Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer

What will you be doing?

Kent County Council’s Commercial and Procurement Division, which has achieved the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply’s Accreditation for Excellence, is driven by its mission to ensure the Council is delivering ‘best value’ for residents across £1.2b of contracted spend. By ‘best value’, we mean much more than value for money and delivering savings; we are committed to delivering wider social, environmental, and economic benefits to Kent communities, and supporting the Kent economy.

We are looking for an ambitious and motivated professional to join our Division as a Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer in the People category, which covers Adult Social Care, Children's and Young Persons, Integrated Health including Public Health and Families, Communities and Education services. The People category accounts for over £850m spend under management. Commercial and procurement staff within the team work to support commissioning colleagues operating in a dynamic, challenging market, where no two days are the same.

As a Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer, you will be responsible for providing professional commercial and procurement expertise, advice and guidance, using a risk-based approach, to assist stakeholders to plan, develop, source, and manage procurement arrangements, to effectively meet organisational and business objectives.

The focus of the role will be to support the procuring and subsequent letting of all category contracts to ensure compliance with the Procurement Act 2023, the Healthcare Service (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 and the Council’s Spending the Councils Money policy.

To join us, you will have achieved CIPS level 5, or be able to demonstrate a commitment to work towards this level, and have previous commercial or procurement experience either in the private or public sector. You will have an excellent work ethic, be organised, and be able to manage multiple projects. You will be able to demonstrate strong procurement knowledge to support clients in delivering their commercial pipeline. You will have excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers. You will have the ability to research, analyse and interpret data/information to support the development of procurement plans and category strategies. In this role, each day will offer a chance to build on your experience and skills which will help shape the future of Kent.

Kent County Council is a fully inclusive employer, and we take our values and behaviours very seriously; we are looking for employees who are equally passionate about the right values and behaviours.

The Person Specification in the Job Description will be used for the purpose of shortlisting applicants. If you intend to apply for any of these positions, please refer to the criteria in the Person Specification and demonstrate how you meet these requirements from your work experience, including any voluntary work or internship, as well as through any formal or informal training undertaken.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council, therefore, has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About you

For more information on this role, please contact Paul Stephen either by phone on 03000 417573 or email at paul.stephen@kent.gov.uk

About us

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.