The Datum Report

Occupation 1134 · Managers, directors and senior officials

Purchasing managers and directors

Half of full-time purchasing managers and directors in the UK earn more than £58,005 a year, and half earn less.

Purchasing managers and directors (not retail) plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the purchasing functions of industrial, commercial, government organisations and public agencies to ensure cost-effectiveness.

How people enter it

Although not restricted to a particular qualification, entry is most common with a degree or equivalent qualification but is also possible with A levels/H grades, a BTEC/SQA award, S/NVQs at level 3 or above, or an apprenticeship. Off and on-the-job training is provided, and professional qualifications are available. Chartered status may also be achieved.

What the work involves

• determines what goods, services and equipment need to be sourced
• devises purchasing policies, decides on whether orders should be put out to tender and evaluates suppliers’ bids
• negotiates prices and contracts with suppliers and draws up contract documents
• arranges for quality checks of incoming goods and ensures suppliers deliver on time
• interviews suppliers’ representatives and visits trade fair
• researches and identifies new products and suppliers
• stays abreast of and ensures adherence to relevant legislation regarding tendering and procurement procedures

Also called

Bid production manager · Director of contracts · Head of buying · Purchasing manager

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for purchasing managers and directors, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 7 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Charitable organisation managers and directors · Financial managers and directors · Functional managers and directors n.e.c. · Human resource managers and directors · Information technology directors · Marketing, sales and advertising directors · Public relations and communications directors