Description Job title: 1005-366 - Procurement Support | Grade: B | Vacancy type: Temporary for 6 months, possibility to go to 12 months| Hours: 35 | Salary:£27,940 | Location: Inverness, other locations will be considered| Closing date: Midnight, 11 May 2025 | Internal Interviews: 20 May 2025 | External Interviews | 4 June 2025 Job Purpose Summary This is an excellent opportunity to work with NatureScot whilst learning on the job. It is a development role aimed at those starting out or in the early / next stages of their Procurement career. You will gain a variety of skills and on the job experience within the role and specific team. The role sits within the Finance, Planning and Performance unit. In this Procurement Support Officer role, you will be part of the Procurement Team, a team of four (4) which provides procurement services to the organisation. The role includes supporting the procurement team and associated procurement processes. The procurement function is there to support the organisation’s project managers by not only ensuring compliance with procurement regulations but also to enable the delivery of high-quality services at an affordable price, and in doing so provide the best value to the organisation. Ensure good procurement principles are adopted, such as sustainability, equality, ethical practices, fairness, openness and transparency across all procurement activities. The range of activities/tasks in the procurement team can be varied and will therefore require some understanding of office routines and public sector procurement practices. As a consequence, some planning and organising of own workload is required to ensure that workflow is maintained. The nature of planning and organising in this role is essentially around timing and sequencing of assigned activities/tasks i.e. working out the most effective way in which to carry out particular activities / tasks or make sure the deadline is met. The role also includes undertaking and providing support for all financial transactional processing responsibilities using NatureScot’s (NS) electronic ePurchasing system (FUSION). Key Areas of Responsibility & Role Requirements TENDERS & CONTRACTS Tendering and letting of contracts - Support Procurement Officers with duties relating to tendering and letting regulated contracts i.e. provide administrative support with the development of tender documentation; downloading and saving bids from the Public Contracts Scotland website (PCS); support the evaluation process etc. PROCUREMENT ADVICE Provide basic procurement advice, guidance and support to internal customers on all procurement matters. Escalate complex or contentious matters to the relevant Procurement Officer or the Procurement Manager. FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONAL PROCESSING RESPONSIBILITIES Using NatureScot’s ePurchasing system (Fusion) undertake the following activities in a timely manner: Fusion Procurement - provide a helpdesk service to internal customers in a timely and efficient manner this includes providing support, guidance and advice. Participate in any testing of Fusion that may be required from time to time. Fusion Requisitions - compliance check electronic requisitions and generate purchase orders using Fusion. Housekeeping – provide cover during periods of absence relative to housekeeping activities. Housekeeping activities include creating and issuing housekeeping reports within the required timescales and taking the necessary corrective action to ensure the delivery of accurate spend report information. Compliance Checking Purchase Orders £1,000 to £50,000 – provide cover during periods of absence relative to retrospective compliance checking of purchase orders with a value of £1,000 to £50,000 within the required timescales. Compliance Checking includes but not limited to running necessary report and checks. Collaborative & INTERNAL CONTRACTS Oversee and look after various internal and collaborative external contracts/frameworks. These may be frameworks NatureScot have set up, or, using an external framework for the delivery of its key services i.e. Utilities, Franking Machines, Stationery and Paper etc. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to, maintaining close liaison with internal and external customers including addressing any issues raised by internal customers. Responding to suppliers and framework owners in a timely manner. Act as the first point of contact for both internal and external customers. GENRAL ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES Activities include, but not limited to: Procurement & Contract Advertising Mailboxes - monitoring and responding to queries received in the Procurement and Contract Advertising e-mail boxes. General administration of the Procurement internal contracts register. Providing general administrative support to the Procurement Officers relative to tendering exercises i.e. collating and distributing tender documentation, including but not limited to, posting contract notices and contract award notices etc. on the appropriate platform. Downloading tender submissions from the electronic tendering platform and saving into the appropriate files etc. Support and contribute to the maintenance of procurement related templates, guidance documents, processes and internal systems. Support Procurement Officer with collating spend data and submitting into the Scottish Government Information Hub. Skills Please include in your supporting statement demonstrable examples of how you meet the key areas of responsibility, the requirement of the role and the key skill requirements as described above and below. Key skills & experience required are as follows (Please refer to these in your Supporting Statements) Provide details of any previous experience of working as part of a team, ideally in an office/administrative role, or in a public sector purchasing environment, for example, but not limited to, any involvement with the tendering (requesting quotations etc.) and letting of contracts. Demonstrate experience of good accuracy and attention to detail with both numeracy and written communications and working to tight deadlines. Ability to be flexible and adaptable in response to changing priorities. Demonstrate experience of using relevant IT systems i.e. email, MS Word, Excel, Microsoft Teams and ability to learn other systems quickly. Demonstrate good interpersonal skills that contribute to collaborative / team working and customer orientated service provision. Demonstrate ability to effectively plan and manage a varied workload and prioritise as appropriate. Good organisational and time management skills. Demonstrate ability to use one’s own initiative for problem solving. Watch our video below to see what its like working for nature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?vjb21KTPwMRc NatureScot’s Net Zero commitment Whether working at home or in an office, or travelling to meetings and site visits, as a NatureScot you will contribute to our Net Zero plan, for example through positive carbon travel choices. Application Process Before applying for this post; Internal applicants should read the Self Service Guide (eRDMS A3155575) External applicants should read the Online Job Application Guide If you have previously applied for a vacancy with NatureScot you must remove the supporting statement from your profile, before uploading a new version. Interviews NatureScot is an inclusive workplace. We will share interview questions for this vacancy prior to interviews as a way of supporting neurodiversity at NatureScot. External candidates will be invited to interview if we are unable to recruit internally For information regarding the vacancy please contact Marian Brown, Procurement Manager Email: Marian.Brownnature.scot Rachel Macinnes, 1005-311 Transaction Services Manager Email: rachel.macinnesnature.scot For information regarding the application process contact Recruitmentnature.scot Nature is vital to us all, so it's important that NatureScot represents the people of Scotland. The more diverse our workforce is, the more effectively we can connect everyone with nature. We encourage applications from candidates of all ages and genders, people from ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community.