Procurement Officer

Royal Borough of Greenwich is looking to recruit 1 Procurement Officer.

The role of the Procurement Officer is principally to support the Senior Procurement Business Partners within the team. You will be responsible for leading, end to end, on procurement projects of up to £500k and managing the tendering and awarding of a portfolio of contracts of up to £5-10m per annum in line with the Councils best value duty.

Job Role

As a Procurement Officer, you will be responsible for ensuring advice & guidance and support to officers throughout the Council undertaking procurements to ensure the Law and Council's Policies are complied with and Value for Money is obtained. You will also be working with and reporting to a team of 5 senior strategic procurement business partners who are the 'procurement practitioner and expert', for each of the respective directorates within Royal Greenwich as well to work with and support two other procurement officers within the team.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is transforming its approach to procurement. Like all local authorities the Council is under increasing financial pressure. The Council's has a commitment to making the most out of every penny it spends and as such, is to embed a social value approach to the commissioning and procurement activities. The Social Value Policy sets out the approach to defining and delivering social value through its procurement activities. Everything it does and delivers must ensure best value for money including the external services which it procures.

The Council's procurement team will play the central role in guiding and advising other departments to achieve those twin objectives of achieving social value and value for money from all procurements exercises.

The Post holder will lead on procurements and provide advice guidance and support to senior officers, operational managers and consultants involved in procurements for example, included but not limited to;

• Lead on Corporate Contracts, developing the specification, selecting the appropriate procurement process and managing the process through to completion.
• Manage procurement administration processes (e.g. E-tender submissions and tender opening process, contracts register and data updates) ensuring that the staff involved in the process are trained and they act in a compliant manner.
• Provide advice guidance and support to officers throughout the Council undertaking procurements to ensure the Law and Council's Policies are complied with and Value for Money is obtained.

This requires the procurement officer to have detailed relevant procurement knowledge and analytical skills to do their role.

Are you enthusiastic about procurement and contracting?

If so, now is a great time to join us. We have recently introduced a model for procurement using strategic procurement business partners. Under this model, the role of the Corporate Strategic Procurement Services team is generally two folds: to provide localised support to the directorate and to contribute to the Centre's objectives.

You will be working in a dynamic team of professionals that are shaping the councils procurement needs to the demands of the current and future way of working.

The Corporate Procurement Services team are able to respond to both needs of the directorates as well as, lead on corporate procurement matters. In this regard, as the procurement officer and support to Senior Procurement Business Partners means you will help harness resources as well as purchasing spend from departments or business area towards the realisation of the directorate objectives and also, play a role in achieving wider council objectives e.g. medium and longer term saving strategy or social value.

This means you will be able to be part of an effective procurement team that provides a framework that helps to facilitate the smooth running of Council services and achieving policy objectives.

In return, you will receive training from all the team through group and also 1 to 1 support. This will in turn form a framework for your personal review and development. Additional internal training will be on offer in any areas identified as requiring improvement or upskilling. This could additionally lead to either entering or enhancing CIPs qualifications.

The ideal candidate will need:

• CIPS skills/experience or studying for a CIPS qualification
• Experience of procurement, in the area of contract letting/management
• Experience / background within local authority procurement is essential
• Relevant training/experience in working with procurement, contract letting/management.
• Experience and knowledge of IT systems.
• Attention to detail and ability to work accurately to deadlines
• Project management skills are desirable

Become part of a team that influences change by transforming its approach to procurement and provides outstanding service to officers and stakeholders across the authority.

Be a part of the transformation and culture change that is, and continues to be pivotal, in taking the authority forward to embrace the challenges that lay before us.

If you can recognise the impact which these services can have on the lives of its residents' and wish to work tirelessly in implementing a strategy to establish social value as a core procurement principle. As well as to ensure that every one of its Services achieves the best possible outcome for residents across the borough. Then this is the job for you.

Finally we pride ourselves on being a team that do not just work together but trust each other. So if you want to be a member of the team then you need to Apply now!

Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date should there be a high volume of applications received.