Operational Buyer

Job summary

This vacancy is open to employees of Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust only.

NHS Band 3 Salary: £25,760 - £27,476 per annum

Hours Per Week: Full-time 37.5 hrs

Contract Type: Permanent

We are looking for a motivated and customer focused Buyer to join our Procurement & Supply Chain team within Single Corporate Services. This role supports multiple NHS organisations and plays a key part in delivering an efficient, value driven procurement service.

Main duties of the job

Key responsibilities

• Raise and process requisitions and purchase orders.
• Manage invoice queries to ensure suppliers are paid within NHS 30 day terms.
• Support catalogue updates and maintenance.
• Obtain quotations and negotiate with suppliers to secure value for money.
• Advise departments on procurement processes, contracts, and purchasing best practice.
• Assist with identifying savings opportunities through spend analysis.
• Maintain procurement records, including Atamis updates.
• Support the wider Procurement team with administrative and operational tasks.

About us

Working as a partnership, both Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have a shared vision for excellence in care for our patients and communities; with a set of strategic aims underpinning how we will achieve this.

The single corporate service is delivered across both organisations. You may be based at either IWT or PHU and individuals may be required to undertake business travel between sites. For leaders managing staff across multi-site locations, you will need to be visible and provide in person leadership. The arrangements and frequency will be agreed locally.

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and Disability, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veterans' status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.

Details

• Date posted: 25 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 3
• Salary: £25,760 to £27,476 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: REF2651X
• Job locations: Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust Corporate Hub, Block 4000, Lakeside North Harbour, Western Road, Cosham, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3EN, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

About the role

As an Buyer, you will provide end to end tactical purchasing support, including raising requisitions, converting them into purchase orders, resolving invoice queries, and sourcing requirements through our eProcurement systems. You will act as a key contact for departments and suppliers, ensuring excellent customer service and adherence to Trust procurement policies.

Specific Core Functions

• Provide specialist day to day SBS Procurement knowledge across the client base.
• When required, assist with loading, deletion, and maintenance of electronic catalogues relevant to the client organisation to ensure availability of catalogues for replenishment, liaising with the Procurement Specialists as appropriate.
• Complete quotation exercises as required. Negotiate (face to face or over the telephone) with suppliers and user departments to ensure optimum value for money.
• Take an active role in the development and delivery of the annual Procurement work plan by analysing spend reports and identifying from trends new opportunities to save money across the client base.
• Support in the development and implementation of departmental procedures and policies in relation to operational procurement.
• Undertake procurement in line with purchasing legislation and Trust Standing Orders and Financial Instructions for all revenue and capital projects.
• Update records on the Atamis database.
• Participate in the training and development of new systems and ways of working when required.
• Understand the information produced by Procurement Business Intelligence how to identify frequently ordered items which should instead be added to catalogues.
• Turn requisitions in to purchase orders, adding value at every opportunity, when required.
• Assist as and when required with assignments or duties allocated by the appropriate senior staff member.
• Provide verbal guidance to requisitioners and bring to their attention the written guidance / procedures available to enable them to raise requisitions and pay invoices.

For full job description and person specification please refer to enclosed job description.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).