Job Description

We are advertising this vacancy on behalf of Orbis Procurement, a partnership between Surrey County Council, East Sussex County Council, and Brighton & Hove City Council. When submitting your application, you will do so through the Surrey County Council recruitment portal. However, if successful, you will be appointed to East Sussex County Council terms and conditions.

The starting salary for this position is \xc2\xa324,614 per annum based on a 37-hour working week.

As one of the largest public sector procurement teams in the UK, we aim to become a "Centre of Procurement Excellence in Local Government." We are committed to helping our customers and partners deliver value with trust. Our vision focuses on empowering procurement, responsible practices, and integrating policy outcomes like climate change and modern slavery directly into our project work. We adhere to the Nolan principles and as such prioritise integrity and transparency in our work.

The scale of our work

The Orbis Procurement Team operates across three County Councils, in addition to collaborating with other organisations, including District and Borough Councils. With an annual spend of \xc2\xa31.9 billion, we are one of the largest public sector Procurement Partnerships in the country.

Our achievements

We take pride in our recent accomplishments, including:

• Shortlisted for the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) \'Future Places Award,\' recognising our commitment to decarbonisation, climate resilience, inclusion and digital technologies.
• Nominated for the GO awards in the \'Social Value\' category and achieved Highly Commended in the \'Collaborative Procurement Initiative\' category, celebrating our excellence in public procurement.

Career development

We offer fantastic career development opportunities, with promotions and internal movement within the team. We are currently in the process of restructuring the team with a view to create more growth opportunities for our staff.

Why work with us?

Don\'t just take our word for it. Here\'s what one of our colleagues says about working with us:

"The support within the team is great and opportunities for development are always open. The flexibility and agile way of working is a huge bonus, that every working parent (and not only) will appreciate." - Ania

About the role

As a Sourcing Specialist, you will learn to engage on and lead a number of small, flexible projects. You will be supported to work on these projects effectively, in order to deliver positive outcomes for our clients. You will record and maintain detailed information in systems on our contracts.

In this role, you will also need to move at a fast pace and be able to deliver multiple projects at once, using your time management and organisation skills to do this successfully. In addition to this, you will enjoy working in a team as well as taking your share of the wider team responsibilities.

Being proactive is a key part of this role, especially when it comes to training, demonstrating best practice, taking an active role in the team and participating in projects.

About you

You will have good attention to detail and be able to understand the bigger picture and the impact this has on projects and outcomes. You will have a good standard of communication skills and the ability to learn and develop new skills. In addition, you will be able to cope with changing situations calmly and thoughtfully.

What if I\'ve never worked in procurement before?

This is an entry level role. We\'ve had many of our colleagues join from various working backgrounds. As such, we believe that transferable skills are just as important as actual experience! If you have buying or purchasing experience, that\'s great. Maybe you have good customer relationship or customer management skills or have had some supervisory experience. If so, this role could be for you!

As part of the application process, you will be asked to upload your CV and answer the following questions:

• What motivated you to apply for this role?
• What do you understand as procurement\'s role in an organisation?
• Tell us about a time when you had to manage multiple projects at once or work in a fast-paced environment.
• Describe a time when you used your communication skills to overcome an issue.
• Tell us about how you work best in a team. \xe2\x80\x8b

Join Orbis Procurement and contribute to our mission of delivering exceptional public services through responsible and innovative procurement practices. Apply today and be part of our journey toward becoming a recognised leader in procurement excellence!

For more information please find the full job description on the employer site and refer to this before submitting your application.

Additional information

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 06/08/2023.

Interviews will take place during August 2023.

This is a hybrid role and you will have the option to spend part of your week working from home. You will be expected to work from the office at least 1 day a week and attend in person meetings when required.

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