Band 7 Category Manager – Surgery
Closing date: 06 July 2026
Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull Procurement Collaborative (BBCS PC) is an award‑winning procurement team hosted by University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), responsible for providing dedicated procurement support to all Trusts within the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull Integrated Care Systems.
BBCS PC has a requirement for a hard‑working Category Manager within the Surgery Category, to join our growing team based at our offices in Regent Court, Edgbaston, Birmingham.
The objective of the role is to identify, develop and deliver credible savings/work plans and engage with stakeholders across our sites, whilst ensuring that all procurement activity is undertaken in accordance with public procurement legislation and Trust standing financial instructions.
You will need to be skilled in contract management, confident with influential skills and working with suppliers and internal stakeholders. Your ability to drive value for money and deliver solutions is key to the role. You will establish, develop and maintain professional relationships between Heads of Departments, Clinical Leads, Operational Leads and Senior Finance Managers and provide regular updates on project progress.
You shall form part of a team spanning multiple categories where you shall work collaboratively to utilise initiative and share knowledge that feeds into the Integrated Care Board/Trust/Department strategy.
Main duties of the job
- Manage the procurement for designated categories across all Trusts
- Identify projects and develop work plans and cost improvement programmes on an annual basis, with regular reviews and updates throughout the year to deliver the agreed objectives and targets
- Lead on and manage complex procurement/tender exercises, including the creation of tender and contract documentation
- Provide specialist procurement knowledge across a broad spectrum of areas covered
- Develop and maintain a sound knowledge of all relevant commodities and supply markets through conducting market research
- Manage the introduction of alternative products and sources of supply to achieve high levels of rationalisation and/or standardisation and be a key influencer and participate in user consultation groups
- Manage compliance across your areas of responsibility with all legislation relating to procurement, NHS Procurement policies, Trust Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions and departmental policies and procedures
What we can offer you!
- 27 days Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays (increasing with long service)
- Opportunity to buy up to 5 more days Annual Leave each Financial Year
- Access to Employee Discount Schemes including Blue Light Card and Health Service Discounts
- Pension Plan
- Hybrid working model including 3 office/site days and 2 working from home days
About us
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.
Job responsibilities
Please note: For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description.
Person Specification
Qualifications
- Good Standard of General Education
- Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply Level 4 qualification (or above) Graduate Diploma or working towards
Experience
- Experience of working in a Procurement team
- Experience of category management
- Demonstrable successful project management experience with proven ability to deliver projects on‑time
- Experience of contract, stakeholder & supplier management
- Experience of working with a wide range of Stakeholder groups
- Experience of negotiating complex contracts
- Sound knowledge of contract management
- Knowledge of best practice in Procurement & supply
- Experience in Public Sector or NHS procurement
- Knowledge of the application of UK procurement legislation / tendering processes & procedures
- Experience in using online Tendering platforms such as Atamis
- Delivery of demanding savings targets through procurement activities
- At least 2 years’ experience of managing staff
Additional Criteria
- Communication/Relationship Skills
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with people/stakeholders at all levels
- Able to identify and manage issues as they arise and demonstrate problem solving skills
- Excellent negotiation and financial adjudication skills to manage complex high value projects
- Analytical & Judgement Skills
- Excellent negotiation and financial skills to manage complex high value contracts
- Ability to solve complex problems in an innovative way
- Ability to analyse complex information and/or present in a clear format
- Excellent presentation skills with an ability to disseminate essential and complex information to multidisciplinary group
- Planning & Organisational Skills
- Ability to work on own initiative or with minimal supervision
- Project management and leadership skills, with the ability to use own initiative and work under pressure
- People Management/Leadership/Resources
- Able to communicate, to lead and develop and manage staff
- Ability to lead teams and facilitate meetings
- Ability to influence senior members of staff and gain credibility in a clinical and management environment
- Team player with the ability to contribute effectively
- IT Skills
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word
- High level of personal professionalism
- Evidence of commitment to Continual Professional Development (CPD)
- Confident to present/represent procurement at senior meetings
- Committed to delivering positive outcomes
- Self‑motivated
- Team player
- Flexible approach to working times and location
- Methodical
- Problem Solving
- Analytical
- Dynamic
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
#J-18808-Ljbffr…