Procurement Assistant Manager – ECC and EPP

Fixed Term, 12 months Full Time, 37 hours per week £34,266 to £40,313 per annum plus Flexible Working & Local Gov Pension.

Location (role dependant): Essex, Brentwood, Rochford / Hybrid Working Style: Anywhere worker - expectation to attend the offices is typically once to twice per week based on business needs.

Closing Date: 19th January 2025.

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 our Procurement service at Essex County Council and our Partners within the Essex Procurement Partnership (EPP)? Did you know that together the five Authorities that make up the Essex Procurement Partnership spends c£1.4 Billion per annum on 3rd party commissioned services?

EPP has been set up as a collaboration between five authorities as a shared procurement team delivering enhanced procurement value on behalf of the member Authorities. Working with Essex County Council, you will work alongside the Procurement Team at ECC who are award winning and support the organisation to deliver services to 1.4 million residents. We aim to lead the profession on exciting initiatives such as social value, climate action through procurement and how we use our combined size and scale to support our Levelling up Agenda.

We are looking for experienced procurement professionals who have a good level of hands-on experience at tendering within a public sector environment. The initial focus will be very much on delivering sourcing activity, with the opportunity to work across a variety of categories. Working with ECC, the role will develop to incorporate category and contract work.

The Opportunities:

• Procurement Assistant Manager – Essex Procurement Partnership: Working across District and Borough Councils but with the support of the large Essex County Council team, you will lead a large number and variety of sourcing projects, working with stakeholders across these Councils and pushing forward collaborative procurement within the partner Authorities.
• Procurement Assistant Manager – Brentwood and Rochford: Working with Brentwood and Rochford District Councils, this role will lead a large number and variety of sourcing projects playing a key role in embedding good procurement practice within these Authorities.
• Procurement Assistant Manager – Sustainable Growth, Social Value and Climate: Actively engage with stakeholders across Sustainable Growth, this role will manage and execute tender processes from start to finish on exciting, impactful projects whilst providing support for strategic sourcing initiatives and activities across the team.

Why work with us?

• Make a difference to the local community, and help us transform Districts and Boroughs as part of Essex to a circular economy as we redefine growth and focus on positive society-wide benefits.
• EPP is a small, close-knit team working across all levels at District and Boroughs. Essex County Council is a very large procurement team with circa 120 staff and has seen the department grow by 25% over the last 18 months. Annual Spend of £1.4 billion.
• Working for ECC, who 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 CIPS / MCIPS.
• 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.
• 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:

• 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 minimize 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 ongoing 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 each EPP member Authority’s 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.
• Experience in leading and delivering multiple tenders under the public sector regulations.
• Extensive knowledge of public sector procurement law and the new reforms with an ability to explain the law to non-procurement staff and find pragmatic solutions to potential legal difficulties.
• An awareness of working in a political environment.

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.