Procurement Manager

Purpose of the post

The Procurement Manager role will be responsible for HDR UK’s procurement service and will be expected to conduct and document due diligence and ethical assessment on new suppliers and other third-party relationships.  The successful candidate will work across the entire organisation to support HDR UK to deliver a range of high-profile public health initiatives including cutting edge efforts to coordinate UK health data infrastructure and facilitate COVID research in the UK and abroad through the delivery of an efficient procurement service.  This includes regular work with universities, private businesses, freelancers and sole suppliers.  The role will also assist with a variety of business matters including maintaining and updating internal policies, processes, and training in relation to procurement and will involve regular contact with internal and external stakeholders.

The successful candidate will share our values, have strong influencing and collaboration skills, find practical solutions to complex issues, be comfortable with working at pace, and be flexible and willing to adapt to the changing needs of a growing organisation.

Main Responsibilities

Reporting to and supported by the Head of Contracts, Procurement and Policy, this role will provide key support for HDR UK’s strategic priorities in the categories below:

1. Procurement

• Provide an effective procurement service relating to all aspects of procurement management ensuring compliance with HDR UK’s policies, funder requirements and Public Procurement Rules, working in conjunction with external consultants where appropriate;
• Assist HDR UK teams to evaluate the need for and scope of formal tender processes and provide advice and guidance on appropriate processes required based on type of activity, estimated contract value, HDR UK policies and procedures, and Public Procurement Regulations.
• Support end to end procurement processes for contracts over £25,000.00.
• Assist HDR UK Teams by preparing tender and other procurement documents, including but not limited to scoping documents, descriptions of requirements, invitations to tender, scoring criteria, and procurement reports.
• Assist HDR UK teams conduct market research, establish evaluation criteria, evaluate potential supplier submissions, and select suppliers on the basis of HDR UK requirements, funder requirements, and value for money.
• Work closely with relevant teams and postholders such as finance, budget holders, contracts, data protection and technology teams to ensure relevant requirements are incorporated into tender documents.
• Be responsible for ensuring all documentation is appropriately maintained and recorded.
• Maintain and develop appropriate procurement management strategies; performance measures; ensuring compliance with and reporting on audit requirements, Public Procurement Regulations, value for money, and HDR UK policies and procedures.
• Maintain up to date procurement pipeline information and proactively engage with relevant teams and key stakeholders to agree procurement priorities and deliver on the support and processes required to achieve these on time and within budget.
• Analyse expenditure records, seeking opportunities to reduce duplication and inappropriate sourcing; identifying areas for consolidation of business onto fewer and better suppliers; and creating strategic relationships that deliver innovation and true partnership benefits.
• Keep up to date with relevant regulations and requirements and procurement best practices through attending training and self-guided learning as may be necessary.

2. Process and Systems Development

• Lead on maintaining and improving HDR UK’s existing spending processes, policies, and templates.
• Assist with the development of policies adjacent to HDR UK’s spending policies as needed—e.g. contracts, finance.
• Assist with establishing best practices for procurement and communicating those best practices to internal stakeholders, including developing and presenting training materials.

3. Risk management and Due Diligence

• Conduct document due diligence and ethical assessment on all new suppliers and other third-party relationships, escalating as necessary to Head of Contracts, Procurement and Legal.
• Monitor overall risk profile of procurement activities including escalating matters as appropriate to the Head of Contracts, Procurement and Policy.
• Assist the Head of Contracts, Procurement and Policy to advise and report to the Senior Leadership Team and HDR UK’s Board on key areas of risk management.

4. Relationship Management

• Build and maintain excellent relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to deliver HDR UK’s procurement and grant call priorities in a timely and efficient manner.
• Provide advice and communicate timelines, policy and process requirements to internal and external stakeholders.
• Work closely with the Contracts and Administrative Support Officer on execution of contractual agreements with selected suppliers.

5. Other

• Support HDR UK teams in drafting call for funding documents, provide advice and guidance on appropriate processes. Full training will be provided.
• Work across all teams at HDR UK to contribute to other projects or activities as the need arises.
• Support wider Contracts team with additional tasks as needed, providing cover for periods of leave.
• Assist wider Legal, Trust and Ethics Teams with general administration.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

1. Essential

• Experience in working in a relevant procurement environment, taking a pragmatic and proportionate approach to compliance.
• Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Qualification (minimum Level 4, chartered status preferable) or equivalent procurement degree.
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with the ability to articulate complex issues clearly and concisely to a wide audience of varying levels of knowledge and expertise.
• Ability to work through the implications of situations in order to identify the most appropriate way forward to meet strategic goals.
• Resilience and ability to prioritise and manage a complex workload, taking ownership of tasks, reacting to shifting priorities, conflicting demands and meeting deadlines across multiple projects.
• Ability to engage with technical underlying subject matter as required to deliver effective and accurate advice and risk management.
• Ability to work well independently and as part of multidisciplinary teams.

2. Desirable

• Experience or knowledge of charity sector, public sector, higher education and/or industry counterparties.
• Understanding of regional, national and global procurement context, financial trends, government policies and their impact on HDR UK.
• Experience with health data research or life sciences related procurement activities
• Experience working in an organisation undergoing rapid growth.
• Experience with supporting grant calls for funding

Further Details

• All HDR UK roles are primarily based at the London offices, however we are flexibly working across a number of geographical locations and home working is permitted. Travel may be required to HDR UK locations and partner organisations.
• HDR UK is able to reimburse the successful candidate for registration costs associated with maintaining certification with the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.
• HDR UK is committed to continuing professional development. As part of our commitment, we will consider flexible working requests to allow for continuation of professional development and study towards additional qualifications. Where possible, HDR UK may be able to contribute towards the costs of such further professional development.

Application Process

Unless specified, please apply using our online portal. We use a recruitment process that is based on finding out more about the relevant skills and knowledge an applicant has and to help us with this we ask you 3 or 4 skills-based questions as part of the application process.

Please provide a covering letter of no more than 500 words explaining what you can bring to this role. Please combine your CV and covering letter into a single document before uploading to the portal. This will be anonymised and will be used if you are shortlisted. Please contact recruitment@hdruk.ac.uk if you have any queries regarding your application.