AMS PSR

On behalf of the Bank of England, we are looking for a Category Manager Inside IR35 for a 6 month contract based Hybrid working (2 days per week in London or Leeds office and remaining WFH)

The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.

The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

The Procurement Division:

The Procurement Division is responsible for ensuring value-for-money for the Bank for approximately £300m of third party spend annually; and compliance with procurement policies and regulations when the Bank purchases goods, services and works. The sourcing team is responsible for undertaking the end-to-end procurement process across a broad range of categories to support all parts of the Bank, implementing category strategies and managing the future sourcing timeline; and is broadly organised into three business partnering teams, covering Technology, Property & Notes Production, and Corporate.

Job description

This role of Commercial (Procurement) Category Manager is within the Procurement Division’s Sourcing team, and part of the FM/Notes commercial business partnering team, which is responsible for procuring facilities management, construction & refurbishment works and related services, utilities, logistics, banknote production and market research

Please note that SC clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing and able to undergo these checks.

The Commercial Category Manager is responsible for:

• The delivery of a pipeline of procurement activity, in collaboration with stakeholders within the Bank and other Procurement colleagues. Activities include supporting the Commercial Business Partner, as well as leading on projects independently as a Commercial Category Manager. This includes:
• Developing procurement strategies and identifying routes to market
• Supporting business areas in developing specifications
• Producing tender documents including developing detailed award criteria, commercial models and selecting appropriate contract terms
• Managing the subject matter experts/stakeholders/commercial analyst through the full procurement process including supporting, advising, training on evaluations, managing conflict and communication.
• Administering the tender period including managing clarifications, co-ordinating bidder briefings and meetings
• Running the evaluation process including leading or supporting scoring moderation meetings and undertaking commercial evaluations
• Drafting and finalising contracts ensuring relevant risks and policies are addressed
• Managing the transition from sourcing to contract management of the live contract with the Contract owner/manager.
• Creating, reviewing, amending, managing approval, and publishing of notices for tendering opportunities and contract awards.

Other responsibilities include:

• Advising the Commercial Business Partner on the strategic direction of the FM/Notes category, by collaborating closely with colleagues across the Bank to understand business area strategies and long-term requirements.
• Generating and analysing essential spend data, market insights, supplier reports and contract performance metrics to support business areas.
• Providing governance support to ensure compliance with the directions of the Commercial Oversight Group and other management boards. Liaising with professionals in Finance, Environment, Social and Governance, Technology, Cyber, Legal and other areas, to ensure compliance with savings targets and environmental measures, amongst other interactions.
• Supporting the Commercial Business Partner embed effective risk management by implementing risk controls to drive compliance to policy
• Supporting the Commercial Business Partner with the development of commercial competencies across the Bank, through regular engagement and training
• Driving sustainability in the category, by notably working closely with Subject Matter Specialists
• Working with the Supplier Management team to ensure supplier and contract management best practice is implemented in line with the Bank’s framework
• Providing support to the wider sourcing team to meet peaks in tendering activity

Minimum Criteria

• Proven track record of managing a complex pipeline of work, delivering innovative commercial solutions through the application of strategic sourcing techniques and use of relevant systems and contracts
• Experience of the end-to-end sourcing process for high value and/or high complexity contracts

Essential:

• Experience of working in procurement in the public sector.
• Experience of the Public Contract regulations PCR2015; and knowledge of the Procurement Act 2023
• Strong stakeholder management skills and assertiveness, with ability to challenge
• Strong communication skills, ability to build rapport and constructive relationships
• Knowledge and experience of a range of routes-to-market and contract models
• Demonstrable excellent organisational, planning and time management skills
• Demonstrable ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
• Self-motivation, with the ability to work both on your own initiative and as part of a team
• Attention to detail when drafting and reviewing documents
• Capability to translate data into meaningful insights for appropriate audiences and presenting outcomes to those audiences.
• MCIPS qualification (or working towards)

Desirable:

• Experience of e-procurement systems (for example Proactis, Oracle).
• Experience of Facilities Management or Construction procurements and knowledge of industry standard forms of contract such as NEC or JCT.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity, and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve. 

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, the Bank of England guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant 

The Bank of England guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".