Category Manager (Manager & Senior Manager)

Home-based with regular travel to London and Home Counties

Opportunity

The NHS is entering a critical period of reform, with increasing pressure to deliver value and sustainability across complex provider and system environments. Procurement has a pivotal role to play in enabling this change; delivering financial savings, supporting service transformation and strengthening supplier and stakeholder relationships.

Role

In this role you will be responsible for:

• Developing category strategies based on spend analysis, demand management, market insights and organisational priorities (clinical and non-clinical categories)
• Identifying savings, efficiencies, service improvements, and risk reduction opportunities
• Understanding supplier markets and using insight to inform sourcing strategies, procurement routes, specification development and how to drive best value
• Making sure that category plans translate into practical delivery projects that deliver impact
• Reducing in-year contract spend for contracts that are live.
• Leading end-to-end procurement processes from early market engagement through to award and mobilisation
• Providing procurement leadership for clients, including leading different spend categories
• Operating effectively in hybrid delivery models, with regular on-site presence within Provider Trusts
• Ensuring robust governance, delivery discipline and stakeholder confidence
• Providing expert advice and leadership on procurement compliance (Procurement Act 2023 / Provider Selection Regime / NHS Procurement policy / NHS Standard T&Cs)

Skills and Ways of Working

You will demonstrate:

• Strong leadership skills, with the confidence to work autonomously and make sound decisions
• A customer-focussed and outcome-led mindset
• A passion for delivering savings for the public sector
• Agile and adaptable ways of working
• The ability to prioritise short-term and long-term initiatives aligned to organisational priorities
• Excellent risk management approach with a balance between outcomes/timescales and process/compliance
• A strong action-orientation and delivery focus
• Resilience in challenging environments
• Clear, confident communication skills at all levels
• Able to provide assurance through delivery to clients
• A commitment to team development and capability building

Stakeholder Engagement

You will work closely with:

• Clinical leaders
• Operational teams
• Budget holders
• Executive and senior leaders

Working Environment

The role will be in an NHS provider. The working environment is:

• Fast-paced, dynamic and often pressurised
• Frequently operating in turnaround or financial recovery contexts
• Requires resilience, adaptability and pace
• There is a high degree of focus on delivering cost savings either tactically or strategically

About You

Your current role

You will bring:

• Category management expertise and experience
• Demonstrable delivery against challenging financial savings targets
• Experience of introducing innovative approaches, processes and ways of working
• A clear personal track record of delivery, impact and procurement leadership
• The ability to analyse spend, contracts, pricing models and supplier proposals

Manager

• Public sector procurement experience
• Procurement Act 2023 knowledge required
• Provider Selection Regime experience

Senior Manager

• Significant acute or provider-side procurement experience
• Procurement Act 2023 knowledge required
• Provider Selection Regime experience

Your Achievements

Successful candidates will be able to evidence:

• Delivery of material financial savings
• You will have held a Category Management role
• Making and owning difficult decisions
• Being visible with strong senior-level engagement and communication skills
• Effective deployment of category management and strategic sourcing practices
• Ability to provide assurance, through delivery and management of others, to senior leaders

Manager Achievements

• Working with budget holders, operational teams and senior managers
• Handling moderately complex procurements
• Experience in managing risk

Senior Manager Achievements

• Influencing executive, director and senior clinical stakeholders
• Leading high-risk, high-value procurements
• Experience in managing and mitigating risk

Your Career Background

We are looking for candidates who have:

Manager

• A track record of delivering financial savings
• MCIPS desirable; relevant procurement experience essential
• Led or supported procurement categories
• Delivered full lifecycle procurement projects

Senior Manager

• A track record of delivering multi-million£ financial savings
• MCIPS desirable; significant relevant procurement experience essential
• Led one or more large complexity procurement categories end-to-end
• Delivered full lifecycle procurement projects Private sector experience advantageous
• A strong strategic and organisational knowledge

Your Personal Attributes

You will be:

• Motivated by clear targets and accountability
• Aligned to Attain’s values-led culture
• Comfortable being held to account for outcomes and savings
• Bringing a competitive mindset, proactively identifying opportunities to create value, improve outcomes and strengthen our clients’ commercial position
• Comfortable challenging the status quo, spotting commercial openings and acting with pace to convert ideas into tangible results
• Innovative, demonstrate curiosity and have passion for the category you lead
• Pragmatic and challenge unnecessary process and avoid procurement for procurement’s sake; focuses on what adds value and keeps activity proportionate, compliant and aligned to the desired outcomes
• Relentless in identifying and pursuing saving opportunities and improvements
• Calm, credible and assured under pressure
• Commercial mindset
• Highly analytical, be able to interpret data and have strong problem-solving skills

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Performance/profit-based annual bonus of up to 10%
• 27 days of annual leave, plus bank holidays
• 6% employer contribution pension scheme
• Company-paid subscription to a professional body
• Hybrid working but also opportunities to work in coworking spaces
• A suite of learning tools to support continuing professional development
• Experience a rich variety of delivery projects across different care areas

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