Commercial Analyst in Milton Keynes

East West Rail is a nationally significant railway project which aims to deliver much-needed transport connections for the vibrant communities between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. Together these communities contribute around £111 billion to the national economy each year. EWR is one of the UK’s largest infrastructure projects, which the government committed to delivering in full in the Autumn 2024 Budget, and again in the 2025 Spending Review as part of its ambition to unlock the potential of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor. EWR is being championed by the Government as a key driver to economic growth leading to a potential £78 Billion boost to the UK economy: supporting new towns, housing, and regeneration.

This role reports into the Systems & Reporting Manager and provides support across the Commercial function within East West Rail, which involves assisting the Head of Commercial Operations and Head of Assurance and Compliance. This role is responsible for monitoring the low value spend end-to-end process within East West Rail, including producing status reports, chasing at award gates and raising and managing Purchase Orders (POs).

The Commercial function provides commercial and procurement capability across the programme lifecycle, including strategy (setting the commercial strategy and advising risk allocation underpinning the delivery strategy), delivering procurement activities for the goods and services required to deliver the asset and run EWR Co, and delivering contract management services for the complex network of suppliers supporting EWR Co. Across all three of these domains, the Commercial function will run governance and reporting to measure compliance and provide commercial assurance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Monitoring existing Spend system for low value requests, ensuring award gates are met in a timely manner.
• Raising POs in SAP/current ERP.
• Compiling status reports on retrospective requests to provide to the Head of Assurance and Compliance.
• Compiling procurement reports for the business, DFT and Cabinet Office.
• Manage the Commercial Ticketing System and respond to tickets in a timely manner.
• Analyse trends of tickets raised to identify training needs.
• Collate and analyse data and deliver in a format that is clear and useable.
• Reporting key data from procurement system.
• Completing periodic data cleanse activities in procurement system.
• Publishing data to comply with current procurement regulations.
• Crosschecking EWR’s finance system to ensure all suppliers are live and have up-to-date bank details.
• Setting up contracts in SAP to mirror physical agreements and link POs to.
• General tendering and contract management support where needed.
• Working closely with Finance on invoice queries, closing PO’s, VAT queries and others.
• Offering basic commercial advice to other areas of the business.
• Team document management & control.
• Support on external reporting to DfT and others as required.
• Work closely with Category Managers to provide data and insight that supports category management planning and strategic approach.
• Support with meeting minutes and arrangements as required.

Skills Knowledge and Expertise:

Essential:

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with proven ability to influence and manage stakeholder relationships.
• Proven experience in reporting on key data, leveraging advanced skills in MS Excel.
• Effective problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prioritise under pressure and deliver to deadlines.
• Understanding of PA23 required, including a holistic understanding of the Procurement lifecycle.

Desirable:

• Prior experience working in a similar role within a Procurement function.
• Prior experience working in the rail industry.
• SAP, PowerBI and Jaggaer system knowledge.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary that reflects your skills and experience.
• Up to 12% employer pension contribution to support your future.
• 36 days annual leave (including bank holidays) plus the option to buy up to 2 extra days.
• 2 volunteering days, a chance for you to give back to the community.
• Enhanced family-friendly policies to support you and your loved ones.
• Life assurance (4x your annual salary) for peace of mind.
• Employee Assistance Programme for confidential support when you need it.
• Access to Perkbox for a wide range of discounts and wellbeing benefits.
• Recognition programme, including on-the-spot and annual awards.
• Advanced learning and development opportunities to help you grow.

Diversity and Inclusion:

At East West Railway Company, we’re committed to building an inclusive railway for all. We believe that to do that, we must nurture a diverse team that represents the UK communities that we impact. Our approach is simple - to create an environment where everyone is welcome and able to be themselves. We celebrate diversity and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, encouraging applications from all backgrounds and experiences. If you want to connect lives and unlock the future, then we’d love to hear from you.