Deputy Head of Procurement

Transformationunitgm; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS provider in London seeks a Deputy Head of Procurement to oversee procurement activities and ensure governance processes are adhered to. This role involves strategic leadership, managing a high-performing team, and delivering innovative supplier solutions while ensuring high-quality care. Candidates should possess chartered membership and extensive experience in procurement within public service.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in delivering complex procurement projects.
• Expertise in category management and tendering.
• Strong background in public service or healthcare delivery organisation.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of procurement work plans.
• Manage performance and development of the Procurement team.
• Implement supplier solutions for cost improvements.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Financial management

Performance management

Process improvement

Project management

Data analysis

Education

Master’s level education or equivalent experience

Membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply

ECDL qualified or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Our vision is to deliver outstanding emergency and urgent care whenever and wherever needed for everyone in London, 24/7, 365 days a year. We are the busiest emergency ambulance service in the UK serving one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse cities. We provide emergency and urgent healthcare that is free to patients at the time they receive it.

We are the only NHS provider trust to serve the whole of London and the nine million people who live in, work in or visit the city. We cover an area of 620sq miles and have more than 8,000 people who work or volunteer for us – rising to 10,000 when including bank staff and students.

We answer around two million 999 calls a year and our crews attend more than 3000 emergencies a day. Our 24-hour 111 integrated urgent care services London answer around two million calls a year.

We play a leading role in integrating access to emergency and urgent care in the capital and are striving to ensure patients receive the right response, in the right place, at the right time

Our main role is to respond to emergency 999 calls, providing medical care to patients across the capital, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. Other services we offer include providing pre-arranged patient transport and finding hospital beds. Working with the police and the fire service, we are prepared for dealing with large-scale or major incidents in the capital.

Job overview

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust serves the whole of London by
answering and responding to urgent and emergency medical situations. The organisation is committed to building a workforce which is valued and whose diversity reflects the communities it serves.
This role is essential in supporting LAS with overseeing procurement activity leading to CIP and other saving opportunities delivery and business continuity.
The role also ensures that governance processes are adhered to in the form of Procurement SFI compliance reducing the risk of LAS operational service failure and the risk of external legal challenge.

Note: This role requires a minimum of 3 days per week in the office.

Main duties of the job

To take the strategic lead on the development and delivery of work plans and effective management of non-pay activities within the Trust, by engaging with key internal and external stakeholders in aligning their requirements to wider organisational goals.

To deliver value to stakeholders through proactive and innovative procurement activities.

Build and create a high performing Procurement team, manage their performance and development through appropriate policies and procedures; sickness reviews, appraisals and development plans.

on a range of procurement topics with a specialist’s perspective, as well as participating in a wider range of national and regional Procurement negotiations and best practice.

Be the Category Lead for the Workforce and Wellbeing category.

Working for our organisation

Our strategy 2023-2028 outlines how we plan to achieve this, and is centred upon three missions focused on:

• Our care– delivering outstanding emergency and urgent care whenever and wherever needed.
• Our organisation– being an increasingly inclusive, well-led and highly skilled organisation people are proud to work for.
• Our London– using our unique pan-London position to contribute to improving the health of the capital.

To achieve these three missions we have set ourselves 50 commitments to deliver over the next five years. In developing these ambitious commitments, we have engaged extensively both inside our organisation, with our partners and with our patients, and we have analysed population trends and horizon scanned the future.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The role will implement innovative supplier solutions to achieve significant and sustainable cost improvements whilst enabling high quality care to patients and service users. It will provide guidance to stakeholders and category managers to enable prioritised change through the implementation of process improvements, product and equipment standardisation designed to drive cost down and improve service standards and outcomes. You will be the primary lead on the procurement of selected major strategic contracts, working collaboratively with the internal client to decide the approach, and to manage the bidder interaction up to the conclusion of the competition.

Alongside their role in supporting Category Managers, the Deputy Head of Procurement will lead a small team focussed on support services to the procurement function. This will include secretariat for Procurement Board, contract management, systems and data analytics and procurement administration.

The role will require to act up on behalf of the Head of Procurement when required, this will include internal and external meetings, Trust Boards and National and regional meetings.

Person specification

Qualifications, Accreditations, Education

• Member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. Educated to Master’s level or equivalent experience to ensure delivery of this role
• Expert specialist knowledge of Procurement Act 2023 including extensive in-depth professional knowledge in a number of disciplines e.g. contract negotiation, financial management, performance management, information systems, healthcare operational management, and staff management acquired through training and experience over an extended period. This will be extensive in nature and gained through the development of in-depth theoretical knowledge and practical experience
• ECDL qualified or have equivalent experience. Must be proficient user of Microsoft Word and Excel and be able to create complex spreadsheets. An understanding and knowledge of multi-functional databases is required

Experience

• Evidence of delivering complex procurement projects
• Evidence of category management and tendering experience
• Demonstrable experience in senior management for a public service or healthcare delivery organisation
• Experience of process improvement, project management and change management within service delivery
• Experience of delivering complex statistical reports and messages to a diverse range of people
• Experience of analysing social, legal, economic, technological and political factors and providing appropriate briefings or guidance to Board level

Knowledge and Skills

• Advanced IT skills including knowledge of specialist software for contract management, electronic catalogue and e-procurement systems to ensure efficient use of procurement enablement technologies
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Microsoft Excel
• Able to successfully lead and work with teams

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is a member of the Business Disability Forum and is a Disability Confident Committed Employer.

In addition to the basic salary for all Agenda for Change posts, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust in line with the NHS Agenda for Change provides 15% or 20% High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) dependant on the location of your role. The supplement is subject to minimum and maximum payment.

High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) for part time employee will be based on the part time salary.

Please note, the selection processes at London Ambulance Service are in place to ensure we recruit candidates with the right skills and values, please be advised that the use of AI in applications is monitored. We remain vigilant against candidates who misuse these tools to generate an application that doesn’t accurately reflect their skills, and you will be required to declare on your application if AI has been used before submitting your application.

Correspondence regarding an application will be done via email to all job applicants. Please ensure you provide a current e-mail address on the job application form and please check your email inbox regularly.

If you are successful at interview and offered employment, your personal details will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Pre-employment checks will be required for all applicants who are issued with a conditional offer of employment. This includes Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) checks as required for the post and registration with the DBS update service. Documents presented for the purpose of Identity Checks will be verified for authenticity via an ID Scanner. The security features to be checked include machine readable zone, ultra violet image and infra-red image.

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust reserves the right to close adverts before the published closing date due to high volumes of applications received.

If you do not hear back from us within four weeks of the advert closing date, please assume that you have not been successful at the shortlisting stage.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.