Strategic Tech Procurement and Contracts Lead (Hybrid)

Reading Borough Council; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

25 days holiday

On-site day nursery

Season ticket loan

Lease car scheme

LGPS life assurance

Job summary

Reading Borough Council is seeking a Procurement & Contracts Manager to lead end-to-end procurement for Digital & Technology, overseeing software licensing, cloud services and digital infrastructure.

This role partners with budget holders across the Council to ensure value for money, compliance with Procurement Act 2023, and robust contract management for digital solutions.

Hybrid working with 1-2 days in the office; competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• Experience leading complex procurement programmes, ideally in the public sector.
• Strong understanding of contracts and commercial agreements.
• Ability to ensure governance and compliance.
• Knowledge of category management, supplier negotiations and risk mitigation.
• Budget management and financial planning within procurement operations.
• Familiarity with social value and sustainability principles.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end procurement processes, including complex tenders and competitive quotation exercises across a range of digital and technology requirements, ensuring timely and transparent delivery of a wide-ranging portfolio of projects.
• Ensure adherence to public procurement regulations, including the Procurement Act 2023 and associated legal frameworks.
• Support service leads in defining technical and commercial requirements, ensuring supplier engagement and market understanding for IT-related categories.
• Oversee the procurement of software including upgrades and renewals, ensuring alignment to technical architecture principles.
• Embed category management approaches to optimise outcomes, including consideration of lifecycle costs, interoperability, application rationalisation, data security and ongoing support needs.
• Support contract mobilisation and transition activities for digital systems and services, ensuring clarity of SLAs, KPIs, data handling requirements and risk management.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams and externalpartnersto ensure successful delivery of procurementactivities, meeting deadlines and achievingCouncil priorities.
• Incorporate social value, ethicalprocurementand sustainabilityprinciples into procurement strategies, supporting local economic growth and community development.

Skills

Procurement Act 2023

Public Contracts Regulations 2015

CIPS Level 4+

Procurement leadership

Category management

Supplier negotiations

Risk mitigation

Budget management

Stakeholder engagement

Education

CIPS Level 4+ qualification

Job description

Reading Borough Council is seeking a Procurement & Contracts Manager to lead end-to-end procurement for Digital & Technology, overseeing software licensing, cloud services and digital infrastructure.

This role partners with budget holders across the Council to ensure value for money, compliance with Procurement Act 2023, and robust contract management for digital solutions.

Hybrid working with 1-2 days in the office; competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package.