Trainee Category Specialist/Category Specialist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for Trainee Category Specialist/Category Specialist (dependent upon experience) to join our Category Management Teams across our group Procurement function. Working across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN), which encompasses Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Northampton General NHS Trust, you will be an integral part of our Strategic Estates category area, delivering a first class procurement service across UHN.

This is a great opportunity for a procurement professional who wants to further develop their career, to join the Procurement team at UHN and really make a difference. Base can be discussed, but noting the requirement will be to travel between sites when required.

You will be joining a large, friendly and supportive team which offers great opportunities for career progression.

We are recruiting to either band 6 Trainee Category Specialist, or band 7 Category Specialist, dependent upon experience. The Trainee Category Specialist role offers a guaranteed progression to the Category Specialist, once competencies have been achieved.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a comprehensive, proactive, efficient and responsive procurement advisory and planning service across the designated specialist category area.
• Assisting in the development and managing a category management strategy that provides commercial benefit and reduces risk consistent with alignment to the Group Strategies, abiding by Trust specific SFI’s, SO’s, UK legislation.
• Assisting in the development of KPI’s that evidence value for money through generating non-pay savings in accordance with cost efficiency targets whilst awarding robust compliant contracts.
• This post holds responsibility for ensuring rigorous control in the approach to procuring goods and Services. Managing and undertaking complex and high value procurements and associated contract negotiations on behalf of the Group and working collaboratively with Procurement colleagues across the Northamptonshire ICB as appropriate.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To consistently meet best value for money by the effective sourcing of goods and services.
• To promote contract compliance across all the stakeholders within the Trust.
• To ensure all procurement activities operate in full accordance with legal (UK legislation), environment and sustainability requirements.
• Assist Category manager in development and implementation of category strategy to support Group wide procurement strategy
• Assist in the Group working approach for specified category area, contributing to streamlined processes and documentation across the Group
• Attendance and contribution as required to relevant divisional meetings, supporting CIP programmes and the pro-active management of contract expiry dates
• Attendance where appropriate at Management Board meetings.
• Deputise for Category Manager at meetings as required
• To lead on sourcing of specific category area for University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and specific sourcing programmes for defined projects Trust wide taking the lead on the allocated sourcing category, categories or services and contributing significantly to the delivery of allocated procurement projects within key markets. Sourcing programmes may entail end to end tender process and subsequent contract management.
• Lead on ensuring compliant contracts are in place with relevant KPI’s within category area
• Preparation and presentation of Procurement Strategy, Procurement process plans and contributing and/or authorisation of contract award papers to the appropriate senior management, including the Executive Team.
• To lead in the delivery of cost and efficiency savings across a large project range across relevant category, by analysing current spend information and undertaking market analysis to develop procurement strategies. To ensure that Divisional proposals for non-pay savings are robust and reported appropriately.
• Utilise the Trusts business Intelligence tool (Qlikview) to produce reports on contract coverage, track spend activity and generate savings opportunities
• To significantly contribute to the Trust’s non-pay saving target
• The engagement of Clinicians, Managers and Stakeholders in the end to end process for product selection and supply of services, including demand challenge, transition and implementation planning and development of strategy, tender evaluation, award criteria, and on-going contract management.
• Undertaking rigorous and widespread benchmarking activity to support on-going negotiation and market intelligence for designated Categories.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.