the purchasing system.
- Effectively research and analyse demand, spend, trends, potential suppliers and industries utilising qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Develop specifications of requirements and requests for quotes/tenders in line with organisational requirements.
- Apply considerations of responsible procurement in evaluating potential suppliers, quotes and tenders.
- Investigate and resolve purchase order, delivery and invoice queries.
- Own low risk value projects such as supply contracts for stationery, personal protective equipment (PPE) or other consumables, and contribute to higher risk activities such as contracts for building services or machinery, and track, log, expedite and review outstanding orders and stock availability where applicable.
- Maintain knowledge on all open orders and their status' and provide assistance to all purchasing staff e.g. expediting and feeding information back to the relevant stakeholders.
- Able to consider the impact of the decision making process when interacting with the supply chain.
- Able to support the contract negotiations and mini competitions with suppliers.
- Monitor and order products, stock, equipment and services at appropriate times using the appropriate procurement method.
- Communicate to procurement's internal stakeholders, suppliers and other stakeholders in order to develop effective relationships and networks
- Create, maintain and amend purchase order and contract records.
- Interpret, evaluate and compare procurement information such as historical spend and usage using databases and spreadsheets.
- Present findings and data in all formats e.g. mathematically, written and oral.
- Determine value for money (VFM) and added value through the use of Total Cost of Ownership during the evaluation process, and apply the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) criteria to the evaluation of quotes and tenders to support the recommendation at award. This may include the inclusion of green, low carbon, sustainability, and ethical criteria.
- Utilise relevant Procurement computer systems or internal databases.
- Select the supplier of the most appropriate products and services for purchases within their remit and place purchase order.
- Undertake appraisal of adhoc and low spend suppliers including setting them up on the purchasing system.
- Effectively research and analyse demand, spend, trends, potential suppliers and industries utilising qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Develop specifications of requirements and requests for quotes/tenders in line with organisational requirements.
- Apply considerations of responsible procurement in evaluating potential suppliers, quotes and tenders.
- Investigate and resolve purchase order, delivery and invoice queries.
- Own low risk value projects such as supply contracts for stationery, personal protective equipment (PPE) or other consumables, and contribute to higher risk activities such as contracts for building services or machinery, and track, log, expedite and review outstanding orders and stock availability where applicable.
- Maintain knowledge on all open orders and their status' and provide assistance to all purchasing staff e.g. expediting and feeding information back to the relevant stakeholders.
- Able to consider the impact of the decision making process when interacting with the supply chain.
- Able to support the contract negotiations and mini competitions with suppliers.
Training schedule
Training for this apprenticeship will be delivered online.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Logical
- Team working
- Initiative
About this employer
As the specialists in skills for science and technology, our purpose is to make sure your business; your people and our industry are future ready. We are a not-for-profit charitable organisation with a family of commercially focused companies committed to supporting the skills, needs and ambitions across the UK science and technology sector.
https://cogentskills.com/vacancies/ (opens in new tab)
Disability Confident
A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.
You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
Should there be relevant positions available at the completion of the apprenticeship then the successful applicants will be invited to apply for the vacancies.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
Cogent Ssc Limited
Tom Bretherton
thomas.bretherton@cogentskills.com
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000048386.
Apply now
Closes in 11 days (Wednesday 26 August 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.