Buyer I

The City of Grande Prairie is a vibrant, growing community located in the beautiful Peace Country region of Alberta. We are committed to providing exceptional public service and enhancing the quality of life for all residents. Grande Prairie is a great place to live, work, and play.

It takes more than just a procurement background to be successful in the role of Buyer 1. Procurement knowledge, experience and relationship building skills are key to developing inclusive procurement strategies.

Are you ready to balance risk, strategy and client departments needs all at the same time? If so, keep reading!

Our Procurement Department is looking for a dedicated Buyer I to join the team.

This temporary backfill position will be for a term of up to 18 months.

Position Responsibilities

As a Buyer 1, you will have the unique opportunity to join a fast paced, dynamic professional team. In this role you will perform a variety of professional and technical duties in the development of competitive bids for materials, commodities, supplies, equipment and services required to facilitate the operations of the City of Grande Prairie.

• Work closely with internal clients from various departments to manage the end-to-end Procurement process while ensuring public regulatory compliance.
• Assisting with the development of procurement strategies.
• Assisting with the development of specifications and scope of work.
• Preparing and issuing various bidding documents (RFx) including Request for Proposals and Request for Quotes, Expressions of Interest and facilitating the evaluation of bid submissions.
• After the bid process has completed you will prepare and issue agreements, contracts, and purchase orders as well as manage ongoing contract development and provide support to both internal and external support.

You will gain experience with using a digital bidding platform to issue, evaluate and award competitive bids. You will also be required to work within a newly implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system (Oracle) to review purchase requisitions, issue purchase orders, conduct compliance checks, and complete supplier set ups. Although training will be provided for all systems, previous experience would be considered an asset.

In your role as a Buyer 1, your tasks will include the following;

• Collaborate with and provide excellent customer service to internal and external stakeholders;
• Engage with internal staff to provide professional procurement advice and work in partnership to develop their procurement strategy for both capital and operational requirements;
• Provide ongoing support, training and advice for internal departments and external bidders;
• Conduct Full cycle procurement, including bid development and solicitation, award, contract creation and supplier performance monitoring;
• Facilitate the creation of competitive bid documents and processes including, Request for Proposal (RFP) and Quotes (RFQ) and Expressions of Interest (EOI)
• Analyze RF(x) responses, guide and support internal staff in the evaluation and selection process while ensuring regulatory compliance;
• Complete award and bidder selection process and documentation;
• Provide debriefs to unsuccessful bidders;
• Develop, issue and maintain all bidding contracts including document retention requirements, digital formats and external bidding platform and ERP (Oracle) system;
• Complete contract administration duties including ensuring WCB/COR/Insurance stays up to date for all competitive opportunities; Complete changed orders and contract amendments as required
• Facilitate Supplier Performance evaluations;
• Facilitate the requisition and purchase order process within the Enterprise Resource Planning financial system (Oracle);
• Conduct compliance checks on purchase orders;
• Facilitate set up and updating of Suppliers in the ERP financial system;
• Monitor shared department inbox and phone extension;
• Monitor compliance with WCB for all Supplier and contractors;

Qualifications

• Two years of post secondary education within the disciplines of Public Procurement, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Office Administration, Business Administration or Law Clerk.
• Excellent problem solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• The ability to work well in a team environment and deal with multiple tasks in a fast paced environment
• Three years experience with purchasing in a corporate environment, preferably in a public agency
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, Word, Excel and Adobe Pro
• Experience with ERP systems, Oracle would be an asset
• Experience with digital bidding platforms, Bids and Tenders would be an asset
• A combination of experience and education may be considered;

Hours
The standard workweek consists of an average of 35 hours, with the specific schedule being determined by the immediate supervisor.

Compensation
Starting Salary $36.11 per hour as per the Out-of-Scope Agreement.

Benefits
Comprehensive benefits package. What We Offer | City of Grande Prairie (cityofgp.com)

Diversity & Inclusion
The City of Grande Prairie is committed to building and sustaining an inclusive work environment composed of individuals with unique experiences, perspectives, talents, and contributions who welcome, support, respect and value all members of the community.

Selection Process
We appreciate your interest in our organization, and we thank you in advance for your application. Candidates selected for an interview will be notified via phone or email.

• To apply for this position, please utilize the "Apply Now" tab on this web page to submit your comprehensive cover letter and up-to-date resume.
• Our application review process includes a thorough evaluation of all submissions. Short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview scheduling.
• This posting may be used to fill future vacancies in this position.

Note: After submitting your application and uploading your resume, you should expect to receive an email confirmation indicating that your application for this position has been successfully submitted. If you receive this email, there is no need for any additional contact with us regarding this position.

To efficiently manage the high volume of applications we receive for each job posting, we are unable to address job-specific inquiries prior to the interview stage. However, if you progress to the job interview stage, we will gladly answer any questions you may have.