Senior Commercial & Procurement Officer

Role Responsibility

Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer – Place Category, Commercial and Procurement Division

Exciting changes are afoot at the Kent County Council. We have recently formed a new Commercial and Procurement Division, which will be driven by its mission to ensure the Council is delivering ‘best value’ for residents across £1.2b of contracted spend. By ‘best value,’ we mean much more than value for money and delivering savings. We are committed to delivering wider social, environmental, and economic benefits to Kent communities and supporting the Kent economy.

We are looking for ambitious and motivated professionals to join our new Division as Senior Commercial and Procurement Officers in the Place category, specifically within the Highways and Transportation area but there may be some flexibility into other areas including Environment and Circular Economy, and Growth and Communities. Highways and Transportation covers a number of hugely significant, diverse, and complex projects and their overarching vision is to deliver safe and inclusive travel for all across Kent.

Their core purpose is:

- The management, maintenance, emergency response and improvement of the county’s 5,400 miles of highway network and associated assets in a way that meets the needs of residents, communities, and businesses. Enabling all journeys to be made as safely and efficiently as possible both now and in the future, whilst supporting viable alternatives to the car and supporting growth by delivering major projects and managing development.

- Enabling access to education, health, and community services for diverse users across Kent, through the planning, procurement, and management of public transport services.

As a Senior Commercial Officer, you will be responsible for providing professional commercial and procurement expertise, advice and guidance using a risk-based approach, to assist stakeholders to plan, develop, source, and manage procurement arrangements, to effectively meet organisational and business objectives.

The focus of the role will be to support the procuring and subsequent letting of all contracts to ensure compliance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which will be replaced in October 2024, by the Procurement Act 2023, and the Council’s Spending the Councils Money policy.

To join us, you will have achieved CIPS level 5 or a demonstrable commitment to work towards this required level, and previous commercial or procurement experience either in the private or public sector. You will have an excellent work ethic, be organised and able to manage and lead on multiple projects simultaneously. You will be able to demonstrate strong procurement knowledge to support clients in delivering their commercial pipeline. You will have excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers. You will have the ability to research, analyse and interpret data/information to support development of procurement plans and category strategies. In this role, each day will offer a chance to build on your experience and skills which will help shape the future of Kent.  You will have a good level of understanding of Highways and Transportation Projects, and an understanding of NEC4.

The Kent County Council is a fully inclusive Employer, and we take our values and behaviours very seriously and are looking for employees who are equally passionate about the right values and behaviours.

The Person Specification in the Job Description will be used for the purpose of shortlisting applicants. If you intend to apply for any of these positions, please refer to the criteria in the Person Specification and demonstrate how you meet these requirements from your work experience, including any voluntary work or internship, as well as through any formal or informal training undertaken.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Contact Details

For further information about the role, please contact: 

Craig Merchant - Craig.Merchant@kent.gov.uk 

Or

Marie Lewzey - marie.lewzey@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let’s talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.