Deputy Head of Purchasing

This role is a specialist position, with the post holder being responsible for Purchasing activities across Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust with specific responsibility for the Capital Assets, Leasing and Maintenance Team or Clinical Strategic Purchasing team. MFT looks after ten hospitals in the Greater Manchester area and is looking to continue their mission of delivering a high functioning, sustainable single hospital service by recruiting this crucial role.

Main Duties of the Job

You would be joining the team in the Finance and Procurement Business Unit – a space that has been created to encourage flexible working, with state-of-the-art modern facilities that will make your working life more rewarding. Currently, these roles operate on a mix of home working and thrice weekly office attendance which is non-negotiable and may be revised to full-time office attendance. As you will need to take responsibility for procedural compliance and team leadership, you will need to have substantial strategic purchasing experience within a private or public sector organisation. Committed to achieving full membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), it would be beneficial to have some knowledge of clinical product procurement or capital equipment procurement within the NHS. Crucially, you will have exceptional communication and partnership skills, with the capacity to work directly with clinical stakeholders and procurement and supply chain colleagues.

Working for Our Organisation

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of £2.8bn and is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We’re creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year. Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you’ll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022. We’re proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What’s more, we’re excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable. At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you’ll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the ‘Supporting Documents’ heading. So that you’re even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you’ll need to take time to read the ‘Candidate Essentials Guide’ that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how ‘we care for you as you care for others’. Most importantly, it also contains critical information you’ll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Person Specification

• Qualifications

• Essential Criteria: Degree educated, Member of CIPS or committed to achieving membership
• Desirable Criteria: Good standard of Education, Good record of continual professional development

• Knowledge

• Essential Criteria: Sound knowledge of UK Procurement legislation and statutory requirements
• Desirable Criteria: Sound knowledge of public sector finance procedures legislation, Sound knowledge of Commercial Law

• Experience

• Essential Criteria: Procurement management/ Clinical purchasing experience with demonstrable achievements - Able to demonstrate success in achieving value for money and savings through purchasing and supply, Demonstrable experience in change management, stakeholder engagement & team building.
• Desirable Criteria: Leadership experience gained within a large multi-functional organisation

Further Details / Informal Visits

Contact Name: Catriona Stevens, Job title: Head of Purchasing