Procurement Category Specialist - Children's Services

Sellick Partnership; West Midlands; Remote; GBP 92,000 - 101,000; Full time

Job summary

Sellick Partnership is partnering with a Local Authority to appoint a Procurement Category Specialist focusing on Children’s Services. The role is a remote, day-rate contract with an initial 3-month term rolling into 12+ months, located in the West Midlands.

You will develop and execute category strategies, lead complex sourcing projects and collaborate with commissioners and senior stakeholders to shape procurement pipelines and improve commercial outcomes across the category.

Qualifications

• Significant procurement experience within public sector, with focus on Children’s Services.
• Experience in developing category strategies and procurement pipelines.
• Strong understanding of public sector commissioning and working with commissioners.
• Ability to influence stakeholders and advise on commercial decisions.

Responsibilities

• Work with Children’s Services commissioners to understand service requirements and priorities.
• Develop and implement a clear category strategy and a prioritized procurement pipeline.
• Translate commissioning needs into procurement plans and sourcing strategies.
• Lead and support complex, high-value procurement exercises from planning to award and implementation.
• Use market intelligence to identify opportunities, assess risks and inform decisions.
• Provide commercial challenge to commissioners to ensure deliverable and sustainable proposals.
• Balance compliance, cost, capacity and service quality in procurement solutions.
• Build relationships across procurement, commissioning, finance and operations to support delivery.

Skills

Procurement experience

Children's Services

Local government

Category management

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Role Title: Procurement Category Specialist - Children's Services

Day Rate: £500 to £550 per day (Outside IR35)
Location: West Midlands
Contract: Initial 3-month contract, rolling (likely duration of 12+ months)

Working Arrangements: Fully remote assignment

Sellick Partnership are working with a Local Authority for this exciting opportunity as a Procurement Category Specialist, specialising in Children's Services. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing the Council's procurement strategy, working closely with commissioners and senior stakeholders to shape the procurement pipeline, lead complex sourcing projects and improve commercial outcomes across the category, with additional collaboration across Adults and Public Health.

The responsibilities of the Procurement Category Specialist will be:

• Working with Children's Services commissioners to understand service requirements, upcoming procurement activity and key priorities.
• Developing and implementing a clear category strategy and prioritised procurement pipeline.
• Translating commissioning needs into effective procurement plans and commercially sound sourcing strategies.
• Leading and supporting complex, high-value procurement exercises from initial planning through to contract award and implementation.
• Using market intelligence to identify opportunities, assess commercial risks and inform procurement decisions.
• Providing constructive commercial advice and challenge to commissioners, helping shape proposals and ensure they are deliverable and sustainable.
• Balancing compliance, cost effectiveness, provider capacity and service quality when developing procurement solutions.
• Building effective relationships across procurement, commissioning, finance and operational teams to support successful delivery.

The ideal candidate for the Procurement Category Specialist role will have:

• Significant procurement experience, with specialist knowledge of the Children's Services category, ideally within local government.
• A strong understanding of public sector commissioning and experience working closely with commissioners and senior stakeholders.
• A proven track record of developing category management strategies, procurement plans and sourcing pipelines.
• Knowledge of Children's Services provider markets, potentially including children's social care, SEND, specialist placements, social worker supply, early intervention and third-sector services.
• Experience managing and delivering complex or high-value service procurement projects.
• The ability to influence and constructively challenge stakeholders, using commercial insight and market knowledge to support decision‑making.
• An understanding of the links between Children's Services, Adults and Public Health commissioning and procurement.
• A proactive, pragmatic and delivery-focused approach, with the confidence to work autonomously within a changing environment.

Sellick Partnership is proud to be an inclusive and accessible recruitment business and we support applications from candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances. Please note, our advertisements use years' experience, hourly rates, and salary levels purely as a guide and we assess applications based on the experience and skills evidenced on the CV. For information on how your personal details may be used by Sellick Partnership, please review our data processing notice on our website.