Head of Commercial and Procurement in London

About Barnet Council

Barnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centers, vast green spaces and diverse communities all help make it a great place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive, Collaborative – which drive everything we do.

About the role

The Head of Commercial and Procurement will lead Barnet Council\’s Commercial and Procurement strategy, ensuring that the Council\’s significant spending power delivers maximum value, transparency, and positive outcomes for residents. Overseeing procurement and contract management activity across the organisation, embedding best practice, compliance with UK procurement legislation, and strong commercial governance.

Beyond compliance, this role will drive innovation, social value, and sustainability through procurement — ensuring Barnet\’s suppliers, partnerships, and commissioning activity directly support the Borough\’s strategic priorities, including net zero ambitions, inclusive economic growth, and community wellbeing. This is a pivotal leadership role shaping how Barnet uses procurement to deliver better outcomes, smarter spending, and a stronger borough.

Overseeing more than £250m of external third-party spend, leading a central team supporting a largely devolved model of procurement and contract management. Your role will be to develop strategic relationships across the organsiaiton and a team that acts as trusted, proactive, influential business partners both internally and externally creating a high-performing, collaborative culture.

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About you

You will be a strong and inspiring leader with experience in developing and leading high-performing services, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Bringing broad commercial expertise, you will have a proven track record of driving service transformation, promoting innovation, and supporting organisations to achieve financial sustainability. You will demonstrate success in reducing overall costs through effective procurement practices.

You will have experience in building and maintaining strategic relationships with key suppliers and partners, ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustained value delivery throughout the procurement lifecycle.

With a strong data-driven approach, you will leverage insights to shape the Council\’s procurement forward plan, enabling early identification of opportunities for savings, aggregation, and effective resource planning. You will provide strategic oversight of the Council\’s third-party spend portfolios to maximise value and efficiency.

What we offer

• 31 days annual leave, plus public and