Main area: Corporate
Grade: NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Job ref: 435-C108-24-C
Employer: East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Preston Business Centre
Town: Preston
Salary: £22,816 - £24,336 Per Annum (Pay award pending)
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 18/10/2024 23:59
Interview date: 30/10/2024
NHS AfC: Band 3
At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an ambitious, motivated and enthusiastic individual to join our procurement team. You will be an excellent communicator for the department to ensure we provide an effective and efficient operational procurement service across all areas of the LPC.
The successful candidate must have access to a vehicle and be able to drive.
Main duties of the job
The Assistant Buyer will work within the Procurement tower to support the delivery of the procurement strategy and achieve the 'quadruple aim' targets. This includes delivering against the following objectives:
* Savings and efficiency targets
* Improving compliance with procurement regulations
Work on specific/allocated projects against agreed timescales and outcomes for LPC customers. This will include sourcing of goods, equipment, materials and services that meet requirements by demonstrating value for money and promoting an integrated approach to procurement.
Carry out the procurement of agreed goods and services in line with the Standing Financial Instructions obtaining best value and delivery within the specifications provided.
Provide professional support to users in respect of the procurement process, including EU regulations and required processes to be followed under the guidance of the line manager.
Be part of a busy customer services helpdesk team that undertake various duties including processing of purchase requisitions and placement of purchase orders, invoice/price queries, product sourcing and catalogue management for the Trusts.
Assist colleagues/stakeholders to understand both Trust and Public procurement rules where understanding may be limited and be able to relate, communicate and interact with colleagues at all levels across the organisation using both written and oral skills.
Working for our organisation
The Lancashire Procurement Cluster (LPC) provides strategic procurement, commercial and supply chain services to the Trust partners. The organisation is a shared service model, hosted by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Main responsibilities include:
* Evaluate and deliver the best value procurement process for acquisitions for the LPC Stakeholders.
* Build up product knowledge from the supplier base and introduce alternative products to internal and external stakeholders.
* Responsible for assisting with quotation exercises and cost analysis for the purchase of goods and services.
* Liaise with the NHS Supply Chain and suppliers to ensure that best pricing has been secured.
* Provide reports and other data to members of the procurement team.
* Process requisitions for internal and external stakeholders onto the selected Procurement purchasing systems.
* Deal with reported discrepancies, shortages, returns for internal and external stakeholders in a proactive manner.
* Operate within the LPC Policies and Procedures and display a high standard of professional conduct.
* Assist and support other members of the Procurement team in ensuring customer satisfaction with the service.
* Provide cover for other members of the Procurement team as required.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Good general standard of education including Mathematics and English Language - GCSE level C/4 or equivalent.
* Participation or willingness to participate in continuing development to improve and update knowledge.
* Knowledge of professional purchasing principles acquired through NVQ level 3 or CIPS Foundation (Level 3) or equivalent experience.
Experience
* Experience of working with clients/stakeholders to deliver projects or agreed service level.
* Experience of working in a busy, target driven team.
* Experience of Customer Care.
* Experience of procurement or operational purchasing, expediting, logistics or materials management.
* Public Sector experience.
* Electronic catalogues/purchasing systems.
Knowledge and Skills
* IT literate with well-developed skills for the use and application of information technology systems.
* Good communication skills (written and oral) with the ability to work positively with colleagues.
* Evidence of analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on delivering results.
Other
* Must have access to a vehicle for work purposes and be able to work between sites.
* Able to flexibly work across all Trust locations.
It is important you are made aware of the following as regards your application to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust:
* Please note that the salary advertised is for full-time hours. If this post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro-rata.
* This vacancy may close before the closing date if the recruiting manager deems sufficient applications have been received.
* Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
* Please note that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post.
Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS)
If the role you are applying for is identified as either controlled or regulated activity as defined in the Safeguarding vulnerable Groups Act (2006) any offer of employment is provisional upon a satisfactory DBS check being obtained.
The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment.
We aim to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve.
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