Job summary
At NHS Commercial Solutions (NHSCS), making a difference is important to us. If you're motivated and interested in delivering meaningful progress at the NHS, then this role could be for you.
We are looking for a Specialist Category Manager to join our team.
This is an excellent opportunity to develop your career and category management experience as part of our strategic category teams. This role will primarily lead our Consultancy and Corporate Services categories.
This strategic role will be delivering complex procurement projects to deliver value for the NHS and wider public sector through delivering projects, frameworks and call off procurements for customers. Business development is also a key responsibility of the role identifying and generating opportunities and emerging customer needs.
The role will include extensive engagement with our member NHS organisations and other NHS and public sector customers, across a wide range of stakeholders, based locally, regionally and nationally.
We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic individual wanting to make a positive difference in the NHS. The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate strong personal skills, and extensive experience and enthusiasm for consultancy, corporate services and procurement. They will also be a good communicator, have a strong people focused approach, and broad commercial acumen.
Main duties of the job
This will be a strategic role predominantly focusing on the consultancy and corporate services categories and will provide providing sourcing, contract management and consultancy services across a wide range of customers.
The role will involve multiple procurement programmes to improve value and quality for trusts.
This role will provide advisory services, collaborative procurement solutions, supplier market expertise and work with NHS Trusts to optimise value outcomes.
You will act as an ambassador for NHSCS and senior stakeholders, Board and Executive Director level member Trusts. Working closely with key stakeholders and internal and external customers, you will set up and support collaborative project groups working at all levels of stakeholder seniority.
Skills, experience, and a passion for this subject area are essential, together with a need for strong practical implementation experience.
Interviews will be held at on 16th and 17th August and will either be virtual or at our offices in Dorking.
About us
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the leading provider of health and social care services for people of all ages with mental ill-health and learning disabilities in Surrey and North East Hampshire. We also provide social care services for people with a learning disability in Croydon and ASD and ADHD assessment services in Hampshire.
We actively seek to engage people who use our services and our communities in improving the mental wellbeing of the local population. We work closely with other NHS and voluntary sector organisations who provide services and support people who use services and carers.
Surrey is a beautiful county lying just 30 minutes away from Central London and from the South Coast.
Our historic market towns and bustling districts are enveloped in wonderful countryside, and our excellent road and rail networks bring the rest of the country within easy reach.
For international travel, both Gatwick and Heathrow airports are nearby.
Please note that we reserve the right to close posts as soon as sufficient applications are received.
Working from home contracts do not attract high cost area payments.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Job description
Job responsibilities
My job makes better lives by leading and delivering a strategic Procurement Programme across the South East Coast for NHS Commercial Solutions core member Trusts by working with stakeholders and suppliers to build a reputation for excellence and leverage new commercial opportunities.
Job Overview this is a full time role for the Specialist Category Manager will strategically input and support the delivery of NHS Commercial Solutions services covering: Leading special projects and Consultancy delivery, Consultancy growth pipeline, Trust workplans, category management for Corporate Services, project manage and deliver individual customer projects and new Framework creation, and ongoing management of the contract portfolio across varying expenditures and complexities, whilst ensuring compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations.
Key Responsibilities
- Procurement Policy and Contracting
- Responsible as the leading technical expert for providing a comprehensive procurement service within Consultancy and Corporate Services categories, ensuring compliance and adherence to all policies and procedures, including European Law, English law, and NHS Commercial Solutions procurement policy and protocols in the delivery of all procurement activity, whilst staying abreast of any changes in procurement legislation.
- To lead on specific sourcing programmes for Consultancy and Corporate services within NHS Commercial Solutions for members and customers contributing significantly to the delivery of procurement projects within key markets delivering cost and efficiency savings whilst ensuring that key performance objectives are identified and strategies are in place to enable procurement performance to be monitored across the health economy.
- Responsible for providing highly complex, expert advice and coordination of all procurement and contracting issues within category. Reporting and presenting as required to multiple senior stakeholders.
- Managing large and often complex procurement activities, delivering savings and other optimal outcomes of a tactical (cost reduction) and strategic nature in a challenging healthcare environment. Accordingly, you will be able to demonstrate change management and stakeholder management skills. Although not a budget holder, the post holder, in discussion with the customers budget holders, will ensure that the contracts awarded are legally compliant and deliver value for money.
- Tender contracts and frameworks in a timely basis and in compliance with EU/ UK/ public sector procurement policies, procedures and legislation, new legislation, environment and sustainability and promotion of frameworks and supplier relationship management and engagement.
- Develop effective customer relationships to understand local workplans and needs to input into the overall NHS Commercial Solutions annual workplan.
