Operational Buyer

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

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Job summary

Who are SoEPS

The NHS South of England Procurement Services are a specialist team that has been set up to support Portsmouth Hospitals and Isle of Wight Hospital NHS Trusts.

The NHS South of England Procurement Services (SoEPS) are a specialist team providing an end-to-end Procurement & Supply Chain service supporting local NHS Trusts. This involves the management of the strategic Procurement activity for Portsmouth University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Isle of Wight NHS Trust. We also support the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in Sussex, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight Commissioning organisations

The South of England Procurement Team manage in excess of £700M spend and are responsible for 2,000+ supplier contracts covering both clinical services & supplies as well as non-clinical (indirects) across the 4 NHS organisations that we support.

Working for our organisation

At SOEPS we believe in growing our own talent and we encourage learning and development in a mutually supportive environment and although we are set up to deliver discreet category areas, we enjoy a one-team ethos and cross team working is encouraged.

We are a fun, social, diverse team who are looking for people who want to develop and climb the career ladder through hard work and dedication whilst having a fun at the same time.

Main duties of the job

The Opportunity

If you are interested in a new role in Procurement or looking to further develop your career in Procurement, then we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our growing Procurement team supporting the NHS and to make a real difference!

The successful candidate will be an integral part of our Procurement Operational-Buying Team, they will receive hands on practical training and will be involved in supporting across a wide range of projects, challenges and building their expertise procuring a diverse range of Clinical / non-Clinical services and supplies to support our NHS client base.

This role immerses the candidate into a dynamic and fast-paced operational buying environment where you will have the opportunity to develop your career path through tactical-operational buying through to strategic procurement, underpinned by ongoing professional development and full support towards achieving your CIPS qualifications.

Main duties of the job

Working with key stakeholders to understand their needs & requirements and providing procurement advice.

Managing and fulfilling the requisition to purchase order process, involving identifying sources of supply, obtaining quotations, negotiating prices/terms & conditions with suppliers and placing timely POs.

Identifying and delivering cost savings and best value outcomes.

About us

The Trust is committed to driving excellence in care for our patients and communities and was rated good by the Care Quality Commission report published 2020 and became a University Hospital. We are ranked as the third in the country for research; embedding education and training across the organisation and we continuously strive to achieve our core values which are at the heart of everything we do. The Trusts main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, starting life as a military hospital over a century ago and now one of the largest hospitals on the south coast and you may have seen us on the TV series Nurses on the Ward. The Trust provides comprehensive secondary care and specialist services to a local population of 675,000 people across South East Hampshire. The Trust employs over 8,000 staff and are #ProudtobePHU; our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because its the right thing to do, but because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for providing outstanding care and support for patients, colleagues and our community you will find a home at PHU. In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your education, opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veterans status, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

Date posted

28 March 2023

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 3

Salary

£21,730 to £23,177 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C8192-CS-22-1205c

Job locations

Unit 8 Manor Court

Barnes Wallis Road,

Segensworth, Fareham

PO15 5TH

Job description

Job responsibilities

Specific Core Functions

1. Procurement Advisory - provide end users with procurement advise to support our front line services.

2. Operational Buying - responsibility for managing the requisition to purchase order placement for both. Clinical and non-Clinical services and supplies up to a PO/contract value of £50K, this activity will include:

Identifying available national contracts to be able to make an informed decision on the most appropriate buying route and when better value will be obtained by producing a bespoke quotation exercise for one or more of our clients.

Identifying new sources of supply and completing competitive quotation and tendering exercises as required using an e-procurement source to contract system.

Undertake procurement activity in line with procurement regulations and Trust Standing Orders/Financial Instructions.

3. Catalogue Management - Support for the setup, updating and maintenance of all electronic relevant to the client organisation.

Communicating with suppliers and user departments.

Support in the development and implementation of operational procurement processes.

NHS Trust Expectations of the Job Holder

The post holder is expected to:

1. Proactively and positively contribute to the successful overall performance of the procurement team.

2. Deliver excellent levels of customer service to our colleagues in the NHS Trusts that we support.

3. Act as an advocate and develop trusted adviser relationships with staff.

4. Develop and support the culture of collaborative, flexible cross-team working and commitment to delivering quality services and outcomes.

5. Work with sensitivity and an understanding of the issues facing those working to deliver health services to the UK population.

6. Comply with corporate governance structure in keeping with the principles and standards set out by the NHS Trusts that we support.

7. Develop effective ways of working and create strong partnerships and relationships with all stakeholders to support the implementation of the Governments policies on Health.

Key responsibilities

Responsibility for all procurement and supplier contracts and pricing agreements up to £50,000.

To manage and create purchase orders (POs) from electronic requisitions within Oracle, for goods and services to be ordered direct from suppliers on behalf of our NHS colleagues.

To obtain value for money for the services and supplies purchased by using existing contract arrangements or carrying out a competitive quotation process and negotiating best possible prices with suppliers.

To ensure all procurement-buying activity is conducted compliantly, within NHS Financial Instructions/Policies, public sector procurement regulations and procedures.

Responsible for the placing purchasing orders including ad hoc/spot buying, blanket orders and call off orders in accordance with agreed procedures and performance targets.

Query Management handling a range of procurement related queries covering requisitions/requisition approvals, POs, goods receipting, pricing and invoice queries.

To process invoice queries and payment requests within Oracle on the Shared Business Service (SBS) platform and handle all associated queries.

To expedite and progress outstanding purchase orders with suppliers on behalf of departments in order to secure prompt and efficient delivery.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Customer service orientated

Confident with good communication skills (oral & written)

Problem solving abilities
Enthusiastic with a positive can-do approach
Persuasive with good influencing skills
Ability to prioritise
Hard working and diligent
Attention to detail
Computer literate with experience of Microsoft Office: Word, Teams, Excel and Outlook

Desirable criteria

Previous public and/or private sector procurement experience
Previous experience and or background working in the NHS in a procurement or customer service /administrative role

What we can offer

A generous starting salary package, NHS Pension Scheme and Blue Light Discounts & Benefits

Annual leave starting at 27 days rising to 33 days with continued service

Excellent work-life balance

Flexible hybrid working arrangements following training period

Ability to work at the main office hub in Fareham

Fully funded professional development & support towards CIPS qualifications including Corporate membership, study days, learning materials etc.

Free Car Parking at the Fareham hub.

On the job training for continuous development in Operational Procurement

The opportunity to develop your career & skill sets in Procurement working for the NHS

A fun, social and diverse team environment and a variety of procurement activities and projects to get involved in.