Senior Procurement Officer

**Senior Procurement Officer**

**Contract Term: 6 Months**

**Contracting Authority: Department for Transport (DfT)
- Highways England**

**Location: Remote (Ad-hoc travel may be required to Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds)**

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**Job Purpose**:
Support the protection of Highways England’s commercial and procurement interests, within a package of Information and Technology services, supporting it as a balanced, intelligent client. Assist in supporting excellence in commercial delivery, procurement strategy, requirements definition, whole life cost management, value delivery, commercial management, supplier relationship management, commercial dispute avoidance and commercial performance management.

Responsible for the negotiation and commercial management of allocated contracts, and as part of Highways England’s category management approach, assisting with the development of the market alongside relationship managing allocated Highways England suppliers.

To ensure that procurement processes, workflow and delivery are delivered to meet targets and quality standards and that opportunities for improving performance are identified and actioned to ensure continuous improvement.

To provide professional procurement support and advice to business units on all procurement activities including specifications and documentation.

**As a Senior Procurement Officer, your main responsibilities would be**:

- Understand fully the business need and provide specialist advice and guidance for stakeholders on Company procurement policy and procedures - to ensure that procurement drives innovation and best practice and is compliant with government frameworks and UK legislation/EU directives.
- Assist with the management of the establishment, monitoring and delivery of work programmes to deliver contracts and procurement activities using varied resources, adhering to governance requirements whilst minimising risk and vulnerabilities. Ensure that the appropriate tender, contract and finance management systems are maintained and all activity correctly recorded.
- Contribute to encouraging improvements in contractual and procurement knowledge and practice across the Company in line with public sector procurement frameworks - sharing knowledge and skills with others to disseminate best practice.
- Contribute to the management and maintenance of effective supply chain relationships with key suppliers and supply bodies at regional levels.
- Assist with supplier cost savings targets, and initiatives delivered that increase efficiency whilst maintaining performance and risk management.
- Lead the identification, evaluation and selection of suppliers to support business requirements through developing tender documentation, chairing consensus meetings and producing Tender Evaluation Reports.
- Maintain positive supplier relationships, encouraging innovation, creation of “value add” solutions, and a strong customer service ethic.
- Monitor, implement and report on compliance with contractual processes and project performance, elevating issues where appropriate. Contributing to the building of a culture of continuous improvement.
- Assist with the building of excellent collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support delivery of the Highways England imperatives, Safety, Customer Service and implementation of the Category Management approach
- Drive continual improvement in health and safety performance demonstrating a strong understanding of Highways England Five Year Health & Safety Plan and how Procurement Division contributes to this.

**People management responsibilities**
- The post holder will be responsible for an IT Commercial Category Advisor

**You’ll have relevant experience in**:

- Public Sector Procurement knowledge
- Framework’s experience and knowledge
- IT Skills and knowledge
- Strong project management skills.

**Desirable criteria**:

- Ideally hold the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) Diploma (or equivalent).- Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas._