Senior Category Manager - SEO x3

Job summary

The Welsh Government Procurement Delivery Team (WGPD) directly influences procurement expenditure of circa £1.2 billion. Supporting a blend of Welsh Government specific Procurement, and a wider programme of Welsh public sector collaborative agreements, it delivers policy direction, access to information, best practice, guidance and technical expertise in procurement and contract management across the organisation and the wider Welsh public sector.

Delivered through a category management portfolio, the Welsh Government Procurement Delivery team (WGPD) seeks to deliver effective commercial outcomes through greater efficiency, supporting the Welsh economy, and embracing the Well-being of Future Generations Act through the Wales Procurement Policy Statement. The WGPD is part of the Procurement & Commercial Directorate.

Reporting directly to the Commercial Lead the post holder has a key role in the achievement of the overall goals of the WGPD through delivery of a programme of procurement activity across the category.

Job description

• Maintaining knowledge and practical delivery of key legislation, PCR 2015, Procurement Act 2023, WBFGA 2015, Social Partnership and Public Procurement Act 2023 as well as the Wales Procurement Policy Statement.
• The post holder will be responsible for management of procurement processes, in the range of the FTS threshold to £200 million per annum which shall include; FTS noticing requirements, setting and agreeing tender strategies, supplier engagement, tender evaluation, contract award, and handling contractual changes, whilst ensuring clear approval mechanisms and controls are in place to demonstrate value for money.
• Identify innovative category strategies and different approaches to procurement that achieve optimum value for money in line with Welsh procurement policy, including maximising the benefit to the economy of Wales utilising market analysis. Strategies should include designing structured project plans setting and delivering target milestones, prioritising tasks, establishing project teams, identifying and managing risk, and evaluating and communicating outcomes and benefits. Early identification and resolution of problems.
• Utilise SAP reports, Atamis and other sources of information to challenge areas of non compliance with existing contracts both within the Welsh Government and the wider Welsh public sector
• For wider collaborative procurement activity, ongoing management of the procurement category including contract/framework management, Supplier management, MI collection, catalogue management, price reviews, contract negotiation and management of legal issues.
• Use market knowledge and research to develop benefits realisation plans and benchmarking for customers.
• Make a significant contribution to the building of a culture of continuous improvement within the Procurement & Commercial Directorate.
• Communicating key messages and persuading audiences through public speaking, presentations, designing and running workshops, publishing written reports and organising publicity.
• Being able and confident to challenge ‘the way we do things’ – in a constructive, non-confrontational manner. As a result, is able to convince others to pilot or adopt alternative viewpoints and solutions and stimulate change.
• Line management, mentoring and coaching team members on policies, procedures, practices and techniques equipping them with the knowledge and skills to deliver.
• Represent WGPD on Welsh Government project boards as directed by the Commercial Lead – Category Management.
• Review departure requests and assess based on business and procurement compliance risk, making a decision whether to approve or submit procurement advice recommendation to CGU.
• Deputise for the Commercial Lead – Category Management at meetings and events as and when necessary.

Person specification

The high profile of the Commercial Procurement function means that there is exposure to senior officials in the Welsh Government, colleagues from across the whole of the public sector in Wales and a varied range of business representatives.

This post offers the opportunity to become part of a team of procurement professionals within Welsh Government and the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills within a very customer focused team. Development opportunities will also be available within the procurement field. Procurement training will be made available to the successful applicant, and they will be offered the chance to continue their professional training to the required level, once established within the post.

Qualifications

MCIPS qualified (at least level 4), or BSc Quantity Surveying or actively studying towards.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• Understands and can explain what a legal challenge is, why they can occur and what can be done to mitigate the risk of a legal challenge, implementing mitigation strategies as appropriate.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,675, Welsh Government contributes £13,811 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

• A reserve list may be held for this opportunity. Any candidate who is successful in being offered a reserve status, will remain on the reserve list for 12 months.
• A presentation on the Experience criteria will be required at Interview stage. More information will be provided in the invitations to that stage.
• We will hold an information session for these posts 04/03/26. To register your interest and to be added to the Teams event, please email CPD.BusinessSupport@gov.wales
• Two of the posts are within our Construction and Facilities Category, while the third is within our People and Corporate Services Category. Though please note this may be subject to change.
• Applicants must be MCIPS qualified (at least level 4), or BSc Quantity Surveying or actively studying towards this.

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

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : CPSProcurementadvise@gov.wales
• Email : CPSProcurementadvise@gov.wales

Recruitment team

• Email : ResourcingHub@gov.wales