Procurement Lead

Job summary

The role involves overseeing both procurement and contract management activities across a portfolio of high-value contracts for catering, AV, IT, facilities, and other services. You will be responsible for shaping and delivering sourcing strategies, running competitive procurement exercises, and negotiating commercial agreements. Once contracts are in place, you will ensure they are actively managed to deliver value, performance, and compliance—working closely with delivery teams, suppliers, and stakeholders to resolve issues, manage change, and drive continuous improvement.

Job description

The role involves overseeing both procurement and contract management activities across a portfolio of high-value contracts for catering, AV, IT, facilities, and other services. You will be responsible for shaping and delivering sourcing strategies, running competitive procurement exercises, and negotiating commercial agreements. Once contracts are in place, you will ensure they are actively managed to deliver value, performance, and compliance—working closely with delivery teams, suppliers, and stakeholders to resolve issues, manage change, and drive continuous improvement.

Using your commercial expertise, you will identify opportunities for improvement and implement change, working collaboratively to resolve issues and embed best practice.

You will take ownership of key elements of the commercial lifecycle – from strategy and policy development, needs analysis and sourcing options, through to procurement, contract and supplier management.

The role interfaces with a wide range of stakeholders including heads of departments across the Centre and wider government.

Key Responsibilities

Typically, key responsibilities for a procurement professional in this role will include (but are not limited to):

Procurement & Sourcing:

• Lead the procurement and contract management of a diverse portfolio of commercial agreements supporting the QEII Centre and act as a subject matter expert.
• Lead the design and implementation of a robust procurement pipeline, ensuring proactive supplier sourcing, effective demand planning, and timely delivery of goods and services aligned with business needs.
• Work with stakeholders to define clear business requirements and commercial needs.
• Provide guidance throughout the sourcing process, evaluating models and options, identifying opportunities for collaborative supplier partnerships.
• Drive quality commercial outcomes by leading market engagement, competitive tendering, supplier selection, and contract negotiations.
• Ensuring sourcing compliance and adherence to frameworks.

Contract & Supplier Management:

• Manage contract variations and apply structured contract management techniques and compliant procurement services that achieve demonstrable value for money.
• Monitor supplier relationships and performance, including contract renewals, extensions, and resolution of commercial disputes, ensuring that contracts deliver against agreed objectives, KPIs and standards.
• Manage risk/reward mechanisms and KPIs within contracts.
• Lead contracts exit and asset disposal processes.

Internal and External Stakeholder Engagement:

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders across all teams, as well as external suppliers and partners, enabling early engagement to ensure commercial solutions are aligned with operational needs and business objectives
• Providing commercial advice to stakeholders on all aspects of commercial protocol
• Support the QEII Centre in delivering corporate priorities, including contributing to strategic planning, reporting, and continuous improvement initiatives

Enabling and developing procurement function:

• Champion innovation and continuous improvement in procurement and contract management practices, identifying opportunities to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and value for money.
• Provide ongoing training, coaching, and guidance to internal stakeholders to improve procurement capability and foster strong awareness of procurement policies, processes, and compliance requirements.
• Play an active role in shaping the performance and reputation of the QEII Centre through positive leadership, professional engagement, and a commitment to high standards of commercial delivery.

Person specification

Essential:
Technical
• Working towards or holding MCIPS (or equivalent).
• Experience delivering under Public Contract Regulations 2015 and or Procurement Act 2023 regimes.

Procurement Management:
• Extensive experience developing and delivering multiple procurements, using central frameworks, with the ability to manage several requirements simultaneously.
Contract Management:
• Proven experience managing medium to high complexity/value contracts, with a strong understanding of contract management principles and their role in the commercial lifecycle.

Commercial Focus:
• Strong commercial knowledge, understanding trade-offs and applying principles within the boundaries of procurement law and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead on achieving value for money and delivering good return on investment on commercial projects.
Risk and Assurance Management
• Ability to identify, assess and mitigate commercial risks across the full procurement lifecycle—from sourcing strategy through to contract delivery and change control.
• Ability to lead market engagement and develop sourcing strategies that reflect commercial risk, supplier capability, and contract delivery models, ensuring that procurement decisions are informed by robust analysis

Commercial Ethics
• Ability to communicate and uphold standards that prevent corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate action when breaches occur.
• Strong analytical and project management skills.
• Ability to engage and influence stakeholders effectively.
• Ability to foster capability in procurement and contract management through coaching, mentoring, and upskilling internal stakeholders.
Desirable:
• Familiarity with e-tendering platforms and procurement tools.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £60,000, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre contributes £17,382 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Bonus scheme (discretionary) calculated on corporate and individual
• Membership of the Civil Service Pension Scheme with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days' annual leave with an additional day per year to a maximum of 30 days & 1 privilege day
• Subsidized staff restaurant/coffee bar
• Interest free season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme
• 3 days paid volunteering
• Participation at staff events; celebratory, educational, team
• Access to learning and development tailored to you
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• Regular employment engagement activities
• Dynamic hybrid environment

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

Candidates should apply by submitting:

• a tailored CV to hr@qeiicentre.london setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements, of no more than two pages. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• a personal statement – in no more than 500 words showing how you meet the criteria of the person specification evidence.

The closing date for applications is 21st April 2026 @ 23.59

We will be sifting applications using Experience from your job history, qualifications and personal statement week commencing 27th April 2026.

Interviews will take place week commencing 4th May 2026.

For candidates invited for interview, this vacancy is using the Civil Service Success Profiles Framework, and we will be assessing Strengths, Experience, Behaviours and Technical Skills.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : HR Team
• Email : hr@qeiicentre.london
• Telephone : 02077984012

Recruitment team

• Email : hr@qeiicentre.london

Further information

The QEII Centre's recruitment processes are underpinned by the recruitment principles of the Civil Service Commissioner, which outline that selection for appointment be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. If you feel at any time your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or you feel that recruitment has been conducted in such a waythat conf;icts with the Civil Service Commissioner's Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting the HR Department hr@qeiicentre.london in the first instance.

Attachments

Procurement Lead JD March 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 125kB)

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