Procurement Manager - Services & Operations in Warrington

Rolls Royce SMR is on a mission to deliver clean, affordable energy for all. As the UK’s flagship Small Modular Reactor programme, we are building a British solution to a global energy challenge and shaping one of the country’s most significant green export opportunities. Our Procurement function is essential in establishing the commercial and supply chain foundations required to deliver our first SMR and future fleet. Within this, the Services & Operations category is critical, covering professional services, specialist support, consultancy, digital services, programme delivery partnerships and Alliance contracts that underpin our rapidly scaling organisation.

To support this, we’re recruiting a Procurement Manager – Services & Operations to help lead and enact the category strategy, commercial delivery, supplier performance and the development of high value, complex service partnerships. Reporting to a Senior Category Manager you will help shape strategy, drive value and lead a team responsible for delivering best-in-class services procurement across the business.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead the development of high value, complex services contracts and relationships.
• Manage procurement activities across a services category, including professional services, specialist support, consultancy, digital services, programme delivery partnerships and Alliance contracts.
• Establish and lead cross functional purchasing and sourcing teams, ensuring collaborative decision making and alignment with programme needs.
• Drive end to end procurement activity, including sourcing, tendering, negotiation, contract development, award and mobilisation.
• Manage supplier relationships and performance, ensuring compliance, quality, delivery and continuous improvement across service contracts.
• Lead commercial and contractual negotiations for complex frameworks, MSAs, SoWs, supply agreements and rate based service agreements.
• Influence senior stakeholders across Engineering, Programme Delivery, Programme Controls, Finance, Digital, HR, Operations and Legal to shape early requirements and ensure effective demand planning.
• Act as subject matter expert for the category in procurement, providing commercial leadership and market insight.
• Ensure strong governance, documentation and adherence to best practice sourcing processes.
• Lead or contribute to initiatives including supplier consolidation, value engineering, contract standardisation, risk reduction and sustainability.
• Manage, coach and develop a team of Buyers and Senior Buyers, building a high performing, business facing procurement capability.

This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of nuclear manufacturing and leave a lasting impact on a first-of-its-kind engineering programme and your leadership will be instrumental in building a resilient, agile, and commercially focused procurement function that drives the success of the wider business.

What you will bring

• Experience managing complex procurement, ideally across professional services, engineering, consulting, technical services, digital services.
• Experience in leading procurement for programme delivery partnerships or alliance agreements would be beneficial.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience in complex negotiations, strategic sourcing and delivering measurable value.
• Experience leading cross functional teams and delivering outcomes in complex, regulated or project driven environments.
• Ability to interpret commercial, financial and technical information to provide clear recommendations.
• Experience working with suppliers/partners in regulated sectors (nuclear, energy, rail, aerospace, defence, infrastructure or similar).
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence at senior levels.
• Strong organisational and project management skills.

We welcome MCIPS/MRICS qualified (or working towards qualification) professionals and prize APM accreditation.

What we offer

• We anticipate offering between £63,700 - £78,750 and benefits include:
• 12% performance‑related bonus
• Benefits Allowance – £2,200 to build a personalised package
• Pension – 12% employer, 6% employee
• Holidays – 28 days + public holidays (option to buy/sell up to 4 days)
• Private Medical Insurance – BUPA
• Life Assurance – 6× pensionable pay
• £250 one‑off home‑office setup payment

You’ll join a forward‑thinking, inclusive and innovative organisation offering:

• A flexible and supportive working environment
• Opportunities for career progression and professional development
• A culture that values diversity, innovation and continuous learning

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds. Inclusivity is important to us, and as a Disability Confident organisation, we are committed to fair, supportive, and continually improving recruitment practices that ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. But we'll let you in on a secret: there's no such thing as a 'perfect' candidate. If you feel you meet 75% of the requirements for this role, we would love to hear from you. Also, if you are considering a career move or a sector-jump, please get in touch – we welcome applications from people with transferable skills.

Our Application Process

Due to the safety regulations within the nuclear industry, applicants will be required to participate in additional screening. These are:

• Obtaining Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance
• Satisfactory completion of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
• Satisfactory completion of a basic financial probity check.