View Vacancy - Regional Procurement Lead

Main purpose of job:

To work as part of the Regional Procurement Team that sits within the FCO Commercial Directorate; working with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders on all aspects of Procurement delivery, review, monitoring and reporting. Assist the Regional Procurement Hub Manager in day-to-day delivery.

FCO Commercial takes responsibility for the acquisition of all goods and services required by the organisation whether bought at home in the UK or at one of our 260 office locations around the world. We do this by directly managing high value procurement activities, creating, and implementing the policies and procedures for everything else.

In order to provide an effective and efficient service, FCO Commercial underwent a global transformation in 2015. The FCO Board implemented a new regional structure for Finance, Procurement and HR across the whole network, realising cost reductions and global spend savings, whilst keeping quality high by reforming the way we manage procurement across the network.

The new Procurement Operating Model requires procurement expertise in the regional organisation structure. Providing expert service to our global network of locations whilst retaining the ability to deliver efficiently on behalf of several locations and maintain links with the central procurement function in the UK. Procurement is a delivery partner to the FCO business, providing advice and expertise to the business across the procurement lifecycle though to a shared responsibility for the successful delivery of larger procurement projects.

The Regional Procurement Lead will support the Regional Procurement Head and Mexico Procurement Manager in delivering procurement services across the regional network of office locations. In addition to delivering regional procurement projects, you will be responsible for ensuring that procurement processes operate smoothly and consistently within the region and build relationships with the key regional suppliers. You will be forecasting requirements for goods and services across category areas and proactively researching suppliers who help the FCO to meet its VFM objective. You will work closely with a wide variety of internal customers; helping to identify, specify and meet their requirements.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

•Regional Procurement Delivery (above £25K): To assist the Regional Procurement manager in Mexico in leading procurements from a group of Posts, responsible for end-to-end procurement process. From the tender of various procurement/contract-related goods, services or work projects, including sourcing of suppliers, input and agreement of specification, preparation of tender documentation, liaison and coordination with suppliers to clarify requirements, coordination and evaluation of bids, seek appropriate approval, direct negotiation, agreement of contracts and management and closure of contracts, ensuring that they meet legal, audit, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office requirements.

•Identifying Regional Opportunities: To work closely with colleagues at UK’s Embassies and Consulates in the region and Procurement Category Teams in the UK to deliver Procurement activity to a standardised process, proactively seeking opportunities to buy efficiently through common procurement routes or approaches to market.

•Supplier Relationship Management: To review, report and manage contract and framework use in the region, to act as the Supplier Relationship Manager where appropriate for regional suppliers including resolution of contractual disputes, taking appropriate action to protect the FCO’s interest.

•Support Regional Procurement Managers: To work closely with the Regional Procurement Manager helping to deliver the in region strategy, help develop category strategies, delivering regional objectives.

This role provides an excellent opportunity to learn about project management skills as well as to advance your commercial expertise. There is scope for gaining experience in a number of areas of the procurement process and there could be the opportunity to obtain relevant professional qualifications (Chartered Institute of Procurement) and skills as a procurement lead. Your skills will not only have currency in the FCO (both in the UK and overseas), but will also enable you to pursue further a career in a number of areas elsewhere in the public or private sector. 

This is a challenging role and is suited to a dynamic, self-starter proactive with a proven track record in procurement. We are looking for someone who is confident and can solve problems and launch themselves into new tasks with energy and enthusiasm. You will be working as a part of the Regional Procurement Hub and with a wide range of people from different backgrounds, including other government departments.

• Graduate calibre and/or qualified by experience, ideally with relevant post-graduate or professional qualification (e.g. holds or is studying towards CIPS- CPSM).
• Minimum 2-4 years relevant experience of sourcing or buying Goods, Services and Works for an International organisation or with a regional presence.  
• Proven track record of working to deadlines and meeting targets and some experience of project management and delivery.
• Flexibility, willingness and ability to adapt to change.
• Developing as a persuasive presenter, facilitator and negotiator with the ability to influence to support the achievement of FCO Commercial objectives.
• Able to monitor external sources of data and intelligence and to pro-actively share relevant information with others in and across the global procurement organisation where relevant.
• Excellent working knowledge of MS Office, Internet, e-mail applications etc.
• Focuses on expected impact and results and responds positively to feedback;
• Promotes teamwork and shows conflict resolution skills;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates oral and written communication skills in both English and Spanish/Portuguese;
• Supports the team in building strong relationships with stakeholders and external actors;
• Supports the team in building strong relationships with stakeholders and external actors;
• High interpersonal skills, and ability to remain calm, in control and good attitude under pressure;
• Ability to prioritize assignments and requirements, and multitask as needed;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates skills to liaise and work with varied stakeholders especially technical experts.

Language requirements:

Language: Spanish, English and Portuguese- Desirable

Level of language required: Fluent- Desirable