Category Specialist (Clinical)

Procurement Heads is delighted to have taken on a retained search to recruit a Category Specialist (Clinical).

Procurement Heads is delighted to have taken on a retained search to recruit a Category Specialist (Clinical) by a leading procurement professional services organisation, dedicated to providing procurement solutions to the public sector. 
  
With a stable and experienced senior leadership team, the business is in high demand and is looking to recruit a host of procurement positions across the enterprise, requiring dynamic individuals who can demonstrate public sector rigour with private sector agility. 
  
While clinical experience is desired but not essential for this role, you would need to demonstrate 1-2 years’ directs procurement experience (public or private sector), coupled with a hunger to progress within a growing, forward-thinking organisation. 

You'll be reporting into a Category Manager, within an overall team of 31. The role will see you servicing two clients and will be a mixture of remote and office-based work within its Hampshire office. 
  
As Category Specialist your key responsibilities will be:   

• Provide specialist procurement knowledge across a broad spectrum of commodity areas.
• Take responsibility for the purchase of goods by delivering a portfolio of medium to high value contracts and develop new and innovative methods of evaluating tender returns to maximise cash releasing benefits.
• Produce OJEU advertisements, complete tender and contract documentation for an agreed portfolio of contracts.
• Negotiate with suppliers and user departments to ensure optimum value for money.
• Work closely with user departments to ensure they produce complete, accurate and relevant specifications for goods and services.
• Offer commercial/contractual advice and guidance to Directorates/CSCs for all goods and services as required.
• Attend tender adjudication meetings acting as chairperson or secretary as required.
• Take an active role in the development and delivery of the annual Procurement work plan implementing policy throughout activity.
• As part of the tender process research commodities and markets through trials and questionnaires. Prepare and analyse evaluation sheets.
• Assist with the development and implementation of departmental policies and procedures.
• Coordinate tender and negotiation exercises in line with purchasing legislation and Trust Standing Orders and Financial Instructions for all revenue and capital projects.
• Use Access and Excel to create \ format databases and spread sheets and be responsible for the output and on-going maintenance.
• Maintain Work plan and Database to ensure it is always up to date and effective reports are available as and when required.
• Participate in the training and development of colleagues and staff to enable professional development and contribute to overall objectives of the department.
• Coordinate national framework agreements in conjunction with GPS to maximise value for money.
• To liaise with other functions in order to produce benchmarking data, to maximise savings.
• Assist when necessary, assignments or duties allocated by the appropriate management staff.

Skills and experience:

• Good general standard of education including Mathematics and English Language to NVQ 4 or relevant equivalent
• Must be prepared to work towards the completion of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPs) or equivalent.
• Willingness to develop self in to a full Procurement Specialist role over time.
• Appreciation and understanding of the term “whole life costing”
• Experience of persuading and influencing others to lead change
• Experience of negotiating prices or conditions of contract
• Experience of competitive quotations
• Experience of a customer service environment
• Experience of public or major corporation procurement
• 1-2 years Procurement experience.

Benefits of the Category Specialist role include:

• £25-30,000
• 27 days annual leave
• 20% pension (total contribution)
• Regular discounts