Brief Description of job role and department Commercial & Procurement Officer

Based in the Councils Commercial & Procurement Team whose purpose is to lead and deliver the Council's approach to Outcome Based Commissioning, and to provide high quality support, advice and assurance for the rest of the Council to enable it to deliver its wider responsibilities.

As Senior Commercial & Procurement Officer you will be responsible for providing procurement advice, support and guidance to Commissioners and from all directorates across the organisation and the Councils Arms-Length Management Organisation, Sutton Housing Partnership. You will also be responsible for ensuring that the organisation has the required controls in place to ensure that procurement activity is carried out in an open and transparent way in line with relevant legislation and best practise.

You will lead on projects to interrogate Council spend, identifying areas of discussion with Contract Managers regarding procurement options and / or potential cost savings.

Representative accountabilities Commercial & Procurement Officer

• Deliver a defined set of procurement and contracting activities to ensure tasks are delivered within agreed timescales and statutory/regulatory requirements.
• Collect and analyse information from a variety of sources and carry out analysis to assist more senior colleagues.
• Identify and implement improvements in own work area in order to deliver continuous service improvement and improved outcomes to customers.
• Regularly communicate with colleagues, partners and service providers to share information and build working relationships to support collaborative working.
• Keep up to date with changes in relevant policy and legislation to ensure delivery in your own work area is effective and complies with appropriate regulations/statutory guidance.

Budgetary accountabilities Commercial & Procurement Officer

Role Profile - Details Specific to Job Family Commercial & Procurement Officer

These roles provide a broad service that sets policy and provides advice to support and assure all of the councils day to day activities. They gather information required by other groups to make strategic decisions and translate this into corporate policy and strategic advice. They have little or no direct accountability for outcomes; however, what they are accountable for is the quality of advice they provide to business leaders.

At the lower levels, these roles tend to focus on research and analysis and the interpretation and implementation of policies. At the higher level, role holders set strategy, develop policy and provide assurance across the Council more broadly.

Role Profile - Details Specific to Grade Commercial & Procurement Officer

These roles will have accountability for achieving clearly specified and measurable results either personally or through the leadership of a team. Will be dealing with complex problems and issues within the boundaries of technical or professional skill and knowledge. Will make recommendations on procedural improvements and other initiatives to enhance team performance.

Roles requiring a level of professional expertise to assure a standard or provide expert advice to others.

Person specification Commercial & Procurement Officer

(knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours required in the role)

• Strong communication skills along with the ability to influence (including strong presentation and report writing skills)
• To build effective relationships across teams and organisations, demonstrate enthusiasm for change and take a flexible approach to new ideas and working practices.
• Proven ability to deliver results in an environment requiring tight deadlines and managing multiple priorities
• Excellent presentation and report-writing skills, with creative use of communication techniques appropriate to different audiences.
• To show resilience in times of complexity or conflict, and act professionally in the best interests of the organisation.
• To manage, evaluate and develop your own practice and adapt your practice to meet changes in your area of work.

Knowledge/Experience/Qualifications/Training

• Knowledge of the Procurement cycle and the application of an outcomes based commissioning approach
• Skills, knowledge in tendering and the procurement of goods and services.
• Understanding of procurement legislation and best practice
• Understanding of corporate governance frameworks
• Experience of conducting contract tendering exercises from initial preparation through to contract award is desirable
• Experience working in Public Sector procurement is desirable
• Experience of working with ETender systems (particularly Pro Contract) would be desirable