Category Specialist

Salary range: SSA PO3 – PO4 £43,545 to £55,992

Contract type and working hours: Permanent, Full Time

Location: Wandsworth

Other Essential Information: Hybrid working including 1 day a week in the office.

Objective of role

To provide procurement expertise at all levels and at all stages of the procurement lifecycle including commissioning, appropriate routes to market and tendering.

About the role

• Provide effective procurement support for the divisions and functions within Residents Services and other commissioning teams as required.
• Provide specialist support to ensure procurement exercises comply with internal and external Contract Standing Orders and Regulations.
• Develop tender and quotes documents which are compliant with policy and regulatory requirements whilst taking account of emerging best and innovated commissioning and procurement approaches.
• Support the development of Excel based evaluation models appropriate to each procurement exercise as necessary.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge and experience of UK Procurement Law in practice, the current best practice procurement as it relates to the public sector.
• Understanding IT systems and current procurement advances, i.e. e-Procurement, marketplaces etc.
• Literacy and Numeracy Skills - Able to display a good level of numeracy and literacy with strong attention to detail and be able to write formal reports, presentations and other documents in a clear and concise manner.
• Workload Management - Significant experience of successfully managing own workload and that of others in an environment where deadlines and priorities frequently change and are often conflicting.
• Qualifications - Diploma Member of CIPS or currently studying towards Diploma Member status or relevant procurement experience within the public sector.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as:

• 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays)
• Flexible working
• A generous pension plan