Procurement Assistant Manager

Procurement Assistant Manager

Fixed Term, 24 months

Full Time, 37 hours per week

£34,266 to £40,313 per annum plus Flexible Working & Local Gov Pension

Location: Brentwood / Rochford

Working Style: Anywhere worker - expectation to attend the office 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 Procurement at
Brentwood and Rochford council as part of the Procurement service at
Essex County Council (ECC) ?

Did you know that ECC spends c£1.2Billion per annum on 3rd party
commissioned services, making it the 2nd largest spending Authority in the
UK? We now are providing procurement support to Brentwood and Rochford
Councils further increasing the spend supported, The Procurement Team at
ECC 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 size and scale to
support our Levelling up Agenda.

We are looking for experienced procurement professionals to fulfil these
truly wide-ranging roles spanning both category and contract work you will
deal with the full procurement lifecycle, touching all elements of the
process from cradle to grave.

The Opportunity

Working for Essex County Council but delivering procurement support to
Brentwood and Rochford this role will have unique access across different
levels of local government, working across a range of procurements
including collaborative procurements across multiple Councils.

The post holder’s focus will be to l undertake a significant number and
variety of sourcing projects, responsible for embedding and delivering
excellent procurement practice within Brentwood and Rochford councils. .

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

Jawid
– Success Story

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, be that infrastructure, climate
change or social care (adults and Childrens) 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 relevant
qualifications.

- 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

· Embed category management and 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
Brentwood and Rochford 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.

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

.

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further,
please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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. Further details can be found on our

careers page

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