Procurement Category Manager

Job Introduction

Job Description for Procurement Category Manager:

There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of the nuclear sector. New opportunities are being created all the time. At NNL, you’ll be in the ideal place to capitalise on this momentum, face new challenges and develop a long, successful and meaningful career. 

We’re an organisation that’s here to experiment and push the limits of what’s possible. So, if you’re keen to excel in your chosen field, this is the place to do it. Because at NNL, anything is possible.

To support the VP- Procurement and Commercial in the delivery of agreed objectives in line with the procurement strategy, providing a robust commercial supply chain & procurement capability for NNL’s procurement requirements and acting as Procurement Business Partner with agreed Business Units. The postholder will deliver multiple complex procurements in parallel, ensuring that the resulting contracts protect NNL from unnecessary risk whilst delivering Value for Money and supporting NNLs Commercial contracts with a particular focus on category strategies.

Role Responsibility

Main Responsibilities for Procurement Category Manager:

• Support the VP- Procurement and Commercial in delivering the NNL procurement strategy, taking responsibility for engaging with key stakeholders to ensure early engagement, maximum value add and benefits realisation.
• Responsible for managing and delivering multiple sourcing / category strategies, either directly or via Senior Buyers and Buyers (dependent on value, risk and strategic importance to NNL). This will include but not be limited to:
  • Sourcing activities which generate benefits and achieve financial savings targets.
  • Market analysis and creation of markets where necessary.
  • Identification of internal and external cost drivers. 
  • Preparation of tender documentation and agreement of associated evaluation criteria.
  • Drafting and negotiation of Supply Chain contract Terms and Conditions, ensuring Flowdown Terms are integrated appropriately.
  • Support NNL’s bid process to ensure any sub-contract requirements are understood and underpinned as necessary.
• Lead cross functional Sourcing Teams to undertake compliant procurements in accordance with the approved Sourcing / Category Strategy, ensuring the team are aware of and adhere to their responsibilities.
• Negotiate high value and / or strategically important contractual agreements with suppliers to ensure that service, quality, cost, security of supply and the deployment of the suppliers’ capabilities in innovation are secured.
• Undertake and / or support strategic contract management where appropriate and continually develop supplier relationships through the SRM strategy.
• Support the VP – Procurement and Commercial in the implementation of new processes and systems to continually improve Procurement’s service provision including but not limited to exploring efficiencies through aggregation and category strategy deployment.
• Manage a team of Senior Buyers, Buyers and Assistant Buyers, setting objectives and monitor / manage performance and development of direct reports, dealing with performance issues appropriately.
• Support the collaborative procurement agenda by engaging with Collaborative Procurement Leads, deputising for VP – Procurement and Commercial at a number of internal and external meetings, and providing data and narrative for internal and external reports.

The Ideal Candidate

Essential Criteria for Procurement Category Manager:

• CIPS qualified (or working towards) and recognised as a procurement professional with substantial experience in the profession.
• Strong negotiating and influencing skills at all levels.
• Excellent team management and people skills.
• Experience of working in a fragmented team across multiple locations.
• Significant previous procurement experience with responsibility for delivery of procurement sourcing / category strategies.
• Significant experience of contract and supplier management.
• Excellent analytical, interpersonal and organisational skills.
• Good IT skills with pro-efficient use of main Microsoft tools (e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• Ability to obtain SC level security clearance (this includes but is not limited to identity, employment, financial and criminal record checks plus 5 years’ worth of UK residency).

Desirable Criteria for Procurement Category Manager:

• Experience in Public Sector procurement including a variety of procurement routes and knowledge of supporting regulatory framework.
• Extensive experience in contributing to the drafting of (and implementing) multiple forms of contract, which must include experience of implementing flowdown terms upstream and downstream.

About the Company

NNL is an incredible place to work A place where people do things that have never been done before A place where people push boundaries to further themselves, the business, and society as a whole.

This is a place where personal and professional opportunities are limitless. If you want to change the world, if you want to tackle climate change, if you want to help advance medical science, if you want to help put things in space, if you want to answer the big questions, if you want to work with extraordinary materials, if you want to meet great people, learn new skills, challenge yourself, work flexibly, and build a long successful career with the power to make a real impact… you can do it all here.

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service, and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.

Recruitment Agency Notice

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the provision of recruitment services. Only agencies on our PSL may provide CVs and only when the role is released to them by our recruitment team. We will not accept unsolicited CVs from suppliers not currently on our PSL. We explicitly reserve the right to add candidate details from unsolicited CVs from non-PSL agencies into our own candidate database and to pursue/hire such candidate(s) without any obligation, financial or otherwise, to the agency concerned.

National Nuclear Laboratory