Procurement Assistant Manager - Essex Procurement Partnership
Fixed Term, 12 months
Full Time, 37 hours per week
£34,266 to £40,313 per annum plus Flexible Working & Local Gov Pension
Location: Chelmsford / Hybrid
Working Style: Anywhere worker - expectation to attend the office (County Hall, Chelmsford) is typically once to twice per week based on business needs
Closing Date: 24th November 2024
Do you want to make a difference to real people and real lives? Do you want to be a part of helping to shape the future of our Procurement service at Essex Procurement Partnership (EPP)?
Did you know that together the five Authorities that make up the Essex Procurement Partnership spends c£1.4Billion per annum on 3rd party commissioned services? EPP has been set up as a collaboration between five authorities as a shared procurement team delivering enhanced procurement value on behalf of the member Authorities. Working with Essex County Council you will work alongside the Procurement Team at ECC who are award winning and support the organisation to deliver services to 1.4million residents. We aim to lead the profession on exciting initiatives such as social value, climate action through procurement and how we use our combined size and scale to support our Levelling up Agenda.
We are looking for experienced procurement professionals. The initial focus will be very much on delivering sourcing activity, but working with ECC the role will develop to incorporate category and contract work, with the expectation that you will will deal with the full procurement lifecycle, touching all elements of the process from cradle to grave.
The Opportunity
This role works as part of the Essex Procurement Partnership, undertaking procurements on behalf of multiple District and Borough Authorities. This bring a huge amount of variety to this role with no day the same as well as the opportunity to work at different levels of Local Government with different stakeholders.
Your focus will be on sourcing and you will undertake a significant number of procurements across a wide range of categories
You can hear the success stories of some of our employees in our Blog via the following links
My Procurement Journey – Amanda
My Procurement Journey – Victoria
For more information on Procurement careers within the Council and the broader Procurement Service, visit https://workingforessex.com/careers-in-procurement
Why work with us?
- Make a difference to the local community, and help us transform Districts and Boroughs as part of Essex to a circular economy as we redefine growth and focus on positive society-wide benefits.
- EPP is a small close knit team working across all levels at District and Boroughs. Working with Essex County Council, we form a broader very large procurement team with circa 120 staff and have seen the department grow by 25% over the last 18 months. Annual Spend of £1.4 billion.
- Working for ECC who are the only CIPS accredited County Council in the UK.
- We are the largest Local Authority Procurement Team in the UK and have a national reputation for excellence.
- Work for a high performing team with great team morale and friendly, helpful, and supportive colleagues.
- Happy to consider Public and Private sector backgrounds
- Great training pathways. Encouragement to all staff for their continual professional development with full support and guidance towards CIPS / MCIPS
- Flexible working – with no official start or finish time you can make your work arrangement work around the other elements of your life offering a fantastic work / life balance.
- Local Authority Pension Scheme. For more details please visit: https://www.essexpensionfund.co.uk/
- 27 days annual leave plus bank holiday.
- 37 hour working week.
- Continuous Service – Joining us from another local authority? Then you could benefit from bringing your time served and benefits with you.
Accountabilities
· Lead the development, maintenance and implementation of category strategies, ensuring alignment to commissioning objectives.
· Develop and implement innovative approaches and solutions in the delivery of complex projects to enhance levels of service and minimise costs. This requires working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation and externally, to ensure best practice can be achieved when implementing new ways of working.
· Collaborate with Senior Managers and Members as to the commercial and financial viability of differing commercial options for specific projects within complex and at times, contentious environments.
· Manage suppliers to ensure they consistently achieve the performance standards set out in contracts and that adequate controls are in place to protect the Authority’s interests. Take a proactive approach to identifying and investigating contractual, commercial and market risks to ensure continuity of supply and protect the Authority’s interests.
· Operate a continuous improvement approach to identify and deliver on-going changes whilst also leading the negotiation of commercial and contractual changes to ensure they consistently meet business requirements.
· Lead projects and tenders, ensuring all sourcing activity fully complies with appropriate legislation and regulation whilst also complying with each EPP member Authority’s policies.
· Work collaboratively with incumbent suppliers and potential new entrants to identify gaps in market provision and explore opportunities to close those gaps.
· Provide support and advice to stakeholders regarding any contractual or procurement matters.
· Support the adoption of best practice approaches with the aim of ensuring that the Procurement function is seen as ‘best in class’. Ensure policies, procedures, documents and workflows are kept up-to-date and remain best in class.
· Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
· Educated to A level with a relevant professional qualification such as MCIPS or working towards such a qualification or equivalent demonstrable work experience with evidence of continuing professional development.
· Knowledge of category management and experience of using this methodology in complex commercial environments to deliver significant cost or service improvements.
· A demonstrable track record of managing strategic contracts in business critical environments. This should include evidence of defining, measuring and improving key elements of supplier performance.
· Evidence of some experience of delivering continuous improvements in strategic arrangements with evidence of generating significant cost and service benefits.
· Evidence of some knowledge of contract law and legislation relevant to the specific category / categories within their control and its impact on market management, finance and contractual arrangements.
· Extensive knowledge of public sector procurement law with an ability to explain the law to non-procurement staff and find pragmatic solutions to potential legal difficulties.
· Comprehensive negotiating skills appropriate to multi million pound contracts and experience of planning and delivering successful negotiations.
· An awareness of working in a political environment.
For more information on the procurement service and the wider Corporate Function please visit https://workingforessex.com/role/corporate-services
Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. To read more please visit: https://www.workingforessex.com/about-us/
Apply and next steps
Ambitious people really fit in here so if you are a talented Procurement Assistant Manager then we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website, ensuring you upload an up-to-date CV and provide a supporting statement when prompted.
Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.
We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
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If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk
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