Operational Buyer

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site Nursery

Beach Hut access

Wellness Centre

Job summary

Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust are seeking a motivated Buyer to join our Procurement & Supply Chain team within Single Corporate Services. You will provide end-to-end tactical purchasing support across multiple sites.

The role maintains NHS 30-day terms, raises requisitions and PO, and advises on procurement processes. We offer on-site nursery, Wellness Centre, Beach Hut access, and staff networks.

Qualifications

• Good general education including English and Maths.
• Strong customer service and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise workload, and use initiative.
• Experience in procurement or supply chain environments is desirable but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Raise and process requisitions and purchase orders.
• Manage invoice queries to ensure suppliers are paid within NHS 30-day terms.
• Support catalogue updates and maintenance.
• Obtain quotations and negotiate with suppliers to secure value for money.
• Advise departments on procurement processes, contracts, and purchasing best practice.
• Assist with identifying savings opportunities through spend analysis.
• Support the wider Procurement team with administrative and operational tasks.

Skills

Customer service

Communication

Independent working

Prioritisation

Procurement experience

Education

Mathematics & English to NVQ4

NVQ3 in Supply Chain Management

CIPS Level 2

Tools

Oracle

Job description

• Weekly Hours / Programmed Activities: 37.5
• Salary Band: Band 3
• Staff Group: Administrative and Clerical
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Job Area: Admin and Corporate

Company Description

Working as a partnership, both Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust have a shared vision for excellence in care for our patients and communities; with a set of strategic aims underpinning how we will achieve this.

The single corporate service is delivered across both organisations. You may be based at either IWT or PHU and individuals may be required to undertake business travel between sites. For leaders managing staff across multi-site locations, you will need to be visible and provide in person leadership. The arrangements and frequency will be agreed locally.

Job Description

This vacancy is open to employees of Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust only.

NHS Band 3 Salary:£25,760 - £27,476 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

We are looking for a motivated and customer‑focused Buyer to join our Procurement & Supply Chain team within Single Corporate Services. This role supports multiple NHS organisations and plays a key part in delivering an efficient, value‑driven procurement service.

About the role

As an Buyer, you will provide end‑to‑end tactical purchasing support, including raising requisitions, converting them into purchase orders, resolving invoice queries, and sourcing requirements through our eProcurement systems. You will act as a key contact for departments and suppliers, ensuring excellent customer service and adherence to Trust procurement policies.

Key responsibilities

• Raise and process requisitions and purchase orders.
• Manage invoice queries to ensure suppliers are paid within NHS 30‑day terms.
• Support catalogue updates and maintenance.
• Obtain quotations and negotiate with suppliers to secure value for money.
• Advise departments on procurement processes, contracts, and purchasing best practice.
• Assist with identifying savings opportunities through spend analysis.
• Support the wider Procurement team with administrative and operational tasks.

What we’re looking for

• Good general education, including English and Maths.
• Strong customer service and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise workload, and use initiative.
• Experience in procurement or supply chain environments is desirable but not essential.

For full job details and person specification please refer to enclosed job description .

Qualifications

• Good general standard of education including Mathematics and English Language to NVQ 4 or relevant equivalent.
• Must be prepared to work towards the completion of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) or equivalent.
• NVQ 3 in Supply Chain Management or Level 2 of CIPS
• Experience of using a procure to pay system e.g., Oracle
• Working knowledge of public sector procurement processes

Experience

• Ability to communicate in written and oral English.
• Ability to operate a personal computer with knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, database, and presentation software.
• Ability to understand and work with financial, administrative and personnel processes and practices.
• Good Communication: written & oral at all levels.
• Interpersonal, able to work as part of a large team.
• Able to use initiative and work independently.
• Well organised, able to prioritise workload
• Competent with Word, Excel and electronic cataloguing and procurement systems to an intermediate level
• Be able to identify trends from statistics in order to plan future areas of expenditure which could generate savings opportunities.

Experience of negotiating with suppliers and customers in a large organisation and a track record of achieving significant cost reductions. Experience of obtaining competitive quotations.

Additional Information

The health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of everything we do. We are proud to be able to offer our staff some fantastic benefits including our on-site Nursery, access to our free Beach Hut for those long summer days, our on-site Wellness Centre including a gym and a swimming pool, access to our fantastic staff networks including LGBTQ, Race Equality and Disability, and awards ceremonies to recognise your achievements. We believe we can offer support to all of our staff when they need it the most.

We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs.