Essex County Council’s (ECC) Procurement team is the largest in Local Government and we are the only CIPS accredited County Council.
We met with Mark, one of our Procurement Managers who is responsible for category management, sourcing, and contract management across Networking & Communications, Enterprise Resource Planning and Print, to find out what a day in his life at ECC looks like.
08:20am – I log on and review financials and contract term revisions for a licence rebalance opportunity, ahead of a call later this morning.
09:10am – I review internet circuit benchmarking data, received from a couple of helpful suppliers, to help me assess value for money of our existing solution against what value might be achieved through a technology transformation.
09:30am – I join colleagues on a team cascade call via MS teams.
10:00am – I meet with our supplier account team to discuss the licence rebalance opportunity I reviewed earlier. The meeting goes well, with agreement on key points and the way forward.
10:30am – I join a weekly delivery team stand up call for a key, cross-cutting organisational programme.
11:00am – I look over some market information about networking, answer some queries relating to circuit benchmarking data and about potential for piloting future networking solutions.
11:30am – I answer some queries about a licence provision, then check through some emails that don’t require my specific attention.
12:00pm – I have a 1-2-1 meeting with the Procurement Specialist who heads up our sub-team. We discuss route to market approach for a future procurement, the licence rebalance call I had earlier, a decision paper to extend a contract, progress with a framework call-off contract and more besides!
12:40pm – I check through some more ‘quick win’ emails.
13:00pm – I meet with a supplier to discuss the most pragmatic approach to resolving an asset transfer issue.
13:15pm – Lunch
13:50pm – I quickly scan through a supplier service review pack, before my next meeting.
14:00pm – I join a monthly supplier service review call, where the supplier walks us through performance reporting. I’m joined by a colleague who is work-shadowing. The supplier’s performance is generally good, so the focus is on improvement rather than performance management.
14:45pm – Someone has put a meeting into my diary at short notice, so I hop onto the call to discuss concern about a project delay which has affected a milestone payment to the supplier.
15:15pm – I go and collect my daughter from school (It’s just nearby).
15:30pm – I join a networking/communications project team call, provide guidance on route to market approach. We agree actions / next steps, including the outline of a recommendation to be taken to our Exec Director.
16:20pm – I follow up on some of my earlier calls with emails to confirm guidance, advice, and my views.
17:15pm – Tea and family time and a little bit of gardening/DIY
19:20pm – The framework call-off I am leading requires attention as it needs to be concluded this week, so I work on it until 20:00.
As you can see life as a Procurement Manager is extremely varied, with a chance to work with colleagues across the Council, with our partners in the public sector and with our supply chains.
We’re always looking for talented individuals to join our Procurement function, if you would like to find out more about our Procurement function and view our current vacancies, please click here.
