Head of Procurement

Abingdon Road, Culham, UK
Full-time
Salary: £80,415 (inclusive of £5,000 if fully MCIPS qualified) + excellent benefits including outstanding pension
Site Location: UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire
Confirmed Grade: Level 7
Department: Procurement

Company Description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realising fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for groundbreaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovation, Commitment, Trust, and Collaboration.

As an employee of UKAEA, you will benefit from:

- Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
- Corporate bonus scheme of up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
- Flexible working options, including family-friendly policies.
- Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders.
- Emergency paid leave, Generous annual leave allowance (30.5 days) increased with length of service.
- Wide range of career development opportunities.
- A vibrant culture committed to being fully inclusive.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions.

Job Description

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Head of Procurement, you will play a pivotal role where you will be fully responsible for a complete commercial procurement function for UKAEA’s expenditure with external suppliers for Operational provisions. You will be responsible for all procurement and commercial issues for UKAEA within Operational areas, supporting growth and development.

You will also be responsible for controlling the overall procurement strategy and actively developing and implementing it as appropriate to deliver the key strategies at UKAEA. As Head of Procurement, you would be responsible for owning, leading, maintaining and proactively improving the commercial systems, protocols, templates and procedures within the Procurement team.

Onsite Presence: You are expected to work at Culham three days a week. Additionally, you will be expected to travel to the Rotherham site once a month.

Additional Responsibilities:

- You will be responsible for managing the Procurement Department, including setting targets, monitoring performance and ensuring the organisation has the resource capabilities, including training, development, succession planning and stakeholder requirements to support the operational delivery for UKAEA.
- You will be ensuring full legal compliance in accordance with Public Contract Regulations 2015.
- You will engage and monitor Procurement outputs to ensure full compliance with legal and other regulations, external and internal, by using professional knowledge and keeping up to date with external changes.
- Communicating with impact and creating an environment within the team where individuals can communicate effectively, working to build team commitment, strong morale and strong working relationships.
- You will provide processes and systems for effective procurement and performance reporting across the group. Ensuring compliance with Cabinet Office Efficiency Reform Group (ERG), PCR compliance and alignment with the Cabinet Office strategic approach to procurement.
- You must engage with the Cabinet Office regarding the Commercial Controls, reviewing all cases submitted to ensure strategic alignment to Government Functional Commercial Standards.
- You will be leading and managing the UKAEA pre-commercial procurement policy and initiatives engagement on all Procurement audits, both internal and external.

Qualifications
Essential skills:

- CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) MCIPS qualified.
- Minimum Grade B GCF Assessment Development Centre (ADC) within 12 months of appointment.
- Extensive experience in managing a team in Public Sector Procurement.
- Adaptable to change in line with new business drivers and government requirements.
- Extensive procurement experience in the Public Sector at a Senior Level.
- Dynamic and inspirational leader.
- Excellent communication skills, skilled and capable of preparing and delivering presentations to large groups of senior staff and executives.

Additional Information

For a full list of benefits and to apply, select the apply button to be taken through to the UKAEA careers pages.

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and women. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.

For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the UK Government website for information on criminal records checks. If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.