Job vacancy: Apprentice Buyer, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 317 Trustwide

Job summary

Main area: 317 Supplies - Corporate
Grade: Apprentice Band 2 - Band 3
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 317-2025-23-029

Employer: The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Trustwide
Town: 317 Trustwide
Salary: £24,169 - £25,674 Per Annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 06/07/2025 23:59
Interview date: 17/07/2025

Apprentice Buyer

Apprentice Band 2 - Band 3

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.

We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Apprenticeship Posts “You will need to be able to meet all the eligibility requirements as prescribed by the apprenticeship criteria to undertake the role”.

To be eligible for an apprenticeship you must:

Have the right to work and remain in the UK.
Have lived in the UK for at least 3 years.
Provide original evidence of required English and maths qualifications.

Further information:

You will not be considered if you have an equivalent or higher qualification in the same or a very similar subject.
You must not be engaged in any other funded training or education programme.
We cannot sponsor applicants during or on successful completion of the apprenticeship so please ensure you meet visa status eligibility.
We cannot accept applications from student visa applicants.

Please be advised if you are a 'Non-UK National' applicant you must meet the eligibility criteria and fulfil the settlement requirements of the apprenticeship course funding. Your settlement status will need to be verified as eligible for funding, by the relevant apprenticeship provider, for you to formally enrol on the course.

Further details can be found on the UK Government website.

Job Purpose
• Be part of a small team of buyers, supervised by a Team Leader which will be responsible for the order processing and customer service activity relating to a discrete group of requisitioning departments
• Ensure that ‘requisitioned to order’ lead times are adhered to
• Ensure that goods/services ordered are progressed and delivered to the
requisitioning department in a timely manner
• Ensure that invoice queries relating to orders placed are resolved satisfactorily within set target time
• Ensure effective communications with requisitioning departments
• Ensure that the procurement process is compliant with the Trust’s Corporate Governance
• Completion of NVQ Level 3 Business Administration

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Person specification

KNOWLEDGE

Essential criteria

Understand a range of work procedures and practices, which require a base level of theoretical knowledge through formal training or equivalent experience

SKILLS

Essential criteria

Good keyboard skills with experience of MS Office Suite including Word and Excel
Good customer service skills
Good numeric and literacy skills
Good communication and organisational skills

EXPERIENCE

Essential criteria

Experience of working in a team

Desirable criteria

Previous purchasing experience

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential criteria

5 GCSEs (or equivalent), including the English and Maths
English and Maths at Level 2 (GCSE 9-4 or A*-C, or Functional/Key Skills at Level 2).

Desirable criteria

European Computer Driving Licence

Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form

All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.