Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Operations and Corporate Services) at British High Commission

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  

To work as part of the Regional Procurement Hub that sits within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Commercial Directorate; working with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders on all aspects of Procurement delivery, review, monitoring and reporting. Assist the Regional Procurement Head in day-to-day management of the team in South Africa.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Commercial takes responsibility for the acquisition of all goods and services required by the organisation whether bought at home in the UK or at one of our 260 office locations around the world. We do this by directly managing high value procurement activities, creating, and implementing the policies and procedures for everything else.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has a regional structure for Finance, Procurement and HR across the whole network, realising cost reductions and global spend savings, whilst keeping quality high by reforming the way we manage procurement across the network.

The Procurement Operating Model requires procurement expertise in the regional organisation structure. Providing expert service to our global network of locations whilst retaining the ability to deliver efficiently on behalf of several locations and maintain links with the central procurement function in the UK. Procurement is a delivery partner to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office business, providing advice and expertise to the business across the procurement lifecycle though to a shared responsibility for the successful delivery of larger procurement projects.

The Regional Procurement Manager will support the Regional Procurement Hub in delivering procurement services across the regional network of office locations. In addition to delivering regional procurement projects, you will be responsible for ensuring that procurement processes operate smoothly and consistently within the region and build relationships with the key regional stakeholders and suppliers. You will lead the day-to-day relationship with the Africa Network, forecasting requirements for goods and services across category area, developing category strategies and proactively researching suppliers who can help the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to meet its value for money objective. You will work closely with a wide variety of internal customers; helping to identify, specify and deliver against Post and Regional requirements for the full range of Goods and Services in all Category Areas. Responsible for managing the day to day Regional Procurement activity in Africa Network, supporting the Regional Procurement Hub delivering the regional strategy and targets for the region.

The Regional Procurement Hub team, and line manager of the role, is based in Pretoria, South Africa.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

Delivery of Regional Procurement Projects with lifetime value exceeding £25,000 (55%)

Working with customers at post in accessing regional requirements; identifying cross regional requirements and utilising regional frameworks including the procurement of new ones; To conduct procurement of  Goods, Services and Works for delivering requirements valued above £25,000, Ensuring procurements are carried out in accordance to FCDO Commercial policy, managing risks and assuring value for money. Developing and implementation of Regional Category Strategy, working with teams in the UK to develop Global Category Strategy

Managing the Regional Procurement Activity (15%)

To support the Regional Hub by day-to-day management of the  Regional Procurement Activity.

Providing support to Posts for Procurements above £25,000  (10%)

Working with customers at Post within the region and supporting staff at Post in procurement activity including optimisation of suppliers as well as providing advice on Contract Management. This includes challenging assumptions, quantifying the need and providing advice and guidance

Managing Procurement Performance  (20%)

Any other procurement activity as deemed by the Head of Procurement 

Regional Procurement Manager will manage and track  KPI’s and SLA delivery.

Review and manage the Strategic Procurements Plan for the region.

Self audit to take place on a quarterly bases to ensure compliance through Jaggaer process, contract database, notifications, filing and achieving of tender related documentation.

Feeding into reports for the regional head related to:

• Regional Procurement Hub activity tracker
• Supplier Maintenance Form tracker
• Weekly/monthly hub dashboard
• Ensuring accurate reporting data on Jaggaer
• Jaggaer tracker
• Savings tracker
• Monthly performance reporting
• Contract database
• Quarterly spend reports
• Yearly spend/ forecasted pipeline reporting

Any other procurement activity as deemed by the Head of Procurement

• This role will require the job holder to work independently on a day to day basis, setting their own goals and targets that align with the wider Regional Procurement Hub. The job holder will need be able to solve problems by weighing up a number of choices that balance the needs of operational efficiency, customer service and procurement policy and in doing so will be making operational decisions that they may need to justify and defend.  The job holder will carry out Procurement Lead account manager duties in line with the EO positions but in addition will also:
• Be the initial escalation point when customers don’t feel they are receiving a satisfactory service
• Be expected to work closely with the Regional Procurement Hub team based in Pretoria
• Be a source of support and offer support and advice to the local regional procurement team when they are faced with challenges in their work
• Ensure standardisation of processes and documents Working flexibly to ensure manage workload and prioritise
• Building capabilities of the local Post team members through mentoring, coaching and where necessary, performance management.
• Candidate would be expected to carry out business travel across the Africa Region, as needed
• This is a challenging role and is suited to a dynamic, self-starter proactive with a proven record of accomplishment in procurement. We are looking for someone who is confident and can solve problems and launch themselves into new tasks with energy and enthusiasm. You will be working as a part of the Regional Procurement Hub and with a wide range of people from different backgrounds, including other government departments.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• A minimum of 4 to 6 years procurement experience across various industries
• Sourcing or Contract Management Experience
• Degree/qualification in Procurement, Business, Supply Chain or similar

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• To be enrolled with CIPS (or an equivalent qualification) and actively studying towards MCIPS or higher
• As a minimum, the applicant must have advance Microsoft Excel/MS Office suite experience
• Experience of working in a multinational environment across multiple time zones
• Project Management Experience
• Experience in using eSouring platforms/tools

Required behaviours  

Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Working Together