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Procurement Manager

Permanent

Full Time, 37 hours per week

Up to £52,983 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 20th June 2023

This role has the options for a highly flexible, hybrid way of working with potential for being office based or remote working with up to two days per week in the office. A degree of mobility will be required as there is expectation that some meetings may be held at partners or supplier’s premises.

The Role

We recognise that some procurement professionals prefer to focus on specific skills and we wish to raise our game as best in class. As such we are creating a new technical sourcing centre of excellence, initially to support Adults and Childrens Social Care and Public Health. Most sourcing exercises will be either subject to the Public Contract Regulations Light Touch Regime or the new Provider Selection Regime, as we often source services in partnership with the NHS. This means that we have greater freedoms than other categories of spend to innovate and be creative in its approach in order to deliver customer requirements.

The Sourcing Centre of Excellence will be responsible for the following:

• Working alongside the procurement category subject matter expert to understand the requirement and to design the procurement approach that will deliver the best possible outcomes for the internal customer and Essex County Council as a whole, whilst complying with legislation.

• Drafting all elements of tender documentation, supporting clarifications, the evaluation of tender returns and creating the contract

• Using our e-procurement system, Proactis to manage the sourcing and evaluation process and drive systems developments and changes in partnership with our Strategy and Assurance team in order to deliver more efficient and effective technical solutions

• Train, upskill and inspire other members of the procurement team to create innovative procurement approaches to deliver the best result or address problems

• Working with Strategy and Assurance team to disseminate best practice and feedback on process or documentation issues.

To hear more about this exciting opportunity from the hiring manager, Clare Gebel, Procurement Lead for People Services please view the following video .

Why work with us?

• Make a difference to the local community, be that infrastructure, climate change, social care or education and help us transform Essex to a circular economy as we redefine growth and focus on positive society-wide benefits.

• We are a very large procurement team with circa 120 staff and have seen the department grow by 25% over the last 18 months. Annual Spend of £1.2 billion.

• We 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.

To find out what a typical day as a Procurement Manager with ECC looks like, hear from one of our colleagues Mark in his Blog post.

Accountabilities

• 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 and exert influence on Directors, Senior Managers and Members as to the commercial and financial viability of differing commercial options for specific projects within complex and often, contentious environments.

• Take a proactive approach to identifying and investigating contractual, commercial and market risks to ensure continuity of supply and protect the Authority’s interests.

• Lead major projects and tenders, ensuring all sourcing activity fully complies with appropriate legislation and regulation whilst also complying with ECC policies.

• 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.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Educated to degree level with a relevant professional qualification such as MCIPS and or equivalent demonstrable work experience with evidence of continuing professional development.

• Extensive knowledge of public sector procurement law and the use of the light touch regime 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.

• Experience of working in a political environment and skilled in understanding and responding to different perspectives.

. Experience of designing and drafting complex tender documentation in order to achieve the best outcomes for customers including defining key elements of supplier performance.

• 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.

. Some experience in letting framework or umbrella agreements or calling off from frameworks would be preferable, but not essential ·

For more information on the procurement service and the wider Corporate function of Essex County Council please click on the following link: https://www.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/

Benefits

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. More information can be found via https://www.workingforessex.com/working-here/pay-reward/

Apply and next steps

Please apply via the Working for Essex website, ensuring you upload an up to date CV and supporting statement when prompted.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

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.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community here .

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please email [email protected]

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