Procurement Category Support Specialist

The Procurement Shared Services Team within NHS LPP delivers all tender activity on behalf of the above categories for our members.
The Procurement Specialist will lead sourcing activities on behalf of all NHS LPP members, advising the local procurement teams and stakeholders of the best route to market to meet their objectives.
The post holder will be an expert in public sector procurement and will develop in-depth category knowledge allowing them to advise stakeholders with regard to the work of NHS LPP and the best way to structure contracts. These contracts can be significant in value - e.g. £100m.
The post holder will be expected to provide advice to a range of stakeholders including senior managers, and directors within the NHS and provide professional advice to suppliers on compliant procurement processes.
A detailed understanding of EU and UK Procurement Law will be required which will have been obtained by masters or equivalent training.
Support the development and delivery of sourcing strategies for NHS LPP Member's non-pay spend.
Carry out Tender and supplier contracting initiatives as directed by the Procurement Associate Director / Assistant Director e.g. create Frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), Mini-Competitions and bespoke projects.

Main duties of the job
Develop and implement Tender activity as directed by the Procurement Associate Director/ Assistant Director working with NHS LPP Members.
Maintain overall understanding of NHS LPP Member spend using a variety of data sources including benchmarking and supplier management information, to establish a detailed knowledge of Member expenditure by Supplier & Commodity

Working for our organisation
The post holder is required to follow Trust policies and procedures which are regularly updated including, but not limited to:
Information Governance
All staff must comply with information governance requirements. These includes statutory responsibilities (such as compliance with the Data Protection Act), following national guidance (such as the NHS Confidentiality Code of Practice) and compliance with local policies and procedures (such as the Trust's Confidentiality policy). Staff are responsible for any personal information (belonging to staff or patients) that they access and must ensure it is stored, processed and forwarded in a secure and appropriate manner., Develop and implement full end to end Tender activity as directed by the Procurement Associate Director / Assistant Director working with NHS LPP Members., Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
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+ Good general education
+ Good standard of numeracy and literacy
+ Evidence of CIPS qualification and progress towards professional chartered status
+ Previous procurement experience or training to a Masters level or equivalent
Previous experience
Essential Criteria
+ Experience of preparing and presenting reports.
Desirable criteria
+ Experience in a healthcare related organisation.
+ Working knowledge of contract law
Skills/Knowledge/ Ability
Essential Criteria
+ Experience of sourcing including tender process from initial scoping to contract award.
+ Analytical competence and problem solving.
+ Excellent administration & organisational skills.
+ Excellent communication skills.
+ Excellent IT skills.
+ Ability to prioritise workload and organise others workload.
Desirable criteria
+ Ability to use eProcurement systems.
+ Microsoft Excel and data base competence.
+ Ability to analyse data.
+ Ability to run reports and prepare presentations.
+ Demonstrable ability to work and influence teams.
+ Demonstrable ability to manage workload.

Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.