Job overview
Here is an exciting opportunity for you to join us as a Director of Procurement and Contracting. This is a senior position that will require finely tuned business skills to deal with the many challenges faced by this new role in support of MSE group and external customers.
The principal role of the Director will be to provide leadership, commercial insight, and stakeholder interface in order to grow the new procurement service. It is envisaged that revised organisation will not only provide services to MSE Group but will be position MSE at the heart of the region, providing procurement services to others and support the drive for regional cross working.
As a consequence, it is essential that the Servi ce is cost effective and remains closely aligned to the business priorities and requirements of not only MSE but also potential Partner organisations. Not only will the service need to deliver traditional support in areas such as cost improvement, but it will also seek to drive new opportunities from leveraging commercial insight strategic partnerships. These will help to deliver long term benefits to the system.
The Director will ensure that the expenditure are each Partner complies with all statutory and mandatory regulations governing procurement rules within the NHS, including the Trust’s own Standing Financial Instructions along with mandatory procurement legislation.
Main duties of the job
- You are expected to influence all third party spend within the Trust to ensure value for money. This will also include providing procurement expertise to support areas traditionally out of scope such as Pharmacy drug expenditure.
- An important and significant aspect of this role is to build and maintain enduring, effective and business-like working relations with suppliers, consultants, clinicians and senior managers across the group so that customer service levels are set and maintained along with contributing to challenging year on year cost improvement programmes.
- The Director will be responsible for providing a proactive procurement service to the Care Group or Corporate Division(s), leading a management team of senior procurement experts to deliver both strategic advice and operational support.
- Be recognised a professional procurement lead for the Trust on high profile, high risk procurements. To lead on negotiations of complex, high value contracts for the procurement of capital and consumable items.
- Drive the development, management and delivery of the Trust’s procurement cost improvement program, operational metrics and corporate reporting.
- Responsible for the implementation and development Category and Contract Management in the new procurement service.
- Ensure that the Department operates within set budget
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Are you looking for an exciting role using your unique qualities, then we want to hear from you.
For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description.
We look forward to your application.
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to Master degree level in Procurement related profession, including logistics/supply chain or equivalent experience.
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS)
Desirable
- Current driving licence
- Member of the institute of logistics
Communication skills
Essential
- Ability to clearly communicate finance and non finance issues
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to enable effective partnering working at director level.
- Ability to produce business critical written documentation such as Business Cases/Category Strategies.
- Ability to engage with stakeholders to shape requirements in line with existing procurement regulations
- Ability to present complex information to wide audiences with authority and credibility
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Considerable procurement and logistics experience in working within a relevant procurement environment (not immediately necessary within NHS).
- Experience of business development and tender processes
- Experience and successful track record of managing change and in managing significant and complex multi-million pound projects where there is a substantial investment in new medical equipment and IT systems.
- Experience of developing complex contractual agreements
- Experience in producing and understanding business plans, reports, contracts and service level agreements
- Experience of establishing and negotiating strategic contracts with consultants and suppliers, and the management of complex commercial relationships.
- Expert knowledge of procurement law and being capable of applying legal requirements.
- Minimum of 10 years direct experience within procurement of which 3 years of the last 5 years must be within the NHS acute sector at senior management level.
- Significant previous experience of managing a procurement function within a complex organisation
- Proven experience in the areas of: Project management; negotiation; contract management; cost and price management; and procurement legislation
- Experience of logistics, inventory control and supply chain management
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Director of Procurement and Contracting with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust in Southend. It is listed as a Manager and corporate role. The advertised salary is £112782.00 to £129783.00. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 07 Sep 2026.
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