- Business growth and pipeline and strategic review of the creation of frameworks and special projects that generate Activity based Income (ABI) and Consultancy Income. This will include identifying Trusts and ICB requirements and any national funding opportunities that we can support and implement.
- To be responsible for developing, implementing, monitoring and reviewing procurement strategies for allocated categories and the NHSCS Consultancy service, through detailed demand/market analysis, to ensure continual improvement and innovation in service delivery.
- Provide Consultancy services for Trust individual projects as part of additional services.
- Category Management
- To support the Associate Procurement Director (APD) in the the creation and delivery of the Procurement Category Strategies for Corporate services and Consultancy.
- To meet customer requirements by demonstrating best value for money, through compliance with category priorities and contracts, and by actively managing the market place through development of key strategies for supplier and contract management.
- Analyse using appropriate management tools procurement data and identify priority areas for cost savings and process improvements, and to engage stakeholders in delivering improvements. Provide regular management reports on project progress and future opportunities relating to Coporate Services and NHSCS Consultancy for onward communication to NHS Commercial Solutions senior leadership team and other key stakeholders, deputising for the Associate Director of Procurement as required.
- Responsible for ensuring that all procurement processes are compliant and mitigate the risk of challenges from suppliers. In the event of a challenge be able to respond appropriate to suppliers, able to justify contract award decisions and escalate appropriately.
- Develop a resource & project plan that meets the needs of the Category Management Strategy, associated sourcing strategies and operational Workplan. Ensuring that the category Workplan and associated resources are directed to meet the agreed priorities of the Trust and multi professional sourcing groups.
- To carry out market research, engaging with potential suppliers to evaluate innovative products & services in partnership with the appropriate multi professional sourcing groups.
- Undertake full spend analysis and categorisation of spend in order to develop new and innovative approaches to the supply of goods and services including enhancing supplier value and champion these with stakeholders ensuring engagement and adoption are documented and detailed in procurement Strategies.
- Be the NHS Commercial Solutions expert for the specific procurement spend category with a detailed understanding and analysis of the market, industry trends, product / service options and best practice. This will include benchmarking across the customer base, and considering end user feedback to support sourcing initiatives.
- Coverage of all category spend across all commercial spend within the corporate requirements to ensure strategies that deliver value for money and improved services.
- Process
- Awareness and implementation of national procurement initiatives undertaken by NHSE & ICSs. Identification and management of risk throughout the procurement process
- Ensure stakeholder and supplier engagement, as appropriate, in development of eProcurement strategies and proactively approach suppliers in a given market to identify innovation, process improvement and efficiency opportunities. Proactively share data with other NHS organisations and participate in benchmarking activities to identify further opportunities for savings.
- Maximise contract compliance across all NHS Commercial Solutions shareholders/stakeholders of all collaborative and trust specific contracts.
- To ensure that Supplier Relationship Management is effectively carried out within the Categories and include a robust contract management strategy, which engages with; stakeholders to deliver well managed and efficient supplier performance and the Operational and System team to ensure that the contracts databases and catalogues are up to date and accessible for all Trust staff.
- Through own professional behaviour, contribute to NHS Commercial Solutions becoming a customer of choice through its transparent and ethical behaviour.
- Supplier Relationship Management of key contracts and frameworks ensuring contracts systematically monitored at regular intervals against key performance indicators within specific contracts, to ensure continual best value for money is achieved for the duration of the contract, including the analysis of relevant data and analyse it for best value, identifying, hotspots and for the future design of key performance indicators.
- Review of KPIs to draw out relevant data and analyse it for best value, identifying, for, hotspots, or the future design of key performance indicators.
- Develop strategic sourcing strategies that ensure that social value and sustainability is considered with regards to all procurement activity, and to work towards reducing the Trusts environmental impact.
- To ensure a comprehensive data gathering process is in place and being performance managed from Trusts and suppliers and strategically analyse data in order to identify major areas for cost savings and process improvements, to produce procurement plans for submission to the Associate Procurement Director
- Leadership
- The Specialist Category Manager is the centre of a network of key stakeholders, end users, suppliers and management functions and therefore the post holder has a daily responsibility to organise others. The post holder is responsible for ensuring other people make and have the time to work on parts of the project were they have a direct contribution to make.
- To ensure key relationships with other purchasing professionals and Procurement Specialists to enable key management decisions to be made.
- To be responsible and to lead the category/purchasing teams effectively to achieve results, undertaking coaching, mentoring and performance management of direct reports.
- To identify and ensure that support activities are established to enhance professional expertise and support the embedding of change management culture across the sector.
