Procurement Specialist (Local Authority) 

East Herts is consistently rated as amongst the best areas in the country to live, with excellent schools and healthcare, a huge array of green space, beautiful waterways, unique market towns and picturesque villages. We also enjoy high levels of employment and a diverse local economy. 

The vision of our client is to provide East Hertfordshire residents and businesses with a future that is prosperous and sustainable. In order to achieve this, a number of strategic objectives have been developed, which allow them in conjunction with their many partners to focus on the key issues that concern the residents of East Hertfordshire. 

Whatever their role, everyone contributes to delivering great services to our clients local community. Their vision is to preserve the unique character of East Herts and ensure it remains one of the best places to live and work. To accomplish this, our clients focus is to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities, enhance the quality of people's lives and enable a flourishing local economy. 

Our clients team is dedicated to staff development and individual success within a team framework. To help their staff deliver, they provide a supportive work environment, development opportunities and work to help everyone achieve their potential, whilst enjoying a positive work-life balance. 

Position: Procurement Business Advisor 
Location: Hertford, Hertfordshire (Commutable from Welwyn Garden City, Harlow, Cheshunt, Buntingford & surrounding areas) 
Job type: Full Time, Permanent 
Hours: 37 hours per week 
Salary: Grade 9, £36,543 to £39,422 (inclusive of local weighting) 
Benefits: Flexible working options available, (part time, job share, compressed hours, work from home), flexi time, local government pension scheme, generous annual leave, discounts at Highstreet retailers and local leisure centres. 

Closing date is: 26 April 2019 at 5pm. 

About the role: 

An opportunity for an experienced Procurement Business Advisor has become available to work at Wallfields, Hertford as part of the Strategic Finance & Property team. 

You will provide support to the Financial Services Manager on a day to day basis ensuring that the Contract Register, spend analysis and procurement best practice are managed within the timescales required. You will play a vital role in supporting the Strategic Finance team in supporting all departments for low and medium risk procurement projects. 

This motivated and highly professional team is looking for an individual committed to excellence in their work and with a passion for providing high quality support. 

Responsibilities: 

- To develop a Corporate Procurement Strategy for the Council which ensures value for money, achievement of strategic directions and corporate priorities and is based on best practice and probity 
- To be the Council's expert on procurement issues and extend procurement expertise and understanding throughout the Council 
- To provide procurement advice and guidance across the council leading on procurement processes to enable the sound financial management of the organisation. This will require the post-holder to use professional skills and knowledge to proactively identify, investigate, analyse and evaluate issues and / or solutions within the financial management framework 
- To ensure that procurement, contract and performance management processes and procedures are adhered to with respect to the administration of the organisation’s affairs. This will include identifying opportunities to improve these processes and procedures on an ongoing basis 
- To work as an integral part of the wider Financial Services team to deliver the departmental service plan outcomes. This will also include involvement in corporate working groups and project teams as required 

About you: 

- A focused, enthusiastic team player who enjoys working in a motivated and engaging environment. 

- Have had worked in a similar role, ideally in a public sector environment, with experience in the improvement of sound governance, financial controls and financial planning. 
- Have an excellent working knowledge of the relevant legislation and regulations relating to current Local Authority finances. 
- Have the ability to deal with challenging situations using tact and diplomacy. 
- Have competency in the use of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint). 
- Have excellent communication skills. 
- Have experience of working with multiple stakeholders from the public and private sector. 
- Have the ability to motivate people around them. 

As part of our clients Green Travel agenda they actively encourage employees to explore more economical and eco-friendly means of travel to work, e.g. public transport, cycle, walk or car share, and support this through a number of initiatives such as Liftshare. 

If your application has been successful, the recruiting manager will contact you to invite you to an interview. They hope you enjoy the process and look forward to making contact with you very soon. 

Our client is an equal opportunity employer committed to embracing a diverse and inclusive work environment. They aim to attract and retain the best people regardless of their gender, marital / parental status, ethnic origin, nationality, age, background, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity. 

You may have experience of the following: Procurement Business Advisor, Procurement Specialist, Procurement Advisor, Procurement Coordinator, Procurement Assistant, Procurement Manager, Purchasing, Purchasing Assistant, Buyer, Buying, etc.