Working in a corporate setting to identify opportunities to deliver improved value from existing contracts and to determine the procurement opportunities of the future. Through consultation and collaboration with managers, teams and others, the post holder will help the organisation to improve and ensure effective allocation of resources.   The candidate who would excel in this role may have a strong commercial background, with experience in procurement and contract management outside of the public sector, along with experience of commissioning and change management. Knowledge of procurement in a direct labour organisation, the leisure industry or over large spend areas would be beneficial.

Responsibilities and outcomes

• Work in a new, high paced and high energy team to develop and implement an approach to procurement that facilitates local participation, builds strategic partnerships and strengthens our ongoing contract management.
• Compile, analyse and interrogate various data sources and provide analysis in a user friendly format to challenge the status quo and inform strategy development and future planning and to enable better decision making.
• Develop and manage regular reporting to include spend reports, compliance reports and key trend analysis to maximise opportunities and direct the future activities of the Council.
• Proactively identify and assist with continuous improvement opportunities to create new lines of business and income streams for the Council.
• Analyse procurement data to reveal trends and enable tracking of supplier activities and enable the Council to use its buying power and position in the market to its full advantage.
• Work corporately to benchmark our provision against others and ensure a consistent culture and approach across the organisation.
• Provide and analyse statistical information to be included in relevant reports
• Use databases (internal/external) to support the work of the department
• Provide advice and guidance to managers and staff to ensure effective contract management and value for the organisation.
• Work with officers in Procurement Lincolnshire and within the Council to update and maintain the contracts register to ensure accurate recording of spend.
• Provide professional support to specific projects as required to ensure procurement options are built in to the commissioning phase and effectively managed to deliver best value.
• Support the learning and development of our teams, through creation and delivery of training, to ensure ongoing effective procurement and contract management.
• Develop tools and reports to improve visibility of activities and to support the ongoing identification of future opportunities.
• Work as part of the core Lightroom team to support future developments and share market intelligence to ensure the development of robust business cases.

Values and Behaviours

At SKDC we are building an organisation with a strong internal culture, within our Corporate Strategy we have a definite set of ideas, ways of doing business and values and behaviours. We believe that how you behave does matter, therefore, we believe that our values are just as important as skills.

Accountability – In order to succeed we will need a culture of accountability throughout SKDC.  Everyone at every level will need to be responsible for what they do; willingly taking ownership for their actions and decisions and being a reliable, dependable member of the team, often going beyond the normal terms of employment.  We cannot work flexibly without accountability.

Flexibility – We can’t be set in our ways if we are going to succeed, so flexibility matters.  It might be flexibility in terms of the hours you do, the way you work or where you work.  We can’t afford to do things the same way just because “that’s the way it’s always been done”.  Our performance will be measured in outcomes and those outcomes will contribute to achieving our strategy.

Agility – Related to flexibility is agility.  SKDC’s needs are going to change over time and we need people who can respond to those changes, who can move freely between teams and who want to stretch themselves by being trained to be better at more things.

Equity – Every member of the SKDC team matters, irrespective of their rank or position.  All of us should expect to be treated with respect and dignity and doors should be open.  We will all be held to account for this.

Networking – We learn from each other and from external partners, so we need to be better at networking.  Our networks hold the key to raising our profile, improving our performance, discovering better ideas and developing ourselves.

Learning – We are constantly learning from everything we do, regardless of success or failure.  When we do something well, that knowledge can help us repeat and refine what we do in the future.  We clearly won’t seek failure, but neither will we be frightened of it.  And if we fail, we will learn from it and not seek to just apportion blame (see ‘accountability’ above).

Talent – Having a diverse and talented team is fundamental to our success.  However, a person’s real talent isn’t always obvious; sometimes it’s overlooked, other times it may be hidden. Sometimes it’s a talent the person didn’t realise they had. 

Flexibility

Some flexibility in the working hours will be required from time to time. This job description is not intended to be exhaustive. The post holder will be expected to adopt a flexible attitude to duties which may have to be varied (after discussion with the post holder) subject to the changing needs of the organisation

Authority to work in the UK

You must have the legal authority to work in the UK. Non-EU nationals must have the relevant approval to work in the UK from the UK Border Agency.