Procurement Manager - 12 Month FTC in Bristol

Our Procurement Team are looking for an experienced Procurement Manager to join their team for a 12‑month fixed‑term contract to support a company‑wide integration project. This is an exciting opportunity to join a hugely progressive and busy team.

Responsibilities

• Gaining access to relevant spend, contract and supplier data, working closely with the Procurement Analyst to understand what good looks like – cleansing and making it appropriate for opportunity analysis to be conducted and compared to existing estate.
• Conducting opportunity analysis across the data.
• Creation of a communication plan for the supply chain.
• Creation and delivery of a plan that:

• Identifies, agrees and delivers quick wins – be that cost, quality, sustainability or any other value metric.
• Integrates any supply chain and spend into Business as Usual category plans and spend analytics.
• Identifies opportunities in the years 2027 and 2028 (total life cost, quality, sustainability or any other value metric).
• Contracts/supplier performance management approach.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in procurement, specifically in understanding procurement data, sourcing, contract management and supplier management functions.
• Brilliant data skills.
• Excellent negotiation and mediation skills – both with suppliers and internally with colleagues.
• Commercial intuition and acumen – to unlock the maximum possible benefit.
• Brilliant writing and report‑writing skills – a must, given the volume of verbal and written communication needed with suppliers and the wider business.
• Numerically savvy – able to analyse and interpret numbers, whether costs, performance data or survey results.
• Presentation skills – ability to present data and facilitate decision making across numerous stakeholder groups.
• Analytical skills – ability to set indicators of performance, and measure achievement against these.
• Able to learn fast – it is impossible to be an expert in all areas of supply (technical, construction materials, technology or simply paint), but you will demonstrate ability to work with others to tease the information out and learn fast.
• A people person – since this role works across the entire business much like the wider procurement team, ability to work with all people and being a critical friend in establishing great stakeholder relationships is a must.
• A customer‑first mindset – a great team player, with the ability to build relationships and rapport with the wider procurement team and a variety of key stakeholders. You understand our customer’s needs from the product.

What You’ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company’s success.
• 25 days’ paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service.
• A generous pension scheme – employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save.
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends.
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non‑birthing parents.
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is the UK’s leading provider of purpose‑built student accommodation. You can find us in 23 leading university towns and cities, with 70,000 students calling us home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn’t just what we do but who we are. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what’s right, keeping us safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.