Procurement Specialist (Programme Development)

Anglian Water Group Ltd.; Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private health care

26 days annual leave

Flexible working

Pension with company match

Bonus scheme

Wellbeing benefits

Job summary

Anglian Water is recruiting a Procurement Specialist to lead strategic sourcing for the Programme Development team, shaping procurement plans for major capital projects such as the AWRC and desalination schemes.

This role demands strong negotiation and stakeholder management to drive cost reduction, consolidate spend, run RFI/RFP tendering, and deliver value-enhancing agreements, with hybrid working and a Peterborough base.

Qualifications

• CIPS professional standard and membership or studying towards.
• Experience in procurement of operational services and/or capital projects.
• Experience running a complex tender process including the RFI/RFP process.
• Ability to run complex strategic sourcing events from strategy to completion.
• Experience building commercial models, developing meaningful and realistic KPI’s.
• Proven experience of negotiation to achieve valued business outcomes.
• Building strong working relationships with stakeholders and third parties.
• A willingness to think and challenge standard protocols.
• Ability to manage a varied portfolio and associated workplan with a can‑do attitude.
• Cost optimisation of market or commercial opportunities.
• Overseeing supplier performance to ensure best practice is always followed.
• Ensuring agreements support the Purchase to Pay process and allow for ease and effective procurement.
• Understanding and taking an interest in key trends and any regulatory impacts within the market, using these to help develop both category and sourcing plans to exploit or mitigate these, whilst ensuring creative solutions are aligned to our business objectives

Responsibilities

• Provide a strategic sourcing function to the Programme Development team and deliver a procurement plan for a range of spend categories.
• Identify opportunities for consolidating spend, improving resilience and undertaking tendering processes.
• Support the development of call‑off agreements and manage supplier performance.
• Drive cost reduction and stakeholder engagement to meet business needs.
• Demonstrate project management and an ability to respond to changing requirements.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Tender management

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Cost reduction

Supplier performance

Project portfolio management

Can-do attitude

Regulatory awareness

Education

CIPS qualification or studying towards

Job description

Salary £40k - £45k, salary dependent on skills and experience Permanent Full time with flexibility for part-time Hybrid working; home working and Peterborough Office (2-3 days in the office) It’s an exciting time to join Anglian Water as we deliver an £11bn business plan over the next 5 years – the biggest we have ever delivered. Join us as a Procurement Specialist and take the lead in shaping our strategic sourcing initiatives in the key area of Programme Development, helping to develop major capital projects that will improve resilience against climate change. Typical schemes include the development of an Advanced Water Recycling Centre (AWRC) and two Desalination schemes which were included in the 2024 Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP24). This is your chance to make a significant impact by delivering commercially astute agreements that enable the business to deliver high quality outcomes for our customers and the environment. Providing a strategic sourcing function to the Programme Development team, you’ll be responsible for creating and delivering a procurement plan for a range of spend categories to support the development of its project portfolio. This will include identifying opportunities for consolidating spend, improving resilience and undertaking tendering processes as well as supporting the development of call‑off agreements. With project values of upto £750m already in development, the role will be diverse in its exposure and provide exposure to large infrastructure projects. You will be someone who is happy to take ownership to drive cost reduction and supplier performance improvement, whilst providing a strong procurement service to our business stakeholders. The ability to project manage will be critical to your success in this role along with a proven track record of excellent stakeholder engagement and management. An ability to ‘hear’ and understand the business needs are essential requirements. You'll need to deliver effective strategies with tangible value‑add benefits that achieve the business outcomes. Working as part of a team you will identify opportunities, and through improved working practices with our supply chain partners you will identify spend trends, manage sustainable procurement risks, and negotiate spot buys to meet our evolving business needs. Join us in this exciting opportunity to transform procurement practices and contribute to environmental and social prosperity in the Anglian Water region.

What does it take to be a Procurement Specialist?

• CIPS Professional standard and membership or studying towards
• Experience in Procurement of operational services and/or capital projects
• Demonstrable experience of running a complex tender process including the RFI/RFP process
• The ability to run complex strategic sourcing events from strategy to completion
• Experience of building commercial models, developing meaningful and realistic KPI’s
• Proven experience of negotiation to achieve valued business outcomes
• Building strong working relationships with stakeholders and third parties
• A willingness to think and challenge standard protocols
• Ability to manage a varied portfolio and associated workplan with a can‑do attitude
• Cost optimisation of market or commercial opportunities
• Overseeing supplier performance to ensure best practice is always followed
• Ensuring agreements support the Purchase to Pay process and allow for ease and effective procurement
• Understanding and taking an interest in key trends and any regulatory impacts within the market, using these to help develop both category and sourcing plans to exploit or mitigate these, whilst ensuring creative solutions are aligned to our business objectives

As a valued employee, you’ll be entitled to:

• Personal private health care
• 26 days annual leave – rising with length of service
• Flexible working
• Competitive pension scheme – Anglian Water double-matches your contributions up to 6%
• Bonus scheme
• Flexible benefits to support your wellbeing and lifestyle.

Why Anglian Water?

As the water sector continues to face major financial, regulatory and environmental challenges over the coming years, Anglian Water and its Partners have continued to set the pace with innovative ideas and solutions to ensure that we deliver an outstanding service to our customers. As a result, we are looking for a self‑motivated and self‑assured Procurement Specialist with a sharp mind and who thrives in a fast‑paced environment. Anglian Water offers a flexible approach, this role provides you the flexibility to work from home and from an Anglian Water office. Your base location will be in Peterborough, with 2-3 days in the office.

Closing date: 1st November 2026 #loveeverydrop #LI-ZP1

We are committed to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve in both our workforce and our supply chain partners to help us to understand and meet the needs of our customers. We are passionate and dedicated to the learning and development of our people, making sure they have the right skills and knowledge to be successful and to help achieve their potential. We want to give everyone equal access to our recruitment process. If you have a disability or long-term condition, including neurodiversity and mental health conditions, we’ll support you throughout your application, and make any adjustments to make sure your disability or long‑term condition is not a barrier to recruitment.