Assistant Head of Operational Procurement

NHS; St Asaph; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

A health services organization in St Asaph is seeking an Assistant Head of Operational Procurement. This role supports a strategic direction and fosters stakeholder engagement. Candidates should have a postgraduate degree, MCIPS qualification, and relevant experience in public procurement. Excellent leadership and communication skills are essential to thrive in this challenging environment. The aiming salary is between £56,514 and £63,623 annually. A flexible full-time working pattern is offered.

Benefits

Employee Assistance Programme

Appreciation Station for staff recognition

Reward schemes for exemplary behaviour

Qualifications

• Experience with service/process improvement methodologies like LEAN or Six Sigma.
• Proven experience in handling complex or high-value procurements.
• Expertise in public procurement and contract management.

Responsibilities

• Support the leadership of the Head of Procurement.
• Deliver Non Pay Savings, Compliance, P2P, Audit, and performance monitoring.
• Engage with stakeholders to improve visibility of procurement processes.

Skills

Strong leadership skills

Excellent communication skills

Customer focused

Education

Post graduate degree (MA/MSc/MBA) or equivalent experience

Qualified to MCIPS

Job description

Job summary

NWSSP is responsible for the full Procure to Pay process for all Health Boards/Trusts in Wales. Procurement Services have a vacant Assistant Head of Operational Procurement position, based at Alder House, St Asaph.

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your procurement career in a dynamic, challenging and high‑profile environment. In addition to the criteria outlined in the specification, you should demonstrate how you apply commercial acumen and utilise skills to deliver in the complex changing environment throughout NHS Wales. A resilient personality and track record of delivering creative and innovative solutions are required for success in this role.

The post will be working on behalf of NWSSP for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and will focus on stakeholder engagement and increased visibility of members of the Frontline team across the stakeholder sites. Fostering a culture of continuous improvement and compassionate leadership.

Discover how you can enjoy life to the full and progress your fulfilling career by sharing in our values, working together, taking responsibility, listening and learning and innovation.

Main duties of the job

Supporting the leadership of the Head of Procurement in the delivery of Non Pay Savings, Compliance, P2P, Audit and ensuring operational management and performance monitoring of the whole Procurement team. A deep understanding of NHS Wales and Health Boards is essential to this role.

Supporting the understanding of the strategic direction of Betsi Cadwaladr UHB and aligning with the NWSSP strategic objectives as part of the IMTP plan.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.

About us

At NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership we have high standards and expect everyone to embrace our values of Listening & Learning, Working Together, Taking Responsibility & Innovating, whilst ensuring trust, honesty and compassion are implicit in everything that we do.

We are adaptable, agile and flexible and pride ourselves on being a learning organisation – one where it is safe to make mistakes, where blame is replaced by opportunity, learning and improvement. Innovation is built into everything that we do.

We recognise our people regularly and have an Appreciation Station, to encourage staff to applaud exemplary behaviour in one another, alongside an Annual Staff Recognition Award ceremony aligned to our values.

We respect and value our people and strive for a culture of compassion and inclusivity. We are a bilingual organisation, and we have a team of Change Champions who advocate 'This is Our NWSSP' our principal change programme. Similarly, PROUD is our new staff network welcoming LGBT+ colleagues and allies to come together in a safe space for discussions, event planning and the opportunity to build supportive networks.

We have a comprehensive benefits package where there is something for everyone, supporting health, engagement and wellbeing and includes an Employee Assistance Programme. We have over 30 Mental Health First Aiders and work in partnership with local and national organisations to ensure the well‑being and resilience of our people.

Details

Date posted: 18 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£56,514 to £63,623 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full‑time, Flexible working

Reference number

043-AC220-1225

Job locations

Alder House

Parc Busnes Llanelwy

Llanelwy

LL17 0JL

Job description & Job responsibilities

You will be able to find a full job description and person specification attached within the supporting documents or please click Apply now to view in Trac.

Person Specification

Qualifications - Essential

• Post graduate degree (MA/MSc/MBA) or demonstrable equivalent experience in a relevant area
• Qualified to MCIPS
• Sound knowledge of NHS and government policies, and the political and economic climate within which healthcare is delivered.

Qualifications - Desirable

• Qualified in project management, i.e. management, i.e. alternative methodology
• Knowledge of e‑business systems

Experience - Essential

• Experience of successfully using service/process improvement/culture change methodologies i.e. LEAN, Six Sigma or equivalent.
• Proven experience of handling 'complex' and/or high value procurements on time, and within budget.
• Expertise in Public procurement and contract management, obtained via further training and/or relevant experience
• Experience of Category management
• Clear understanding of NHS Wales and the role of Health Boards

Experience - Desirable

• Awareness of EFQM/Quality standards and working with ISO policies and procedures.
• Awareness of the Provider Selection Regime (Wales) and its operation

Aptitudes and abilities - Essential

• Strong leadership skills and ability to lead by example
• Excellent communication skills, written and oral, articulate and robust in presenting ideas
• Evidence of continuous professional development, education and training at a senior management level.
• Well development influencing skills with significant experience /negotiating skills, a good builder of productive relationships.

Values/Personal Qualities - Essential

• Ability to analyse and act upon complex data sets
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Customer focussed and high quality service driven

Other - Essential

• Ability to access transport (public and/or private) to travel off site for meetings (as appropriate), throughout Wales and other parts of the UK

Other - Desirable

• Welsh speaker

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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

Employer details

Employer name: NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership

Address: Alder House, Parc Busnes Llanelwy, Llanelwy, LL17 0JL

Employer's website: https://nwssp.nhs.wales/ (Opens in a new tab)