Our Procurement team is at the heart of how the Partnership operates as a business. We dedicate ourselves to achieving the best possible value:
Our procurement team consists of 65 talented Partners, all representing a diverse range of backgrounds and ways of thinking, and collectively, we are responsible for a spend of over £1.4bn each year on Goods or services Not For Retail (GNFR).
The Partnership Plan, our business-wide 5 year strategy, articulates 2 very clear missions for Procurement: Deliver the necessary reduction in our cost base that will enable us to afford the investment we have planned; and Provide an assured supply base and where risks exist, those risks are known, owned and managed.
The long term sustainable future of the Partnership depends on Procurement delivering its missions. To enable this, we sit in the same directorate as our Commercial Finance colleagues to amplify our voice. We report progress into the Executive and with our colleagues in Finance, hold the Partnership Leadership to account for their delivery against savings targets.
We are broadening our horizons as well, and the value of Procurement to the Partnership goes beyond savings to the P&L. The experience of our Partners help secure new routes to market, new revenue streams, new procurement processes, new technological innovations that improve customer experience and all the while managing supply chain risk and playing a significant role in achieving the Partnership ambition to be a Force For Good.
We are going through a digital revolution implementing a new end-to-end, source-to-settle solution. This new system will give us a raft of benefits and open new exciting opportunities. Not only do we have a new sourcing solution that has enhanced analytical capabilities, not only do we have a new requisition functionality that will for the first time give us crystal clear classification of spend data, but we will also benefit from an exemplary new risk assurance process.
Across multiple risk domains, the Partnership will see where the risk lies in our supply chain. And through the integration of this end-to-end solution, those risks identified in the sourcing process will feed directly into the contracting process, and drive action plans for the contract managers throughout the business. This digital revolution will drive transparency and accountability throughout the Partnership and is such a step change in capability, that Procurement have been tasked with deploying this solution to enable the Goods For Retail buying teams to benefit as well.
The investment Procurement is receiving from the Partnership Board is unprecedented in the function’s history. The faith and commitment shown in the value that our Profession brings to the business is significant, and a responsibility for us to live up to. The Partnership has continued to invest in Procurement throughout the Covid-19 crisis and it gives us an incredible springboard to deliver our strategy.
Our function splits up into a number of different specialities. Whether you’re early in your career or a seasoned professional, there are roles in Procurement that will suit you. Under our Head of Procurement, this is how we are set up for success, we have outlined some of these roles below:
These Partners lead the 5 category teams outlined below. They sit on stakeholder leadership teams and contribute to the strategic direction and decision making of functions throughout the business. These Partners also manage their teams, plan workloads and facilitate opportunity workshops with stakeholders. They bring their knowledge and skill discovered through the pursuit of their procurement careers to help drive the function forwards.
Our 5 category teams are:
These Partners are the engines of the procurement function. Owning subcategories within the 5 category teams, the Procurement Managers engage with their stakeholders, plan out projects, find potential suppliers, own the source to contract process and negotiate the contracts that the Partnership relies upon.
These Partners work with their stakeholders to build medium – long term subcategory plans and use their deep knowledge of their roles in purchasing areas to contribute opportunities and to help manage risk.
Our procurement specialists are the core of our procurement teams and their overall success. Our procurement specialists are responsible for their own subcategories and will provide the procurement managers and leads with flexibility, agile methodology and proactiveness to ensure that the high profile and complex projects come off without a hitch. The work our procurement and purchasing specialists do is highly visible, directly impacting customers and stakeholders alike.
From procurement assistant and purchasing assistant jobs to entry-level procurement jobs, if you are interested in pursuing a procurement career with the Partnership, click here.
Under our Head of Procurement, we are set up for success.
For more information on the challenges and opportunities each category is facing, please refer to the job advert for any open procurement vacancies we have.
The Partnership is structured around recognised “Professions”. These are teams and departments that have a common purpose and skillset. Partners representing a range of Professions from across the business will come together, deliver a project, and then disband to join the next piece of work. This flexible, matrix-style working is our way of responding to the dynamic nature of our industry, while maintaining centres of excellence to leverage skills development and knowledge sharing.
Within the Procurement Profession, we have 4 distinct teams outlined below.
If you’re a Procurement professional looking for the next move in your career, take a look at our current vacancies.
If you cannot find a suitable position at the moment, register for job alerts and follow us on LinkedIn for future updates.