Procurement Business Partner

Barts Health NHS Trust; Rainham; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in Rainham seeks a Procurement Business Partner to enhance procurement services across its portfolio. The role involves leading sourcing projects, ensuring compliance with regulations, and providing expert commercial guidance. Candidates should possess a relevant qualification and experience in procurement, along with strong negotiation and analytical skills. The position supports a dynamic environment focused on value-driven outcomes and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• High standard or general education including English and Mathematics.
• Must be prepared to work towards becoming a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-quality procurement activities across defined categories.
• Manage complex sourcing projects and supplier relationships.
• Negotiate with suppliers to achieve savings.

Skills

Negotiation skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Project management skills

Customer service skills

Education

Relevant first degree or equivalent experience

Management qualification

Project / Change Management qualification

Tools

Excel

Job description

Job overview

The Procurement Business Partner plays a key role in delivering high-quality, value-driven procurement services across the Trusts within the North East London Procurement Partnership (NELPP). The role supports the delivery of the Procurement Strategy by leading strategic and operational procurement activities across a defined portfolio of goods and services, ensuring compliance with public sector legislation and driving continuous improvement.

The post holder will act as a trusted advisor to clinical, operational, and corporate stakeholders, providing expert commercial guidance to secure best value, efficiency, and sustainability. They will manage complex sourcing projects, supplier relationships, and contract performance to ensure that procurement outcomes align with the Trusts’ financial and quality objectives.

Working closely with the Head of Procurement, Chief Procurement Officer, and Senior Procurement Business Partners, the role contributes to wider strategic initiatives, including achieving NHS Procurement & Commercial Standards accreditation. The successful candidate will demonstrate strong analytical, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, a proactive approach to stakeholder engagement, and a commitment to delivering excellence through the Trust’s WeCare values.

Main duties of the job

The Procurement Business Partner will lead and deliver high-quality procurement activities across defined categories within the Trusts, ensuring compliance with procurement legislation and achieving value for money. The role involves developing category strategies, managing tender processes, and building strong partnerships with stakeholders and suppliers to support clinical and operational priorities.

Key responsibilities include leading sourcing projects from planning to contract award, negotiating with suppliers to achieve savings and service improvements, and providing expert advice on procurement policy and regulations. The post holder will manage supplier performance, monitor benefits realisation, and contribute to achieving NHS Procurement & Commercial Standards accreditation.

The successful candidate will have excellent communication, negotiation, and analytical skills, with the ability to influence at all levels. They will demonstrate commercial awareness, sound judgement, and a proactive approach to problem-solving. A commitment to collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement—aligned to the Trust’s WeCare values—is essential, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced and dynamic environment.

Working for our organisation

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world‑class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high‑performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm‑free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are dedicated to being an outstanding place to work and will work with you to get the best experience. We know flexible working is not a one size fits all and will mean something different to everyone. We are inclusive, so if you are interested in flexible working, please speak to the recruiting manager.

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• High standard or general education including English and Mathematics
• Relevant first degree, equivalent relevant vocational qualification, training or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Must have or be prepared to work towards the completion of becoming a Qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (MCIPS).
• Excellent verbal, written, presentational and numerical data analysis skills
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development; post education learning, or post graduate equivalent accreditation
• Management qualification
• Project / Change Management qualification
• Higher level of competency with Excel and procurement systems

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of a customer service environment
• Procurement, tendering and contract management experience
• Extensive experience of competitive tenders/quotations
• Reviewing and negotiating with suppliers and stakeholders across an organisation and a track record of achieving cost reductions and cost avoidance
• Managing projects to time and budget, using appropriate tools and methodologies
• Experience of managing staff and/or resources
• Experience of leading projects within multidisciplinary teams to deliver significant change
• Training and mentoring experience

Desirable criteria

• Working knowledge of NHS and the issues facing procurement teams

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable knowledge of public sector procurement
• Experience and training in contract & category research and source planning
• Specialist day to day procurement knowledge relating to a range of categories of non-pay spend
• Understanding and experience of how business case development and approvals add value to the procurement function and inform investment decisions
• Expertise in public sector procurement and contract management obtained via further training and experience or the equivalent.
• A working knowledge of contract law

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of products and services relative to the NHS

Skills

Essential criteria

• Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
• Understanding and ability to apply project management tools and techniques to procurement activities where appropriate
• Clearly manage priorities for self and others in order to meet specific deadlines
• Encourage and provide feedback to staff to aid their development
• Willingness to develop additional technical and specialist knowledge and skills in operational and procurement functions
• Communicate effectively and confidently across all clinical and non-clinical disciplines
• Proactively manage stakeholder requests in a timely manner, and manage expectations
• Learn and develop self and others
• Good Communication: written & oral at senior manager level
• Interpersonal, able to work as part of a large team
• Able to use initiative and work independently
• Well organised, able to prioritise workload
• Strong customer service skills
• Create, develop and maintain working relationships with client managers to achieve corporate and team objectives
• Perform as a good team player and demonstrate interactive working with financial managers
• Ability to understand and operate effectively within potential political sensitivities of an organisation
• Demonstrable skills in managing and optimising procurement systems such as Procure to Pay (P2P) and eSourcing systems

Desirable criteria

• Stakeholder analysis, engagement and management
• Understanding of NHS procurement landscape

Other

Essential criteria

• To be able to travel effectively throughout the Trust

Visa Sponsorship Information

Recent changes to UK immigration policy on the Health and Care Visa and Skilled Worker Visa could mean that this role is not eligible for sponsorship or that you may not meet the eligibility criteria.

Sponsorship can only be offered if this post and any individual offered employment meet all the Home Office’s requirements under the UK Skilled Worker visa scheme.

If you are applying from outside the UK or will require sponsorship, please mention this clearly in your application.

To be eligible for sponsorship, the following conditions must be met:

• Eligible role: The position must be on the UK Skilled Worker visa list. You can check your eligibility here: - .
• Salary threshold: The role must meet the minimum salary set by the Home Office. Please note that for roles employed under Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions, the High‑Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) is not included when calculating the basic salary for the purposes of sponsorship.
• Skill level: The role must meet the minimum skill requirement of RQF Level 6 or above (graduate level).
• English language: Applicants must demonstrate English proficiency at CEFR level B1 or higher.
• Other criteria: Applicants must meet all other criteria as set out by the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)