Procurement & Contract Manager

Salary: Grade PO4, FTE £46,038 to £49,077 per annum, inclusive of London Weighting Allowance

Location:   Sutton, Surrey, SM1

Working Pattern: This role is a permanent, full-time position working 5 days a week for 52 weeks a year This role will work in hybrid fashion, working from our new offices in Sutton at least three days per week and possibly more, subject to business needs. It will also be necessary, on occasion, to visit our academies and colleges across London and the Southeast. The role is based on a 36 per week basis.

The Procurement & Contract Manager is primarily responsible for supporting (in conjunction with the Head of  Procurement) the delivery of the procurement strategy including best practices, tools, guidance and support aligned to business and operational requirements. Primarily, you will be responsible for formal tendering and purchasing for Estates and Facilities Management including capital works projects and expanding our Preferred Supplier List. Using your solid expertise, you will lead on various initiatives, delivering exceptional levels of customer service, adding value and driving and realising savings. As you will be part of a small team, there will be a need to “muck-in” and work on other projects / issues as become necessary from time-to-time.

You must have a forward-thinking, open style coupled with a positive personality that will allow you to engage with senior managers across the Trust. You will be working with external Contractors staff when managing or overseeing contract performance and compliance with SLAs and KPIs.

This is a hands-on role, with the ability to turn your hand to numerous tasks, as well as being able to function with the minimum of supervision. You must have excellent communication skills to be able to seek solutions, as well as identifying new ways of working and continuous improvement involving key stakeholders.

You will also be a member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply or be working towards being MCIPS qualified.

You must have strong public sector procurement and contract management experience ideally from the education sector (but this is not strictly necessary). You must be highly competent at MS Word, Excel, and Outlook and have worked with e-Tendering platforms: OHC&AT currently uses MyTender. You should also be able to undertake benchmarking, detailed financial & spend analysis and be experienced at completing due diligence checks. You must be able to lead on end-to-end procurement processes (ITTs) and you will also have knowledge of the upcoming Procurement Act 2024.

 Please see the attached job description and person specification for full details on the role and the skills, experience and knowledge we are looking for.

Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (OHC&AT) is a family of specialist education providers for over 1500 pupils and students from nursery to further education across 14 academies and 8 college centres in London, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. Supporting our academies and college, OHC&AT also operate learning support, such as nursing and therapy, and business support services.

Pupils and students within the OHC&AT family have a wide range of learning abilities and additional needs including autistic spectrum disorder; speech, language and communication difficulties; social, emotional and mental health; profound and multiple disabilities; and physical disabilities including multi-sensory impairment and complex health needs.

OHC&AT is a rewarding and inspirational place to work, where everyone works together to create the best possible outcomes for students. To find out more about us, and what makes us a special place to work please visit www.ohcat.org

To apply for the role please use the quick apply option to submit an application. If you have any queries, please contact jobs@orchardhill.ac.uk.

Your application form will be scored according to each of the requirements laid out in the person specification for this role. Please demonstrate in your statement how your experience, skills and knowledge match the criteria that are required for the role.

Please note that CV applications cannot be considered.

Closing Date: 12 noon on Friday 30th August 2024

Interview Date: Thursday 12th September 2024 via MS Teams

Please note that we reserve the right to close this advert early if a suitable candidate is found, so we would encourage interested candidates to apply early.

Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Appointments made will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.