Sourcing Manager

Job summary

UKEF’s Commercial Function is a small but high performing and highly valued team that sits within the Corporate Services Group. The agile team is responsible for the delivery of all commercial activity including sourcing strategies, procurements contract management and the implementation of government commercial standards across the organisation. This is a key function, critical to the success of UKEF’s business ventures which often rely on support from external suppliers.

The key areas within the UKEF Commercial function are:

• Sourcing – developing sourcing strategies and leading procurements to both service UKEF requirements and achieve value for money outcomes.
• Contract Management – effective contract management to maximise supplier performance and value for money.
• Central Function - ensuring the performance of the overall function in-line with all relevant standards for a central Government procurement function.

The Sourcing Manager role will sit within the Sourcing team. In addition, the expectation is that the successful candidate will have the opportunity work across multiple workstreams, supporting the over-arching strategy and vision of the wider function where required.

Job description

The Sourcing Manager role is a unique opportunity for a high performing individual who is seeking to build their public sector commercial career, focusing on procurement delivery and management of the commercial lifecycle. Not only will this role offer the opportunity to enhance your commercial career but will also provide the scope to help shape how a recently established Commercial function will deliver an exceptional service for UKEF.

This is a hands-on role, with strong procurement acumen and ability to manage a suite of complex sourcing projects being critical skills, along with the requisite interpersonal skills necessary to lead, support and work with our stakeholders. The role requires demonstrable experience of procurement delivery (desirable: within the public sector) and implementation of effective commercial lifecycle practices to drive behavioural change within an organisation.

This role provides an opportunity to:

• Work within an integrated commercial functional team, working on delivering innovative commercial solutions which are critical to the success of
• Work closely with internal colleagues to proactively seek opportunities to drive additional value and increase efficiency.
• Drive overall functional development, encouraging teamwork and building effective relationships to deliver great commercial outcomes.
• Influence how commercial excellence is achieved at UKEF and be part of a recently established team.
• Be part of a function that directly supports many international organisations (public and or private) to develop local community infrastructure and deliver social impact.

Main Activities:

• Prepare and deliver sourcing projects, including those subject to Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Procurement Act 2023. This will include development of tender documentation and leading/supporting tender activity.
• Development of robust commercial strategies that will deliver effective contractual solutions, manage commercial risk and provide the best possible value for money.
• Support the development and implementation of commercial performance measurement, regulatory compliance and process improvement.
• Support reporting obligations for the Commercial function, servicing internal strategic and external regulatory requirements.
• Support the management of the commercial pipeline and use the UKEF e-sourcing platform (Atamis) to enable accurate and timely reporting.
• Work with colleagues across the function and wider business to identify opportunities to update and improve policies, processes, governance, and systems.
• Engage with a diverse range of stakeholders in a timely and appropriate manner, providing specialist commercial advice and support to customers.

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

Person specification

Essential

Qualifications

• GCSE Maths and English at Grade 4 (C) equivalent or above, or good numeracy and written skills. (A)
• Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

Knowledge

• Exceptional knowledge (gained through experience) of the commercial lifecycle, specifically:
  • Procurement/Sourcing (A&I)

Skills/Ability

• Numerate with the ability to use data to support recommendations. (A&I)
• Proven planning and organisation skills to manage multiple competing requirements, prioritise work and meet deadlines with minimal supervision. (A&I)
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, which must include the ability to convey complex information clearly with confidence and credibility. (A&I)
• Ability to build and maintain effective professional relationships with colleagues, particularly where interaction is integral to the work of the division. (A&I)

Experience

• Significant relevant procurement or strategic sourcing experience. (A&I)
• Experience presenting to senior management on analysis and recommendations. (A&I)
• Experience in managing stakeholders effectively. (both internal and external) (A&I)
• Evidence of using lessons learned and best practice to improve commercial processes and procedures. (A&I)
• Resilient and able to progress work using own initiative. (I)

Qualifications

• GCSE Maths and English at Grade 4 (C) equivalent or above, or good numeracy and written skills.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Following the sift, successful applicants will be invited to attend an initial15-minute technical interview – this will be based on several technical questions relevant to the role.
• Technical - A 20-minute case study supplied to you on the day of your interview
• Technical - Technical Questions relevant to the role

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,890, UK Export Finance contributes £12,714 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, Experience and Technical skills.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualification -GCSE Maths and English equivalent or above, or good numeracy and written skills. (A)

- Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

• Behaviour statement - 250-word statement for each behaviour (Managing a Quality Service and Delivery at Pace)
• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 500 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience - Application and Statement of Suitability
2. Behaviours - 250-word statement for each behaviour (Managing a Quality Service and Delivery at Pace)

In the event of a high volume of applications there will be a pre-sift on the behaviour: Managing a Quality Service.

Following the sift, successful applicants will be invited to attend an initial15-minute technical interview – this will be based on several technical questions relevant to the role.

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an 2nd stage interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours/Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all three behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
2. Technical - A 20-minute case study supplied to you on the day of your interview
3. Technical - Technical Questions relevant to the role

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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 security 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.

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

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 : UKEF Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

UKEF Information Pack - Sourcing Manager - Mar 26 (6) Opens in new window (pdf, 4342kB)