Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer

Role Responsibility

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.

As a Senior 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. . We are seeking roles within our People (Adult Social Care,  Children Social Care, Communities, Families and Education and Health), Corporate (Professional Services, Property, Facilities Management and ICT) and Place (Highways/Transportation, Growth/Communities and Environment/Waste) portfolios.

The focus of the role will be to support the procuring and subsequent letting of all contracts to ensure compliance with Public Contract Regulations and local policies and governance requirements across different categories within a portfolio.

To join us, you will have achieved CIPS level 5 or a demonstrable commitment to work towards 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 multiple projects. 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.

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.

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/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

To stagger the recruitment process interviews will be held the week commencing 20th November 2023 or 8 January 2024. However, if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible because once the sufficient applications have been received the recruitment process will close.

Contact Details

For more information, please contact:

Robert Clark - Strategic Commercial and Procurement Lead (Place)

03000 415951

Carolyne Harrington - Strategic Commercial and Procurement Lead (Corporate)

03000 416959

Alan Luke - Strategic Commercial and Procurement Lead (People)

03000 412315

About the Company

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 and faiths, 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.