Governance Buyer in Chertsey

Governance Buyer

Location: Hybrid – Chertsey / Wakefield / Daresbury / Birmingham
Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent

About Foodbuy
Foodbuy is a leading food procurement organisation, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland. We support a wide range of clients across public and private sectors, using our scale, expertise and insight to deliver value, innovation and sustainable supply chain solutions.

Within Foodbuy, NHS Supply Chain: Food plays a critical role in supporting hospitals and healthcare organisations across the UK — helping Trusts deliver outstanding food and dining services while meeting commercial, quality and regulatory expectations. Our teams work in close partnership with the NHS to drive engagement, improve performance and identify opportunities that genuinely make a difference.
The Role
We are looking for a Governance Buyer to join our NHS Supply Chain: Food team. This is a key role focused on ensuring procurement activity is fully compliant, commercially robust and aligned with organisational strategy.

You will lead and support end-to-end public procurement exercises, working closely with Category teams and wider stakeholders to design and deliver procurement solutions that are transparent, efficient and compliant — while driving best practice and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities:

• Lead full framework tender exercises and the establishment of Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), from strategy development through to contract award
• Draft and manage tender documentation, publish notices, design compliant evaluation methodologies and lead evaluation and moderation processes, ensuring a robust audit trail
• Provide governance oversight and advice for mini competitions, RFQs, e-auctions and direct awards under existing frameworks and Dynamic Markets
• Advise on route-to-market decisions, evaluation approaches and regulatory compliance
• Operate and optimise the eProcurement system (Jaggaer), configuring tender stages and ensuring governance controls are embedded throughout
• Contribute to Category and Sourcing Strategies, providing governance and regulatory input to support savings delivery and market engagement
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, templates and guidance to ensure consistent ways of working
• Support and deliver training and awareness sessions to embed best practice procurement processes
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders and support the resolution of complex procurement matters

What You’ll Bring

• Strong working knowledge of the Procurement Act 2023 and Public Contracts Regulations 2015
• Experience managing or supporting public sector procurement exercises, including frameworks and mini competitions
• Sound understanding of procurement governance, transparency and audit requirements
• Experience drafting procurement and tender documentation
• Experience using Jaggaer or a comparable eProcurement system
• Strong stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills
• Ability to manage multiple procurement activities and work to challenging deadlines
• Strong analytical skills with excellent attention to detail
• Commercial awareness and understanding of sourcing and category management principles

Working Pattern
This is a full-time hybrid role, aligned to offices in Chertsey, Wakefield, Daresbury or Birmingham, depending on home location. Some travel to UK-based sites and offices will be required.
Why Join Us
In return, we offer clearly defined career pathways, strong learning and development programmes, and progression opportunities to support long-term career growth — alongside the opportunity to play a meaningful role in supporting the NHS through compliant and impactful procurement.

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