Senior Governance Advisor, Procurement & Contracts

Team / Directorate: Procurement / Communication, Customer and Commercial

Starting salary: £41,132 rising to £44,988 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: To be confirmed

Post number: 201738

The role involves supporting Natural Resources Wales (NRW) in the sustainable management of Wales' natural resources by delivering expert procurement and contract management guidance across diverse agreements. You will ensure policies, templates, and guidance reflect a risk-based approach and are fully compliant with relevant EU, UK, WG, and NRW requirements. Drawing on your expertise in procurement law, case law, and best practices, you will provide authoritative advice to help shape robust and legally sound agreements.

As a subject matter expert, you will support the development and implementation of NRW's Procurement and Contract Strategy, driving best practices and ensuring compliance within a robust commercial governance framework. As an organisation, we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face-to-face meetings or training will be planned in advance. Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you will do:

• Identify and manage organisational risks related to procurement and contract management, making decisions in line with delegated authority, and ensuring outcomes are robust, compliant, and value for money under Committing our Money principles.
• Promote revised business practices, driving change by influencing perceptions and ensuring business objectives and compliance are met within an efficient, flexible, and robust procurement and contract governance framework.
• Develop and maintain guidance, tools, templates, and training materials for procurement and contracts within NRW, ensuring alignment with best practices, continuous improvement, and lessons learned.
• Review and improve NRW procurement and contract governance arrangements, leading the procurement function to ensure consistent application across the organisation for effective and compliant service delivery.
• Interpret complex legislative documents, assess business needs and risks, and engage stakeholders at all levels to enhance procurement and contract management and reduce risk to NRW.
• Provide expert advice and guidance to the procurement and contracts function and non-procurement staff, ensuring compliance with legislation and best practices, supporting risk-based decision-making, and achieving sustainable outcomes.
• Lead specific aspects of the Procurement and Contract Strategy, driving procurement outcomes and improvements in cost, efficiency, value, compliance, and quality, in line with agreed targets and KPIs.
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal customers, leading key change programmes to drive awareness of procurement risks, opportunities, and best practices, and influencing adoption of processes aligned with business needs.
• Establish positive relationships with Welsh Government, Sponsored Bodies, Agencies, service providers, and other key stakeholders, ensuring effective collaboration.
• Develop and implement corporate initiatives to ensure compliance with business outcomes and foster continuous improvement in procurement and contract management.
• Lead or participate in project teams that review and continually improve procurement guidance, policies, procedures, and supporting tools, templates, and training.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post.
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills:

• Full membership of The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS).
• Strong and demonstrable experience of commercial legislation and public sector policy.
• Substantial understanding of procurement/commercial concepts, governance and techniques.
• Astute customer focus, ensuring that customer needs are balanced with the requirements of the NRW procurement governance framework.
• Substantial experience as a practitioner in the application of procurement knowledge and the specific requirements of the post.
• Transferrable experience of delivering business objectives, preferably those involving sustainable development and/or procurement and contract management.

Welsh language level requirements:

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh).

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97%.
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days.
• Generous leave entitlements for all your life needs.
• Commitment to professional development.
• Health and wellbeing benefits and support.
• Weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose.

We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year. We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on a variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.