Assistant Head of Operational Procurement

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership; St Asaph; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A public health service provider in St Asaph is seeking an Assistant Head of Operational Procurement. This role involves leading procurement initiatives, supporting strategic objectives, and ensuring compliance within the NHS framework. Ideal candidates will hold a post-graduate degree, be qualified to MCIPS, and have a deep understanding of NHS operations. Join a dynamic team focused on delivering innovative solutions in a high-profile environment. Fluency in Welsh is desirable, creating a culture of inclusivity and support.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits package

Employee Assistance Programme

Annual Staff Recognition Award

Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree or demonstrable equivalent experience in a relevant area.
• Qualified to MCIPS.
• Sound knowledge of NHS and government policies.

Responsibilities

• Support the leadership in non-pay savings and compliance.
• Manage operational performance and monitoring of the procurement team.
• Align with NWSSP strategic objectives.

Skills

Strong leadership skills

Excellent communication skills

Influencing skills

Customer focused

Education

Post-graduate degree or equivalent experience

Qualified to MCIPS

Tools

E-business systems knowledge

Job description

Assistant Head of Operational Procurement

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.

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.

Job responsibilities

You will find a full Job Description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or you can click Apply Now to view in Trac.

Qualifications

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

Experience

• Experience of successfully using service/process improvement/culture change methodologies e.g. 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.
• 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

• 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‑developed influencing skills with significant experience/negotiating skills, a good builder of productive relationships.

Values/Personal Qualities

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

Other

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