Job overview

Are you an experienced procurement professional ready to make a real impact in the NHS? We are seeking a Senior Procurement & Contracts Adviser to help shape procurement excellence across our vital mental health and learning disability services.

As a Senior Procurement and Contracts Adviser, you’ll lead a portfolio of compliant procurement projects ensuring compliance with UK Procurement legislation whilst delivering value for money, and wider social value benefits. Across a range of categories (with a particular focus on ICT, estates and facilities, and corporate service contracts), you will be expected to develop and implement procurement strategies, as well as provide informed commercial advice.

This role is for an experienced Procurement professional with demonstrable experience in tendering public sector contracts (£500k+) across various categories. You'll need in-depth knowledge of UK procurement legislation strong commercial acumen, and excellent communication skills.

Join a supportive, forward-thinking team that offers hybrid working, opportunities  to lead collaborative projects across Kent, and a chance to make a meaningful impact on patient care and services. You'll also benefit from continuous professional development. This is a full-time post, but flexible working can be considered (with a minimum one day a week in the office).

Please note that due to an urgent need to recruit for this vacancy and ongoing financial constraints, we are unable to provide sponsorship.

Main duties of the job

As a Senior Procurement & Contracts Advise, you will:

• Lead and deliver a programme of compliant procurement projects from initiation to contract award, some of which will be high value. This includes utilising appropriate procurement routes such as tendering, framework mini competitions, quotations etc.
• Develop tender documentation, evaluation criteria, and contract terms in line with UK procurement legislation.
• Provide expert advice on contract disputes, and supplier negotiations.
• Identify and deliver cost savings, net zero and social value benefits.
• Analyse spend data to inform work planning and risk mitigation.
• Support procurement governance and embed best practices across the Trust.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Supervise and mentor junior procurement staff, supporting their development.
• Represent the Trust in collaborative procurement initiatives across the Integrated Care System.
• Ensure compliance with Trust policies, Standing Financial Instructions, and relevant legislation.

Working for our organisation

Come and work with us in the Garden of England where we combine exceptional professional development opportunities with a tremendous quality of life.

We are Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), providing mental health, learning disability and specialist services, serving 1.8 million people in Kent and Medway, as well as specialist services for adults in Sussex and Surrey. We are rated Good overall by the CQC.

Each year we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 people in the community.

We are proud to employ over 3,800 people from 66 nationalities, and to serve an increasingly diverse range of communities across rural and urban areas.

You will be joining friendly, passionate colleagues, rich in their diversity, who are committed to providing excellent care to our service users and their loved ones.

The nature of our work attracts kindness and compassion as standard and everyone from our cleaners and porters to the chief executive and chairman are recognised as playing a vital role in providing an exemplary service.

Our strategy

Our mission is what we set out to do every day
We deliver brilliant care through brilliant people

Our vision is where we want to be in the future
To provide outstanding care and to work in partnership to deliver this in the right place, for every service user, every time.

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