Contract & Supplier Management Specialist

Venesky-Brown’s client, a public sector organisation in Edinburgh, is currently looking to recruit a Contract & Supplier Management Specialist for a 12 month Fixed Term Contract from February 2025 on a salary of £39,347 – £46,974/annum. This role will be hybrid working with a minimum of 2 anchor days in the office per week.

Responsibilities:

- Delivery of the supplier and contract management framework and associated procedures across the supplier portfolio, as well as direct management of contracted suppliers, to ensure strong performance and delivery of commitments (service performance, sustainability, financial/savings), also identifying opportunities and deliver improvements across key commercial relationships.This includes positively and proactively engaging with and influence strategic suppliers as well as developing a comprehensive understanding of the commodity supply market.

- Plan and prioritise supplier performance reviews and contract and governance diary, liaising with Strategic Procurement, Procurement Operations, Stores, Business Owners, etc. as appropriate. This includes holding regular internal meetings with the category to assess supplier processes and review the potential to improve key elements.

- Ensure the identification of commercial risk, develop and implement effective mitigation strategies and actions, and report the risk and progress with mitigation strategies internally (updated department risk register as required). In addition, ensure accurate contracts and supplier records and files are maintained and commercially sensitive information managed in line with information security standards.

- Provide resolution of disputes and claims, escalating to CSM Team Lead, Category Head and/or Legal as appropriate

- Input to the development of procurement strategies, specifications, service level agreements / key performance indicators, contract terms and conditions and implementation / mobilisation plans.

- Support with the on-boarding and mobilisation of new contracts / suppliers, including CSM support during programme execution or implementations (including milestones)

- Supporting a procurement category and inputting to the development of the category strategy, as well as support to wider procurement teams and stakeholders with best practice advice.

- Support the following:

i. Post-project reviews / lessons learned

ii. Business continuity planning and documentation

iii. Risk management and reporting as per defined processes

iv. Delivery of contract training sessions for the Procurement Team and staff

- Engage with suppliers to achieve the organisation’s environmental and social impact goals, including monitoring and reporting of delivery against tender commitments. (NA – embedded throughout)

- Other appropriate duties associated with the role.

Essential Skills:

- Significant experience of successful contract & supplier management, demonstrating improved value, operational effectiveness & reduced risk, identifying opportunities to deliver against organisational priorities.

- Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships with internal stakeholders and external suppliers.

- Experience in delivering cost efficiency, process improvements and additional benefits.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with the capacity to analyse data, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.

- Experienced managing multiple projects simultaneously, prioritizing tasks, and meeting deadlines.

- Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams, including procurement, legal, finance, and operations, to achieve common objectives.

- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject

- Relevant and recent contract management experience

- Good commercial competence, risk management, and strong negotiation skills

- Personal credibility and ethics; capacity and confidence to manage contracts and deliver change with aptitude for implementing and improving best-practice procedures.

- Excellent and highly responsive customer management skills.

- An aptitude for dealing with complex issues, reorganising priorities, and multi-tasking on concurrent contracts in a frequently changing environment is necessary.

- Good communication skills and sensitivity to balancing customers’ needs and organisation obligations are essential.

- Presentation skills to deliver project and other management reports and recommendations for improved practice.

- Good analytical and computing skills, accuracy and attention to detail, and ability analyse databases and spreadsheets.

- Excellent planning and organisational skills, along with the ability to make good business decisions in collaboration with others.

- Ability to manage a workload with conflicting high priority tasks.

- Public sector procurement knowledge not essential - will not be required to undertake tendering activity

Desirable Skills:

- Understanding of contract law, procurement best practices and relevant regulations

- CIPS qualification/recognised commercial qualification.

- Relevant procurement (MCIPS), business management or law degree

- More than 3 years of relevant and recent contract/supplier management experience

- Commitment to continuous professional development

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If you would like to hear more about this opportunity please get in touch.