Head of Census Procurement

Head of Census Procurement, Head of Census Procurement, Public Sector, Government, Transformation

In order to define this strategy you will need to establish what commercial team structure should be in place along with a commercial project plan and timetable for delivery.

The initial primary responsibility is to lead the pre-procurement activity around the commercial design, market engagement, sourcing and defining a commercial strategy. This strategy must align the business requirements with those of GDS, ERG and CCS. In order to define this strategy you will need to establish what commercial team structure should be in place along with a commercial project plan and timetable for delivery.

Eventually there will be a requirement for a commercial expert to manage all aspects of the procurement activity related to the 2021 Census Project. This is a dynamic and challenging role to define the commercial model to deliver all aspects of the 2021 Census to be delivered between 2014 and 2023.

It will require you to liaise with a number of key stakeholders including:

*Census Transformation Programme
*Census Transformation senior management team;
*National Statistics Executive Group (NSEG);
*key internal business areas eg IT department, Enterprise Architect team, etc;
*Other Government Departments (OGDs) such as Cabinet Office, HMT, GDS, ERG, etc;
*commercial organisations;
*suppliers.

Position Holder Responsibilities:

1.Will include, but are not limited to:

a)Quickly grasp an understanding of the landscape of the Census Transformation requirements (eg what services can be outsourced, what can be built for re-use elsewhere in the company, what is to be used as a one off) and then design and development a commercial strategy that has brought together the business requirements with any central government initiatives and restrictions.

b)Provision of proper and relevant commercial advice, and support to the 2021 Census Transformation Programme, ensuring effective use of best practice tools eg lean procurement, standardised terms and conditions, etc. Any techniques must endeavour to achieve value for money in all procurement activity, whilst minimising procurement risk and complying with the public procurement policy and legal framework including EU directives and regulations.

c)Clear understanding of the CCS, ERG and GDS requirements around large procurements and the ability to represent these in commercial strategies or the ability to devise clear exemptions with convincing arguments to the contrary where there is overriding delivery risks or value for money (vfm) considerations.

d)Establish a commercial work-package process that aligns with the Programme and takes responsibility for the commercial decisions along with a team structure that can deliver the procurements necessary to outsource contracts.

e)Advise on the long term sustainable commercial model for commercial support going forward eg liaison with CCS, managed services, commercial services and possible secondment opportunities.

f)Ensuring the key internal stakeholders involved in the procurement activity are briefed and clearly aware of their responsibilities.

g)Providing timely and relevant briefing to senior management on progress and bringing any notable risks and issues to their attention as required.

h)Regular liaison with the companies Chief Procurement Officer for alignment with their Commercial strategy for all Census commercial activity.

Desirable/Essential skills and experience:

The post-holder will have:

Relevant Skills and Experience:

Desirable or Essential

a)Experience in large-scale commercial and procurement environments (circa. £100m contracts) preferably in a public sector context.

b)Experience of also working in wider business and sales environments would be desirable. Particular expertise in large outsourced service contracts would be valuable.

c)The post requires Membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (MCIPS) and an in-depth practical understanding of the public procurement policy and legal framework, with experience of sourcing and purchasing goods and services under EU procedures.

d)Demonstrable experience of a 'hands-on' approach to developing appropriate commercial strategies for the range of services being procured.

e)Engagement with legal advisors to devise associated terms and conditions and contractual documentation as necessary.

f)Practical experience of developing negotiation strategies with sound arguments.

g)Practical experience of developing strong relationships with customers and large international suppliers, with demonstrable experience of managing conflicts.

h)Experience in delivering efficiencies, through process improvements or negotiated savings.

i)Experience of dealing with people at all levels, internal and external to an organisation and working within cross site/functional team and persuasion of senior managers through project/programme boards.

j)Practical experience of negotiating with suppliers, preferably on high risk and complex procurement projects.

k)Clear understanding of EU Directives and regulations and current central government commercial guidance and policies.

Spring Technology is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

Spring Technology is an Equal Opportunities employer; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.