7F Supplier Relationship Manager - Operations and Community Services (7 Forces - Various Locations)

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7F Supplier Relationship Manager – Operations and Community Services (7 Forces – Various Locations)

Location of Role: Essex/Kent countywide

Advert Closing Date: 08/10/2025

Starting Salary: £51,291.00(pro-rata for part-time vacancies)

Part/Full Time:Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Mon-Fri

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced commercial professional to join our Supplier Relationship Management team within the commercial function, supporting the 7 police forces across the east of England (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, and Suffolk). This collaboration is responsible for third party spend of approximately £250m per annum, making the 7 Force Collaboration the second largest police procurement collective after the Metropolitan Police. commercial influence on this scale has the potential to attract significant financial benefits through market shaping and economies of scale. This also enables 7 Forces to seek to manage suppliers more strategically on a regional basis to secure savings and wider social, economic, and environmental benefits.

You will develop and manage the commercial relationship with a designated portfolio of strategic suppliers to ensure that the 7 Forces get value for money. You will also be expected to lead and/or support complex commercial negotiations with key suppliers, promoting innovation and ensuring best value is achieved, as well as addressing and enforcing sanctions for poor performance, and assisting in defending the relevant Force(s) from contractual claims.

We are looking for someone with good commercial acumen, a track record of supplier relationship management and proven success in negotiations and resolving contractual disputes. The nature of the role means that you will need strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence and negotiate. You will need to demonstrate that you have the ability to engage a range of key internal stakeholders at varying levels of seniority.

You will hold MCIPS Level 6 or be able to clearly evidence equivalent levels of experience, technical knowledge, and expertise by having worked as a commercially focused procurement professional for a complex, public sector organisation. You should possess significant knowledge and understanding of current contract law and the application of EU Public Procurement Regulations and legislation.

Necessary Experience

Skills and abilities:

• Strong analytical skills to align procurement solutions with customer needs.
• Ability to “see the big picture” and think strategically about developments in the various category markets and the opportunities that those developments will create for the 7 Forces.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to liaise successfully with staff/officers of all levels and external individuals, and to influence stakeholders within the 7 Forces and external organisations.
• Strong negotiating, influencing, interpersonal and communication skills are essential to the role.
• Provide innovative thinking and impetus to drive through change and develop and enhance an integrated commercial and contract management function across the seven forces.
• Good organisational, time management and project management skills in order to ensure delivery of results to agreed deadlines.
• Ability to travel as required throughout the UK.

In your application we will be looking for you to demonstrate the criteria set out in the job description.

Travel will be required across all seven forces.

Kent Police offer incremental increases within this salary band, therefore the salary for this position will rise to a maximum of £54,876.00.

Kent Police and Essex Police have separate salary grading systems therefore the salary for this position will be dependent on which home office force you are appointed to. This will be discussed with the successful applicant before a final offer is made.

Your application for this role will be shortlisted on the content you provide within the “reason for application” question, within the application form itself. CVs, covering letters or attachments are not included in the shortlist. Within your “reason for application” answer, please refer to any experience, skills, and abilities you feel you have that will make you suitable for this role, based on the role criteria stated in the job advert or job description. Please provide as much detail as possible as insufficient content may mean you do not meet the shortlisting criteria, however please note this question is limited to 9000 characters and this system will count spaces and blank lines as characters. This count may differ from the Microsoft Word word count function therefore you may wish to use a different online character counter to check the characters used.

All of our posts require a level of vetting and security clearance. During the recruitment process you will be sent vetting information forms to complete.

Kent Police and Essex Police welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex, or employment status.

Please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the application process, or for further information regarding this position, please email us at recruitment.business.services@ecis.police.uk stating ‘Application Support and Adjustments’ in the title of your email. Alternatively, you can call us on 01245 452833. Where appropriate we will make adjustments to the selection process, working arrangements and/or the working environment provided it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.

If you’re not from the UK, you must be a resident in the UK and have lived here continuously for the last three years. You must also be free from restrictions with indefinite leave to remain. If you’re from the UK you must have lived here continuously for the last three years. This doesn’t apply to those serving abroad in the British Armed Forces.

Essex Police is a Disability Confident Leader, we:

• have subjected our Disability Confident self-assessment to externalchallenge and validation
• are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping otheremployers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are central to the values of our organisation. At Essex Police we value and embrace the unique experiences, identities and abilities that each of us bring to our roles. We strive to empower everyone to bring their authentic self openly and safely to work.

Through the dedicated commitment of our support networks, DE&I team and wider HR departments, we are on a journey to embed our DE&I commitments, ensuring Essex Police is an employer of choice; where everyone feels included.

Essex Police and Kent Police are an equal opportunities employer. Communications may be recorded for monitoring purposes.