What's involved with this role: Procurement Project Officer - Commercial Services Reference no: Merton 5258439 Pay Rate: £42,840.00 per annum 35 Monday – Friday, normal working hours 21 Monday – Friday, TBC This opening assignment is Permanent City: MORDEN, LONDON Must be able to attend the office 3 days per week. The role will be pivotal in driving forward and challenging the Council’s approach to Category Management and its Make or Buy agenda. The role will also be integral in assisting the Council deliver its strategic priorities and its Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), in line with the changes being brought about by the new Public Procurement Act. An ability to explore and deliver value for money at all stages of the Procurement cycle is integral to the success of this role. Strong and constructive relationship management skills will be vital, as well as a good level of technical knowledge. Procurement Project Officers will lead, shape and steer the delivery of individual procurement projects at PCR levels and above. Post holders will take projects from initiation through to contract implementation and have responsibility for maximising savings and efficiencies from goods and services while ensuring appropriate levels of quality. Key responsibilities: Work closely and proactively with service leads from across the Council to provide a professional, ‘value adding’, procurement service. This will include the development of appropriate procurement approach options and provide challenges for commissioners to deliver required service objectives, innovation and value for money. The post holder will act with autonomy within the role to produce high quality procurement documentation and robustly and transparently manage all stages of the procurement and governance processes. Proactively maintain an awareness of procurement and other relevant legislation, regulations, and best practice, and advise on how this affects the Council's commercial activity. Identify and understand relevant legal and commercial terms, concepts, policies, and processes (including project approvals and assurance procedures) to deliver agreed outcomes. Provide proactive, good quality professional advice and support to service managers on commercial, commissioning and procurement issues, including service operating models, the engagement of third-party suppliers, cost analysis and annual savings plans, and changes that will contribute to continuous improvement and enhanced efficiency. Responsibility for delivering commercial activity across a broad range of allocated goods and services including but not limited to the development of procurement and contracting strategies, compiling tenders, placing and managing service contracts, providing commercial advice to internal and external stakeholders, driving service delivery improvements and project management, underpinning these activities with a focus on achieving excellent value for money. Extract and analyse management and financial information to identify internal and external cost drivers and opportunities for savings and improvements. Assist in the identification, preparation and delivery of briefings, workshops and training for managers and staff on commercial and procurement matters. Establish and manage the team communications systems ensuring that the Service's procedures, policies, strategies, and objectives are effectively communicated across the Council. Produce regular monitoring reports, including analysis and advice, for the Corporate Management Team (CMT), Departmental Management Team (DMT), Cabinet and Scrutiny Panels. Develop positive relationships with managers across the authority and work with them on measures for continuous improvement and joined up services. Participate in intra- and inter-departmental working parties and to ensure that such groups receive appropriate contributions from the Division. Qualifications: MCIPS certification or working towards MCIPS certification or relevant experience working within a professional / commercial procurement environment. Knowledge: Working knowledge of e-tendering systems. Understanding of electronic systems and processes, preferably tendering/procurement ones, and an ability to adapt and develop systems as required. Experience: Experience of working effectively with a range of professionals in service areas, demonstrating excellent stakeholder engagement and interpersonal skills. Experience in developing effective tools, systems, and procedures to drive efficiencies. Experience of designing and delivering training and/or of facilitating group sessions and workshops. Experience of gathering, analysing, interpreting, and reporting on data. Skills & Abilities: Strong verbal and written communication skills including formal report writing. Ability to analyse procurement data and use this analysis to make recommendations to senior managers. Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. Qualification details and any other experience/skills relevant to the role to help support your application (and help us to help you) – please give full details within your CV document. Clients are generally looking for candidates who are local to, or who can commute easily to the place of work. It will help your application if your CV states, in broad terms, where you reside – there is no need for a full address. Please feel free to apply to us directly via jobstclrec.com by quoting the job reference and exact job title. To help speed up the process of uploading your CV to the client we would ask that you send us your CV in Word format (or equivalent) if possible, not as a PDF. If you are successful in securing this role, please note that for the entire duration of this contract, regardless of extension, you will be working at the PAYE rate that has been advertised. For absolute clarity, we only work on a PAYE basis, rather than umbrella pay terms. We do not offer Ltd/umbrella or outside IR35 rates. If you wish to understand PAYE vs Umbrella more, please let us know and we can send you some additional information for clarity. Due to the number of CVs being sent to us under current market conditions, unfortunately we cannot respond to all applications. If you have not heard from us within 3 working days please assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. We will, however, be very happy to receive future applications from you for other roles. ALD Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please