Strategic Category Manager - Procurement

The opportunity has arisen for two Strategic Category Managers to join our Procurement Leadership Team. One of these roles will concentrate on managing the People category (Adults, Public Health, and Children's), while the other will focus on the Construction and Infrastructure category. Both roles will play an important leadership role in the delivery of a forward thinking, flexible, creative, commercial and collaborative procurement team, which aims to exemplify excellent procurement practice. If you are ambitious, with significant public sector procurement experience and a talent for crafting commercial, creative, and solution-focused strategies, we want to hear from you. Join our dynamic procurement team at this crucial time as we prepare for the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023. Help us elevate standards and best practices through our category-led approach to procurement. You will confidently lead People Category or the Construction/Infrastructure category, providing strategic advice, guidance, and managing high-value, complex procurements. Your excellent people skills, attention to detail, and ability to perform under pressure will be crucial in meeting challenging and evolving timelines while exceeding stakeholder expectations. The Councils Procurement Team is focused into the following category areas:

• People (Adults, Public Health & Children's)
• Built Environment (Construction/Infrastructure and FM/Environment)
• Corporate & IT
  
  We are looking for candidates with extensive experience as a Category Manager, ideally with commercial knowledge of the sectors relevant to the roles. The ideal candidates will have a proven track record in public sector procurement within one of the specified categories.
The successful candidates will need to demonstrate:
• Extensive experience of complex procurement, with CIPS Level 6 qualification or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding and experience of market challenges and opportunities in the relevant category area.
• Up-to-date knowledge of Public Procurement Legislation and related external issues.
• Solution-focused, capable of delivering change by influencing and engaging stakeholders.
• Well-developed negotiation and communication skills across diverse audiences.
• Motivated leader who can bring out the best in their team.
• Solution-focused, risk-aware, and able to drive change with a professional, proactive, and "can-do" approach.
• Ideally, substantial knowledge in the People or Construction/Infrastructure category areas.