Head of Procurement

Working on behalf of a Local Authority, Aatom Recruitment has a new opportunity for a Head of Procurement on a 5 months contract with the possibility of further extension.

Main purpose of the role

The Head of Service is the professional lead for Procurement and Contract Management across the whole of the client covering the contractual lifecycle from identification of need, development of the procurement strategy, management of competition processes, on-going contract management including exit/termination provision.

The role exerts significant impact on all areas of the client ensuring a professional approach to the compliant management of hundreds of millions of pounds external spend; identifying and facilitating savings, cost avoidance, social value and process efficiencies.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Develop and implement a procurement strategy to meet the client’s business objectives.
• Manage the procurement process, including contract negotiations, and ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
• Advise the organisation on all strategic procurement and contract management matters and act as the source of the client’s procurement expertise.
• Lead and manage the Procurement and Contract Management Service ensuring the appropriate professional standards are continually delivered, development plans in place and resources managed in line with the departmental budget.
• Be accountable for strong and lasting relationships being built with client Directors, Senior Managers and elected Members, implementing policies along with maintaining strategies and business plans and reporting against a set of Corporate Performance Indicators.
• Represent the client at external meetings, including those with suppliers.
• Manage a team of procurement professionals to deliver an effective service to ensure delivery at a consistently high quality, supporting service departments in the delivery of value for money taking account of their needs to maximise benefits for the wider community.

Essential criteria

• A degree or professional qualification in procurement
• Knowledge and experience of the full procurement lifecycle.
• Knowledge of the stages involved in developing and implementing procurement strategies.
• Knowledge of relevant procurement legislation.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills
• Demonstrable experience of developing and implementing procurement strategies.
• Significant experience of leading, managing and motivating a team made up of employees with different skill sets.
• Significant experience of delivering organisational improvement through control mechanisms and policy and procedure changes.
• Significant experience of working closely with commissioners to deliver best value.

If you are interested, please apply or contact Anisha for more information!