- The Specialist Category Manager will be supported by the wider procurement team and will be responsible for oversight requirements for wider team members providing support to the Corporate and Consultancy services. This may develop into direct reporting requirements which will require responsibility for team supervision, monthly one to ones and annual appraisals.
- Responsible for identifying the personal development and training needs for direct reports and wider procurement team members supporting the service, responsible for in house training on the Procurement Regulations and Processes undertaken by NHSCS. Wider training across all levels will be organised by NHSCS.
Job description
Job responsibilities
My job makes better lives by leading and delivering a strategic Procurement Programme across the South East Coast for NHS Commercial Solutions core member Trusts by working with stakeholders and suppliers to build a reputation for excellence and leverage new commercial opportunities.
Job Overview this is a full time role for the Specialist Category Manager will strategically input and support the delivery of NHS Commercial Solutions services covering: Leading special projects and Consultancy delivery, Consultancy growth pipeline, Trust workplans, category management for Corporate Services, project manage and deliver individual customer projects and new Framework creation, and ongoing management of the contract portfolio across varying expenditures and complexities, whilst ensuring compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations.
Key Responsibilities
- Procurement Policy and Contracting
- Responsible as the leading technical expert for providing a comprehensive procurement service within Consultancy and Corporate Services categories, ensuring compliance and adherence to all policies and procedures, including European Law, English law, and NHS Commercial Solutions procurement policy and protocols in the delivery of all procurement activity, whilst staying abreast of any changes in procurement legislation.
- To lead on specific sourcing programmes for Consultancy and Corporate services within NHS Commercial Solutions for members and customers contributing significantly to the delivery of procurement projects within key markets delivering cost and efficiency savings whilst ensuring that key performance objectives are identified and strategies are in place to enable procurement performance to be monitored across the health economy.
- Responsible for providing highly complex, expert advice and coordination of all procurement and contracting issues within category. Reporting and presenting as required to multiple senior stakeholders.
- Managing large and often complex procurement activities, delivering savings and other optimal outcomes of a tactical (cost reduction) and strategic nature in a challenging healthcare environment. Accordingly, you will be able to demonstrate change management and stakeholder management skills. Although not a budget holder, the post holder, in discussion with the customers budget holders, will ensure that the contracts awarded are legally compliant and deliver value for money.
- Tender contracts and frameworks in a timely basis and in compliance with EU/ UK/ public sector procurement policies, procedures and legislation, new legislation, environment and sustainability and promotion of frameworks and supplier relationship management and engagement.
- Develop effective customer relationships to understand local workplans and needs to input into the overall NHS Commercial Solutions annual workplan.
- Business growth and pipeline and strategic review of the creation of frameworks and special projects that generate Activity based Income (ABI) and Consultancy Income. This will include identifying Trusts and ICB requirements and any national funding opportunities that we can support and implement.
- To be responsible for developing, implementing, monitoring and reviewing procurement strategies for allocated categories and the NHSCS Consultancy service, through detailed demand/market analysis, to ensure continual improvement and innovation in service delivery.
- Provide Consultancy services for Trust individual projects as part of additional services.
- Category Management
- To support the Associate Procurement Director (APD) in the the creation and delivery of the Procurement Category Strategies for Corporate services and Consultancy.
- To meet customer requirements by demonstrating best value for money, through compliance with category priorities and contracts, and by actively managing the market place through development of key strategies for supplier and contract management.
- Analyse using appropriate management tools procurement data and identify priority areas for cost savings and process improvements, and to engage stakeholders in delivering improvements. Provide regular management reports on project progress and future opportunities relating to Coporate Services and NHSCS Consultancy for onward communication to NHS Commercial Solutions senior leadership team and other key stakeholders, deputising for the Associate Director of Procurement as required.
- Responsible for ensuring that all procurement processes are compliant and mitigate the risk of challenges from suppliers. In the event of a challenge be able to respond appropriate to suppliers, able to justify contract award decisions and escalate appropriately.
- Develop a resource & project plan that meets the needs of the Category Management Strategy, associated sourcing strategies and operational Workplan. Ensuring that the category Workplan and associated resources are directed to meet the agreed priorities of the Trust and multi professional sourcing groups.
- To carry out market research, engaging with potential suppliers to evaluate innovative products & services in partnership with the appropriate multi professional sourcing groups.
- Undertake full spend analysis and categorisation of spend in order to develop new and innovative approaches to the supply of goods and services including enhancing supplier value and champion these with stakeholders ensuring engagement and adoption are documented and detailed in procurement Strategies.
- Be the NHS Commercial Solutions expert for the specific procurement spend category with a detailed understanding and analysis of the market, industry trends, product / service options and best practice. This will include benchmarking across the customer base, and considering end user feedback to support sourcing initiatives.
