Procurement Specialist

Are you looking for a Great Place to Work in Procurement where you can make a real difference? Come and join our team! We have an exciting position open for an experienced Procurement Specialist to join our growing organisation. We are looking for someone who can deliver our services to the Education sector with a positive attitude towards making a difference.

Who are we? Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC) is a not-for-profit purchasing consortium, owned and run by the education sector. CPC produce compliant purchasing frameworks and provide specialist advice on spending practices and value for money. We actively support organisations with a combined non-pay spend of £350m, which means that our team have a vast amount of experience procuring a wide range of goods and services. Owned by the education sector, and run for the education sector, it’s our team and our heritage that has earned us our reputation for excellence.

What’s the role? This role sits within CPC Consultancy On Demand team which currently consists of 9 procurement professionals that provide procurement and tendering services throughout the entirety of the UK. CPC Consultancy On Demand Team provide a flexible solution to our clients and are able to provide a bespoke procurement solution to fulfil the needs of each individual client. The service draws on considerable experience in procurement, tendering, reviewing, benchmarking and contract management knowledge throughout the business to ensure our clients are compliant but also see the value in an effective procurement solution. Reporting to the Procurement Manager, you will be expected to manage multiple procurement projects at any one time, tendering a wide array of goods and services via a variety of routes to market. Our role is to ensure compliance against PCR2015 & Procurement Act 2023 whilst delivering a first-class service to our clients.

What makes us different? We’re an award-winning organisation recognised and certified as a “Great place to work”. We offer a collaborative, fast-paced environment where your ideas are heard and valued. We provide competitive salaries, benefits, and opportunities for career development. We’re making a real difference and you can be a part of it! This is just the beginning, we’re constantly growing and evolving and we’re always looking for passionate individuals who share our vision!

Person Specification: We are looking for someone who has extensive procurement experience within the public sector or the education sector and knowledge of public sector procurement legislation. The ideal candidate will be able to conduct a variety of tenders including (but not limited to) Cleaning, Catering, M&E, Security, IT Services, Grounds Maintenance, MIS, Payroll, Student Transport, MFD’s, Building works and Refurbishment projects, primarily across the education sector but also across the wider public and private sector. If you are a skilled and experienced procurement professional with the ability to deliver all aspects of this role, then we would love to hear from you!

In return for your dedication, we offer a wide range of benefits including:

• Salary starting from £38,000 FTE per annum depending on experience.
• Yearly discretionary bonuses following successful probation.
• Remote working – this role is predominantly remote working but does require occasional travel nationwide.
• Access to a local government pension scheme which includes death-in-service and ill health.
• Opportunities to develop through our in-house development programmes and through external learning with full support given to achieve MCIPS.
• 38 days holiday (including a week for Christmas holiday closure and bank holidays).
• Time off for volunteering opportunities.
• Enhanced leave packages such as paid sickness, carers leave, bereavement and compassionate leave and maternity pay.
• Support for wellbeing with access to 8 mental health first aiders and the opportunity to join an Employee Assistance Programme.
• The chance to get involved in a number of working groups, such as Equality Diversity and Inclusion, Wellbeing and Sustainability.
• The opportunity to join our Women’s, Men’s and Carer’s employee support networks which provide safe spaces for colleagues to share their experiences.
• Social and employee events throughout summer and at Christmas.
• Has a programme of ‘giving back’ to the communities in which it is based and which it supports.
• Travel expenses paid and free parking.

Next Steps: Deadline to apply is 31st January 2025. If you like what you’ve read, please don’t delay in applying as we may close vacancies early where we receive lots of applications. If you would like more information on the role and would like us to send you the detailed job description, please contact us at peopledevelopment@thecpc.ac.uk.

Please note that VISA sponsorship is not offered for this role. If you need any adjustments made to support your application, for example, if you require information in different formats or if you have any accessibility issues, we’re more than happy to review our processes. Please feel free to get in touch with us at peopledevelopment@thecpc.ac.uk.

CPC is an Equal Opportunities Employer and committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at every level. We welcome and encourage all applications, and we believe that having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values.