Deputy Director Of Procurement

Deputy Director of Procurement

INTRODUCTION TO LLYWODRAETH CYMRU WELSH GOVERNMENT

The Welsh Government has an annual budget of c.£19 billion and is responsible for a range of areas including health, education and skills, the economy and transport, and agriculture and the environment.

Welsh Ministers are supported by c.5,700 civil servants based in Welsh Government offices across Wales. They also have small offices in London and Brussels, and an overseas network for trade and investment work.

Core values of creativity, fairness, partnership, and professionalism support their interactions with each other and help them with their judgements and decision-making.

Their work is underpinned by their Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which sets out their intention to be an organisation that at every level fully reflects the diversity of Wales and which is actively anti-racist and anti-discrimination.

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE

The Procurement Hive is very proud and excited to be retained exclusively by the Welsh Government to source a new Deputy Director of Procurement. You will be joining the Commercial Procurement Directorate within the Chief Operating Officer’s Group, reporting to the Commercial and Procurement Director.

This is an exceptional opportunity to work at the heart of devolved government in Wales at a time of continuing challenge and change. As part of the leadership team, you will be helping to influence and shape the way the Welsh Government civil service is equipped and supported to deliver for the Cabinet and people in Wales. This forms an integral part of their ongoing change and improvement programme which is known as Welsh Government 2025 (WG2025).

The Deputy Director of Procurement will play a key role, helping to lead and support a significant professional team spread across many areas of the Welsh Government’s business, so this is an exciting cross-government opportunity. The Welsh Government places significant emphasis on social benefits alongside value-for-money. As well as influencing how spending is managed, they see procurement as a means of driving policy outcomes in different areas, emphasising fair work, quality local jobs, decarbonisation, and other environmental benefits.

The procurement landscape has changed in recent years, and the Welsh Government has an opportunity to re-imagine procurement, its scope, mandate, and future strategic approach. As they develop a commercial function within the Welsh Government, this is an exceptional opportunity to help shape new ground.

Effective public procurement, commercial excellence and discipline are vital to help support the successful delivery of wider policy objectives. The Welsh Government see procurement playing an increasingly important role in their future.

ROLE SPECIFIC INFORMATION

This is a permanent opportunity with hybrid working flexibility. Contractually, you can be located at any of the main Welsh Government offices in Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Llandudno Junction or Aberystwyth. There is a requirement to be office-based for 3 x days per week.

Procurement is a crucial lever to deliver the Welsh Government’s ambitions for a more prosperous, more equal, and greener nation. The Deputy Director of Procurement will lead this work, driving the future of the profession in Wales, transforming the procurement function within the Welsh Government, shaping its procurement policy and delivery, and working across the Welsh Government to support wider policy priorities. This will require strategic leadership, resilience, and direction in innovative and collaborative procurement to maximise public sector spend to drive and develop wider benefits.

Key Responsibilities:

• Senior and operational engagement with public sector organisations across Wales to understand needs and translate these into commercial and procurement strategies and practices.
• Ensure there is a significant focus on ‘outcome based’ procurement, demonstrating awareness that it’s not always about the most commercial outcome, but wider social value, that is a key Policy direction of the Welsh Government.
• Leadership, development, and motivation of staff, setting standards and values for the organisation. Ensuring effective communications with staff, unions, partners, and stakeholders are in place.
• Providing robust, appropriate, and considered written and oral advice to Ministers concerning procurement, procurement policy, e-procurement, and procurement reform.
• Set the vision and direction, communicating priorities and business plans, and ensuring that individual and team objectives are aligned with them.
• Take lead responsibility for developing procurement policy that captures the opportunities of Well-Being of Future Generations Act, the Social Partnership Bill and reflects the Government’s priority to embed fair work, local supply chains and decarbonisation and proactively identify a coherent set of deliverable policy priorities for procurement.
• Contribute to the effective implementation of Procurement-related legislation, including the procurement duty in the Social Partnership Bill.
• Deliver a pipeline of collaborative procurement activity across the Welsh Public Sector, maximising wider social value, developing a culture that supports income generation and ensuring there is a collaborative and coordinated approach to income generation activity across the directorate.
• Establish and manage senior client relationship management, including influencing stakeholders across Wales to encourage innovation and to support collaboration and ensuring early engagement on the planning of spend.
• Commitment to champion and mainstream equality, diversity, and inclusion, ensuring these commitments are embedded in day-to-day working practices with all customers, colleagues and partners.
• Build relationships with other parts of the United Kingdom to collaborate on the procurement regime following Procurement Reform.
• Direct line management responsibility for several Grade 6’s; Indirect line management responsibility for wider team (approx. 70) with a particular focus on developing, managing, monitoring, and evaluating performance.

Person Specification (Experience Required):

• A proven track record as an effective and inclusive Procurement leader who adopts a coaching style to lead and develop high performing teams at both executive and functional level during times of change and ambiguity. 
• A strong procurement skill set across the full commercial lifecycle and a track record of delivering successful commercial approaches across a diverse portfolio from complex and innovative multi-year programmes to low risk, low value contracting.
• Understand policy goals that feed into and drive the procurement agenda such as the Wales Procurement Policy Statement (WPPS) and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act; Social Partnership & Procurement Bill, Economic Sustainability and Equality and Diversity.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to communicate and challenge. Sound written and verbal communication skills in a commercial and strategic setting with the ability to communicate clearly and comprehensively with senior management, senior civil servants, and Ministers.
• The ability to understand, apply and optimise proportionality in the commercial approach taken.
• Ideally MCIPS (level 6) qualified procurement professional or equivalent.
• A high-level understanding of contract law and PCR Procurement Legislation.

BENEFITS OF WORKING AT THE WELSH GOVERNMENT

Working Hours:

Applications are welcome from people who work full-time or as part of a job share. It is expected that if you apply as a job share, this arrangement is in place when submitting your application. Candidates who apply as part of a job share will be interviewed both separately and as a team. Both candidates will need to demonstrate the appropriate level of professional skills and qualifications for the role.

Hybrid Working:

The Welsh Government actively encourages hybrid working; this means focusing on how you use your time, and where and how you work to meet business needs in the most productive way. They provide people with considerable flexibility. Smart, flexible working is becoming a permanent feature of working life in Wales and the Welsh Government will lead the way in this.

Benefits:

• Civil Service pension scheme: https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk 
• Occupational Health Services, including counselling and eye care provision.
• Leave provisions including carers’ leave, paid and unpaid maternity leave, flexible paid paternity leave, flexible paid adoption leave, and shared parental leave.

Annual Leave Entitlement:

Your annual leave entitlement depends on your length of service ranging from 25 to 30 days. If you are an existing civil servant and you are promoted into or move within the Senior Civil Service, your annual leave allowance is based on your period of continuous employment in the Civil Service. The successful candidate will be appointed on the modernised Senior Civil Service terms and conditions.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. Their goal is to ensure that these commitments are embedded in their day-to-day working practices with their customers, colleagues, and partners. The Board has an Equality Champion and has regular updates on equality and diversity. They are committed to recruiting women, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic people, and disabled people, who are currently under-represented in the Senior Civil Service.

This opportunity is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Procurement Hive (sourcing on behalf of the Welsh Government) is a procurement consultancy and procurement recruitment business.

Our People on Demand service utilises over 35 years of combined experience, recruiting supply chain and procurement talent for a wide range of organisations across the globe.

The Procurement Hive celebrates and supports diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for both employees and applicants.