Senior Procurement and Supplier Officer

Would you be excited to use your procurement expertise to help nature to recover and to improve the quality of air, water, soil and marine environments?

Would you thrive having a key procurement role in a close-knit organisation where your voice will be heard and your actions have real effect?

If so, then we want to hear from you.

The Office for Environmental Protection (the OEP) mission is to protect and improve the environment. Created by the Environment Act 2021, our role is to hold Government and public bodies to account. The OEP do this in several ways including reporting on progress against environmental targets, advising on changes to environmental laws and receiving complaints from the public which can lead to us taking enforcement action.

This role is based in the OEP’s Corporate Services team, part of the Chief of Staff directorate.  This team of procurement, finance, HR and IT professionals enables the whole organisation to function effectively and efficiently.

With a total staff of just over 70, we are a dynamic, friendly and flexible organisation covering both England, Northern Ireland, and environmental matters reserved to the UK government. We offer flexible working arrangements, high profile, dynamic work and the chance to have an impact on improving the state of the environment.

To find out more about the OEP, what we do, who we are and our current work, visit the OEP website .

The OEP is a non-departmental public body sponsored by which means it operates independently from Defra and is not part of the UK Civil Service. Our employees are public servants.

This is an exciting opportunity to have a key and influential role in the delivery of the OEP’s mission and its approach to procurement in the long-term.

The work you do will directly contribute to the OEP’s research activities and our regulatory investigations that protect and improve the environment by holding government and other public authorities to account.

You will be part of a small procurement team within a close-knit organisation so your voice will be heard, and the procurement expertise, experience, and engagement skills you bring will make real and lasting difference to the OEP.

In this role you will:

• Lead the end-to-end procurement of a diverse range of critical contracts. Working closely with our scientific, analytical, legal, and corporate services functions you will advise on the optimum solutions for procuring the specialist consultancy and professional services they need, and co-deliver the procurements with subject experts to achieve successful outcomes efficiently.
• Prepare and agree robust supply contracts to ensure best value for money, effective project delivery and managed risk, and advise colleagues on implementing contract terms.
• Develop and maintain strong commercial relationships with suppliers to foster positive ways of working and commercial benefits, to help build a network of trusted suppliers and to position the OEP as a desired client.
• Provide responsive procurement advice to non-procurement colleagues throughout the end-to-end lifecycle of delegated procurements. Deliver procurement training to maintain understanding and competencies across the organisation.
• Use your experience, knowledge and expertise to help shape how we do our procurement – developing strategic procurement solutions and helping to improve our processes, guidance and training.
• Maintain accurate procurement data, analysis and management information – contributing to the governance, business planning, decision-making and risk management of the organisation.
• Be an internal ambassador of the benefits and value that good procurement practice brings to the OEP – helping to secure buy-in from colleagues and raising the profile of the Procurement Function.

Further background:

• The nature of the OEP’s work means we often need to procure services at short notice and most of our contracts are below £200k. It is therefore important that our ways of working are responsive and efficient, and our procurement processes are easy to use, whilst remaining fully compliant and ensuring value for money.
• We use government and public sector frameworks whenever they are suitable. We are considering procuring our own internal frameworks for some specialist requirements.
• Priority development areas of our procurement function include: developing and delivering procurement training to colleagues; improved procurement data for performance indicators and management reporting; and developing our use of sustainability, ethical and social value criteria in procurement.
• This job is primarily a procurement role not a supply chain management role.

The above list of job duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

• Significant expertise and experience of procuring technical consultancy and professional services, particularly scientific, analytical, legal and IT/digital, and preferably within the Public Contracts Regulations.
• Strong working knowledge, skills and experience of drafting, agreeing and implementing contracts and contract terms with commercial acumen and a pragmatic approach.
• Personable and with the ability to build strong relationships across the OEP and with suppliers to ensure effective partnership working.
• Experience of working across multi-disciplinary teams in an organisation on all commercial matters, using strong influencing skills to ensure desired outcomes. This experience will include providing authoritative procurement advice and direction, and training to increase commercial awareness.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, particularly in the preparation of formal procurement documents and reporting.
• Excellent numeracy, with ability to develop, analyse and interpret financial, monitoring and other performance data.
• Focussed, diligent and good attention to detail.
• Strong planning and organisational skills to manage workload across multiple projects and to balance conflicting demands. A flexible and adaptable mindset with the ability to adapt quickly to change.
• Experience of monitoring supplier stability and performance, and promptly resolving issues to ensure contract delivery is maintained.
• Ability to rapidly understand new concepts (e.g. project objectives and technical requirements) to identify, recommend and apply appropriate procurement solutions.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Knowledge and experience of procurement procedures.

Pension  

The OEP offers a generous defined benefit, inflation-proof Civil Service Pension which is a valuable part of your total reward package. Upon joining the OEP, staff can opt to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme which, depending on salary, offers a personal contribution rate of between 4.6% and 7.35%, and an employer contribution rate of between 26.6% and 30.3%. There is also the option to join a partnership scheme. Full details and benefits of the options available to you can be found on the Civil Service Pension Portal. 

Leave and Flexible Working 

The OEP offers 25 days annual leave rising to 30 days over 5 years for all new entrants.   

Additional paid leave is available where necessary to cater for a variety of situations including, but not limited to, family-related leave, volunteering days, exam and study leave, public duties and trade union activities. In addition, we offer a generous enhanced maternity leave, parental leave and shared parental leave policy. 

The OEP is supportive of flexible working and has a flexible working policy to allow for variations in individuals working hours where this is compatible with business need. 

Performance Management and In Year Bonus Scheme 

The OEP is committed to promoting a high-performing culture for all employees.  Performance and development management is key to developing trusting relationships between managers and employees so that they can be their best and thrive at work. Every individual will have a performance management plan which will be reviewed on a regular basis.  

The OEP has a quarterly ‘In-year Bonus Scheme’ where individuals and/ or teams can be recognised for outstanding one-off contributions and achievements. 

Learning and Development 

The OEP is a learning organisation and strongly supports the continuous professional development of all employees through both personal and work related study. 

Every employee has access to five days learning and development each year to support professional development. This could be through Civil Service Learning mandatory and voluntary learning, corporate inductions, staff events and welcome days as well as relevant professional qualifications and specific courses. 

Staff Wellbeing 

Staff wellbeing is extremely important and the OEP strives to provide access to numerous resources to aid the wellbeing of its employees. Current initiatives include: 

• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing free and confidential 24/7 telephone advice and guidance to support employees with both personal and employment issues. This may include personal wellbeing, career development or legal matters such as landlord / tenant disputes.  
• Access to an Occupational Health Service to provide a range of support service to help with the way you feel at work.  
• Access to trained Mental Health First Aiders and wider Defra Group mental health first aid network and resources. 
• Free access to Headspace, a mindfulness, meditation and sleep app. 
• Access to a Financial Wellbeing Portal. 
• Free eye tests and a contribution to glasses/ lenses if required for VDU use. 

Salary Sacrifice, Discounts and SmartTech Benefits 

All employees have access to the STaR, Reward Gateway an online platform providing access to hundreds of discounts, offers and cashback options with well-known retailers. They offer a SmartTech scheme, a Cash Healthcare plan and numerous other benefits and services. 

Job contact :

• Name : OEP Recruitment
• Email : recruitment@theoep.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@theoep.org.uk