Procurement Officer

University of Manchester; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job description

About Procurement

The Central Procurement Office (CPO) sits within the Directorate of Finance and is a professional resource tasked with assisting colleagues across the University to follow good practice and deliver value for money. To deliver our teaching, research and operational activities the University spends around £600m annually across a wide range of categories and suppliers.

The Team

The CPO is a small team of 20 that provides strategic guidance and operational support for procurement activity across the University. Our vision is to provide a quality service through excellent processes that support the Universities strategic goals and priorities and by working with colleagues across the organisation to deliver outcomes that represent value for money.

The Role

Following the retirement of a long-standing team-member, we are recruiting for a Procurement Officer to join our team. Suitable for newly qualified, part qualified procurement professionals (MCIPS) or those with equivalent relevant experience/qualifications and are looking to broaden their skills and experience in a diverse and dynamic environment.

You will be a confident procurement professional capable of managing and prioritising workloads, liaising with a range of colleagues, and providing commercial and professional support to colleagues and users across the University. Experience of working within large, diverse and devolved organisations would be beneficial.

The role requires an understanding of delivering value for money through transparent market appraisal exercises, sound skills of managing tenders and projects, and strong interpersonal abilities.

You will work within the University’s Financial Regulations, Procedures and Purchasing Policy. The University is not a contracting authority or bound by the Procurement Act 2023 but follows the principles of best practice contained therein. Experience of working within the UK public procurement regime, including use of available framework agreements, is advantageous but not essential.

You should understand the role of procurement in delivering value, managing risk and supporting colleagues to do this. You will ideally have experience of driving the delivery of social value outcomes through the tender process and embedding these within contracts.

You will assist in exploring spend to identify opportunities to work smarter and/or save money working with end users to deliver changes through a variety of procurement methods: tendering, contract improvements, supplier rationalisation etc. You will be confident in building relationships and proactive in identifying opportunities across contract and supplier management.

You will be joining a friendly, professional and established team who will offer support and development opportunities to further progress your career.

The University currently supports hybrid working. It is expected that, following an initial period of familiarisation, that this role will be hybrid. For hybrid posts flexibility is required and employees should physically attend the University at least 2 days per week.

The Person
The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate:

• A record of significant achievements within the procurement activity demonstrating a proactive, innovative and flexible approach in ensuring procurement is visible and recognised as a trusted partner within the organisation;
• Excellent service to the highest standards;
• Understanding of the role of procurement within an organisation; focused on delivery of value for money and meeting the University’s core goals of world class research, outstanding student experience and social responsibility;
• The ability to work with minimum supervision, whilst also being an effective team member; organised, accurate, numerate, familiar with finance systems and possess a detailed working knowledge and experience of the MS Office suite;
• The ability to lead on a range of procurement activities;
• Good oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively and sensitively to both finance and non-finance colleagues within the organisation as well as externally;
• A continuous improvement mind-set and capability to adapt processes to accommodate changes in procurement;
• Excellent organisational skills, including prioritisation and time management of workload.

Interviews

Interviews will take place, following candidate shortlisting, in person on the following date(s) on the University Campus. You should indicate if you are available on the date(s) when you submit your application. Full details to follow as part of the invitation to interview.

• Invitation to Interview – 25/04/2025
• Interview date – 07/05/2025

As well as a competitive salary; working for an internationally recognised University; you can expect in return:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 29 days plus bank holidays;
• Closure between the Christmas and New Year periods – this is in addition to your annual leave entitlement;
• Access to a comprehensive employee assistance programme; supporting your physical, mental and financial health;
• Leading pension schemes, travel season ticket loans, workplace nursery, staff networking group discounts for all the family to enjoy and so much more.
• Enjoy opportunities for professional growth and development.

The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a centre of teaching excellence, world-class research, outstanding student experience, and social responsibility. Part of the prestigious Russell Group of universities, it’s institutions like ours that have the greatest responsibility to act as the world faces big challenges. Together, we face this head on.

Founded in 1824 for the advancement of education, we’ve since been home to 25 Nobel Prize winners and worked across disciplinary and geographic boundaries to give the world new ideas, discoveries and innovations.

Inspired by and connected with our city – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, home to an iconic arts, music and culture scene, and now the driving force of the Northern Powerhouse scheme – Manchester remains at the heart of everything we do.

We've been making an impact since day one; from creating the world’s first nuclear reaction, to building the modern computer, isolating graphene, pioneering development economics, and transforming cancer diagnosis and treatment across the world. And it doesn’t stop there – our teaching and learning approach creates life-changing student experiences, inspires lifelong learning and shapes exceptional graduate outcomes for global citizens of the future.

As we enter our third century, we’re not letting anything stand in our way as we continue to tackle the world’s biggest problems with unbreakable resolve.

Our facts and figures

We’re ranked the 6th best university in the UK and 52nd overall in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (2024).

A truly international university, our community includes more than 44,000 students, 12,000 staff, and 550,000 alumni from 190 countries working together to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.

Our commitment to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is unmatched. That’s why we’re the only university in the world to rank in the top ten for social and environmental impact in every year of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.

Our university is a powerhouse of research and discovery; we were ranked fifth for research power – the quality and scale of research and impact – in the UK government’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

The institution is the most popular in the UK for undergraduate applications (UCAS 2023 cycle), and it is the second most targeted university by the UK’s leading employers (The Graduate Market, 2024).

When completing the additional information section of your application, please ensure you make reference to the job description and person specification above, as this will form an integral part of the shortlisting process.

As an equal opportunities employer we support an inclusive working environment and welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Ian Jarvey

Email: [e-mail]

General enquiries:

Email: [e-mail]

Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.