Interim Category Specialist – Professional Services

1st Executive Ltd; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 14,945,000 - 19,096,000; Full time

Job summary

1st Executive Ltd. is seeking an Interim Category Specialist for Professional Services in Reading to own end-to-end procurement and tendering for indirect and professional services, including engineering and project-management consultancy.

The role requires 5+ years in procurement, strong stakeholder management, and solid knowledge of public sector procurement rules (PCR 2015/UCR and the Procurement Act 2023). Reading with a minimum of two days on site.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' Procurement or Commercial experience.
• Proven experience delivering procurements and tendering exercises.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across different levels of an organisation.
• The ability to manage and prioritise a wide and demanding workload, rather than focusing on just a small number of projects.
• A good understanding of public sector procurement regulations.
• Experience or knowledge of relevant public procurement legislation, including PCR 2015 / UCR and the Procurement Act 2023.

Responsibilities

• Managing end-to-end procurement and tendering activity across professional services and related indirect categories.
• Working closely with stakeholders to understand requirements, shape procurement approaches and deliver commercially sound outcomes.
• Managing multiple projects simultaneously, prioritising effectively in a high-volume environment.
• Providing procurement guidance to stakeholders and confidently handling challenging or complex situations.
• Working with existing frameworks and supporting framework call-offs where appropriate.
• Applying public sector procurement knowledge and best practice to procurement activity.
• Working collaboratively as part of a growing professional services and consultancy procurement team.

Skills

Procurement

Commercial experience

Stakeholder management

Public sector procurement

Job description

1st Executive Ltd. is seeking an Interim Category Specialist for Professional Services in Reading to own end-to-end procurement and tendering for indirect and professional services, including engineering and project-management consultancy.

The role requires 5+ years in procurement, strong stakeholder management, and solid knowledge of public sector procurement rules (PCR 2015/UCR and the Procurement Act 2023). Reading with a minimum of two days on site.