Senior Buyer

**Job Title: Senior Buyer (Part time)**

**Job Purpose**

To assist in the delivery of a sustainable procurement service for the University including effective customer service and monitoring external supplier performance to meet the University’s procurement strategy. Ensuring continuous improvement to help the University achieve its overall objectives through best procurement practice, achieving value for money and quality of good and services.

**Main Duties**
- To establish and maintain key relationships with institutional customers to identify needs and provide advice on current and future requirements. To skilfully manage stakeholder expectations through the procurement process. To, look for opportunities to reduce duplication and streamline process for the University in goods, services and works procurement, across all designated areas and associated customers.
- To be a skilled negotiator, in establishing University wide call-off contracts, select lists, tenders and quotations, securing savings, and preferential terms whilst employing VFM techniques.
- To manage major suppliers’ performance against contracts or other arrangements and to manage key relationships with their main customers. Maintain communications with institutional customers and suppliers to provide advice on current and future requirements.
- To operate within defined financial regulations, statutory requirements and in particular ensure that the demands of the European Public Procurement Directives and the Northern Ireland equality of opportunity legislation are met. To ensure legal compliance of tendering and contract award activities and to manage risk across relevant aspect of procurement.
- To liaise closely with our client base, in the provision of professional procurement advice, and to provide assistance and guidance to other members of university staff to ensure delivery of the financial strategy and the Purchasing Strategy Group (PSG) annually defined overarching objectives.
- To assist the Procurement officer and Head of Procurement in the provision of information for quarterly reports for Resource Committee.
- To be responsible for administration of the key procurement systems, including eMarketplace eTendering, Efficiency Measurement Model (EMM) and Whole Life Costing. To develop and deliver, appropriate web-based or other guidance, which offers training to institutional staff, to ensure good practice and streamline processes in a centre-led action network which can demonstrate value for money, whole life costing and efficient processes.
- To undertake on-going professional development and training as appropriate, keeping abreast of developments within the sector.
- To develop networks with appropriate consortia and other relevant bodies, in order to both use the information gleaned to secure preferential terms for the university in negotiation of contracts, and to benchmark the University and its contracts against the sector and comparable organisations.
- To undertake any such other tasks as may be reasonably required by the Procurement Officer or Head of Procurement.

**Essential & Desirable Criteria**

**Essential**

A relevant degree **or** three years’ relevant procurement experience.

**Desirable**

Corporate membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

**Essential**

Good understanding of the legal compliance of tendering and contract award activities within public procurement, and the risk factors associated with non-compliance.

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Evidence of the ability to work with accuracy and attention to detail, whilst ensuring delivery of work to deadlines

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Evidence of sound commercial judgement and the ability to work on own initiative with minimum supervision.

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**Desirable**

Knowledge and experience of compliance with European procurement legislation, inclusive of tender preparation, advertising and supplier de-briefing.

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Evidence of using initiative in reviewing and improving working practices.

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**Essential**

Extensive experience conducting complex tenders across a range of commodities, services or works, to include sourcing prices, negotiating and implementing value for money.

Extensive experience of contract management leading to improvements in service and benefits to customers.

Experience of implementation of sustainable procurement processes.

Experience in the use of eProcurement systems, and a good understanding of the benefits of such systems.

**Desirable**

Experience in the compilation of management reports.

Experience in the design and delivery of training programmes for users of procurement systems and processes.

**Job Type**: Part-time
Part-time hours: 17.5 per week

Schedule:

- Monday to Friday

Application question(s):

- Extensive experience conducting complex tenders across a range of commodities, services or works, to include sourcing prices, negotiating and implementing value for money.

Extensive experience of contract management leading to improvem