- Coverage of all category spend across all commercial spend within the corporate requirements to ensure strategies that deliver value for money and improved services.
- Process
- Awareness and implementation of national procurement initiatives undertaken by NHSE & ICSs. Identification and management of risk throughout the procurement process
- Ensure stakeholder and supplier engagement, as appropriate, in development of eProcurement strategies and proactively approach suppliers in a given market to identify innovation, process improvement and efficiency opportunities. Proactively share data with other NHS organisations and participate in benchmarking activities to identify further opportunities for savings.
- Maximise contract compliance across all NHS Commercial Solutions shareholders/stakeholders of all collaborative and trust specific contracts.
- To ensure that Supplier Relationship Management is effectively carried out within the Categories and include a robust contract management strategy, which engages with; stakeholders to deliver well managed and efficient supplier performance and the Operational and System team to ensure that the contracts databases and catalogues are up to date and accessible for all Trust staff.
- Through own professional behaviour, contribute to NHS Commercial Solutions becoming a customer of choice through its transparent and ethical behaviour.
- Supplier Relationship Management of key contracts and frameworks ensuring contracts systematically monitored at regular intervals against key performance indicators within specific contracts, to ensure continual best value for money is achieved for the duration of the contract, including the analysis of relevant data and analyse it for best value, identifying, hotspots and for the future design of key performance indicators.
- Review of KPIs to draw out relevant data and analyse it for best value, identifying, for, hotspots, or the future design of key performance indicators.
- Develop strategic sourcing strategies that ensure that social value and sustainability is considered with regards to all procurement activity, and to work towards reducing the Trusts environmental impact.
- To ensure a comprehensive data gathering process is in place and being performance managed from Trusts and suppliers and strategically analyse data in order to identify major areas for cost savings and process improvements, to produce procurement plans for submission to the Associate Procurement Director
- Leadership
- The Specialist Category Manager is the centre of a network of key stakeholders, end users, suppliers and management functions and therefore the post holder has a daily responsibility to organise others. The post holder is responsible for ensuring other people make and have the time to work on parts of the project were they have a direct contribution to make.
- To ensure key relationships with other purchasing professionals and Procurement Specialists to enable key management decisions to be made.
- To be responsible and to lead the category/purchasing teams effectively to achieve results, undertaking coaching, mentoring and performance management of direct reports.
- To identify and ensure that support activities are established to enhance professional expertise and support the embedding of change management culture across the sector.
- The Specialist Category Manager will be supported by the wider procurement team and will be responsible for oversight requirements for wider team members providing support to the Corporate and Consultancy services. This may develop into direct reporting requirements which will require responsibility for team supervision, monthly one to ones and annual appraisals.
- Responsible for identifying the personal development and training needs for direct reports and wider procurement team members supporting the service, responsible for in house training on the Procurement Regulations and Processes undertaken by NHSCS. Wider training across all levels will be organised by NHSCS.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- oMember of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) or appropriate professional institute or relevant experience.
- oMasters or equivalent plus senior specialist procurement knowledge and experience
- oProject Management
Desirable
- an awareness of Department of Health policy on contracting and procurement is desirable.
Experience
Essential
- At least 5 years' functional experience in procurement with significant knowledge in a category management role with experience relevant to Corporate Services procurement and consultancy delivery
- NHS or Public Sector experience is required
- Evidence of achievements in terms of cost savings and service improvements over a period of time for complex projects
- Experience in people management with the ability to delegate, empower, influence and lead people in a complex and dynamic organisation
- Has effective category and project management and planning skills for complex procurement projects running concurrently
- clear understanding of best practice, procurement techniques and a history of successful delivery and a range of EU, public sector or commercial procurement and/or contractual experience
- An understanding of the Public Contracts Regulations is required
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- oMember of Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) or appropriate professional institute or relevant experience.
- oMasters or equivalent plus senior specialist procurement knowledge and experience
- oProject Management
Desirable
- an awareness of Department of Health policy on contracting and procurement is desirable.
Experience
Essential
- At least 5 years' functional experience in procurement with significant knowledge in a category management role with experience relevant to Corporate Services procurement and consultancy delivery
- NHS or Public Sector experience is required
- Evidence of achievements in terms of cost savings and service improvements over a period of time for complex projects
- Experience in people management with the ability to delegate, empower, influence and lead people in a complex and dynamic organisation
- Has effective category and project management and planning skills for complex procurement projects running concurrently
- clear understanding of best practice, procurement techniques and a history of successful delivery and a range of EU, public sector or commercial procurement and/or contractual experience
- An understanding of the Public Contracts Regulations is required
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
