Procurement Manager

My client in Brighton is a international tax and supply chain consultancy, due to expansion they need to hire a new Procurement Manager.

The main focus of the role is procuring VAT services from new and existing agents (companies like accountants) in line with procurement strategy and driven by client and legislative demand.

The role requires the ability to work effectively with other departments to understand our internal capabilities and where agents add value - both should be considered when assessing appropriate third-party costs. There is a core focus on reducing agent spend as a percentage of turnover year on year.

Procurement

• Identifying and procuring services from new agents as driven by client demand
• Identifying and procuring services from new agents as driven by the requirements of the Compliance Team.
• Discussion and approval of fees with key stakeholders
• Ensuring full contractual terms (including data protection) and SLAs are agreed
• Completing appropriate levels of Due Diligence on all new agents
• Updating Due Diligence on all agents as required
• Agreeing fees and service levels for new services and/or amendments to existing services with all appropriate agents. Ad hoc services (e.g. advisory) to be agreed by the relevant Consultant/Compliance Contact
• Driving improvements in margin by ensuring agent costs are appropriate for the service required. To include renegotiations as appropriate e.g. due to increased client volumes, need for reduced level of service, market forces, etc.
• Continually increasing VAT awareness and impact of legislative change on agent services

Relationships

• Completing quarterly catch up calls/meetings with Compliance agents in portfolio (with Compliance key contacts)
• Completing bi-annual catch up calls/meetings with Consulting agents in portfolio
• Responsible for resolving any material agent service issues (after escalation from Technical Compliance Managers)
• Ongoing review of the level of services provided by agents and working on improving them to standards required by the business
• Ensuring full contractual terms (including data protection) and SLAs are agreed with all existing Compliance agents in portfolio with updates agreed as appropriate

• Experience in procurement and/or proven record of strong negotiation skills, ideally within professional services.
• Existing knowledge of EU VAT Compliance processes is highly advantageous.

Key skills

• A flair for communication and negotiation for complex services
• Good relationship management skills: listening, understanding, communicating and empathy
• Procurement skills, such as cost reduction and negotiation skills and awareness of contract management
• Ability to prioritise a busy workload and work well under pressure
• Strong attention to detail
• Ability to quickly achieve knowledge of Accordance’s service offering, processes and a basic understanding of EU VAT compliance; and be able to articulate these to third parties