Procurement Officer

Sport England; Loughborough; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a motivated procurement professional to join their dynamic team. This role offers the opportunity to engage in meaningful procurement activities while supporting the organization’s mission to transform lives through sport. As part of a collaborative environment, you will provide essential procurement advice, manage significant procurement spend, and develop strong relationships across the business. Ideal for someone eager to grow their career in procurement, this position promises a fulfilling journey with a focus on inclusivity and innovation. If you are passionate about making a difference and advancing your skills, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement processes and contract management is essential.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills are required.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality procurement advice to support operations.
• Build relationships to drive procurement delivery aligned with strategic priorities.
• Lead the Procurement Team in maintaining project trackers.

Skills

Procurement processes

Contract management

Tendering requirements

Relationship building

Negotiating skills

Project management

Analytical skills

Excel proficiency

Communication skills

Problem-solving skills

Education

CIPS qualifications (or willingness to start)

Tools

eSourcing tools

Contract database tools

Job description

At Sport England, we want everyone regardless of age, background or level of ability to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity.

Our 10-year Strategy, Uniting the Movement, sets out our vision to transform lives and communities through sport and physical activity. The Procurement function provides support and expertise to the rest of the organisation to ensure risk is minimised and value is maximised so that every pound spent can help us achieve our mission. As an arm’s length body of DCMS, Sport England is bound by public contract regulations, so this role would suit someone looking to develop their career, learn and develop best-practice and lead on placing contracts and supporting the organisation in delivering its goals.

Reporting to the Head of Procurement and working alongside a Procurement Manager, this role supports the business to manage approximately £50 million of procurement spend per year, providing advice and guidance to improve the understanding and delivery of procurement across the organisation. The role also supports the Procurement and Facilities Manager to provide advice and help for employees to do their work effectively through managing visitor pass requests and purchasing of office-related stationery and peripherals.

Role Purpose

You will be responsible for:

• Providing practical, high quality and timely procurement advice and guidance as required in pursuit of Sport England’s day to day operations.
• Building strong collaborative relationships across the business to manage and drive procurement delivery ensuring they are in line with our strategic priorities.
• Supporting the Head of Procurement to develop timely and robust reporting, for internal and external use.
• Leading the Procurement Team to maintain an accurate tracker and pipeline of projects, as well as becoming a super-user of the eSourcing tool.
• Supporting the organisation in delivering its core values in being collaborative, ambitious, inclusive and innovative.
• Assisting with Facilities and Estates related administrative requests (such as for building access requests).

We are looking for someone that has an interest in developing a procurement career, ideally someone who has started on this journey having gained early experience within the public sector. You should have strong communication skills with the ability to build relationships and advise our stakeholders ensuring the procurement process is efficient and successful. Additionally, you should demonstrate an ability to manage multiple projects with an aptitude for reporting and organisational skills.

Sport England recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly where we are under-represented. Currently, this includes disabled people and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Some experience of procurement processes and knowledge of contract management, tendering requirements and e-procurement.
• Strong relationship building, negotiating and influencing skills.
• Excellent project management, organisation and prioritisation skills.
• Experience of advising on a range of procurement activity spanning differing levels of value and risk.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; strong IT skills, demonstrable Excel and reporting capabilities.
• Willingness to start or has started on CIPS qualifications.

Desirable

• Working knowledge of public procurement processes and procedures and the Public Contract Regulations (PCR 2015), as well as background understanding of the Procurement Act 2023.
• Experience of a variety of different procurement procedures including but not limited to frameworks, and over-PCR (2015) threshold procedures.
• Experience using eSourcing and/or contract database tools.