Category Manager - Hackney Council

Posted 16 May 2022
Salary £350 - £351 per day + Negotiable
LocationHackney
Job type Contract
Discipline Housing
ReferenceBen - CM_1652692311
Contact NameBen Holden

Job description

Hackney Council are looking for a Category Manager to join their service.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

This post exists to support the efficient and cost effective procurement of externally provided services delivered to, and on behalf of, the Council. This includes the provision of services by independent trading units operated by the Council.

More specifically the post holder will lead on the procurement work stream for a range of major and strategically significant contracts within a designated Category area of expenditure.

Working in liaison with the Project Sponsor and Project Board/Team, support will be provided through:

  • The provision of advice to the Project Sponsor and Project Board/Team on the Council's procurement processes and best practice with regards to the commercial aspects of procurement activities,
  • Leading on project management of the procurement work-stream,
  • Sourcing the provider,
  • Drafting tender and contract documents including support for the development of requirement specification
  • Managing the contract award process

The Post holder will be expected to specialise (although not exclusively) on contracting activity within certain categories of spend or certain classes of contract activity so as to gain familiarly with specialist service considerations

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

  • To organise and deliver all work on time and to agreed quality standards.
  • To ensure all work undertaken is compliant with Council policies and practice, and statutory requirements.
  • To enable a performance orientated approach and culture, for example by drawing up and implementing project plans and work plans to facilitate the achievement of Council and Category strategies and objectives.
  • To consistently apply the Council's Human Resource Standards and Equality Standards. To promote equality of opportunity and collaborative working as appropriate across the Council.
  • To have a keen awareness of the role of procurement within the Council's organisational context, and a commitment to the Council's organisational values and beliefs.
  • To have a keen awareness of the wider picture, including Council's Corporate Plan and Key Deliverables.
  • To communicate in a clear, confident and authoritative manner that is in line with established policies and practices of the Council.

SPECIFIC SERVICE ACCOUNTABILITIES

  • Using a sound knowledge of procurement best practice, statute and contract case law, Council Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, project manage the procurement work stream for allocated projects, liaising with Council Officers, service users, service providers, specialist advisors (inc. legal, health and safety, financial, and equalities advisors) and other stakeholders as necessary.
  • To lead on the most complex contract procurements using well developed skills of personal discretion and judgement.
  • Management of other specialist staff for the purposes of the project related work as required.
  • To ensure that procurement is undertaken in accordance with the Council's Standing Orders, relevant legislative requirements and the Council's service priorities.
  • To draft a project plan for each contract, having regard to the needs of the service (and in particular expiry dates of existing contracts and critical start dates for new contracts), the requirements of the procurement process with regard to Standing Orders and Public Procurement Legislation, and workload. To ensure that each project plan is adhered to or adjusted to reflect changed priorities or new developments, making sure that all relevant parties are informed of necessary changes.
  • To check with the budget holder that realistic budget provision has been made for each contract, having regard to its whole life costs, before procurement is commenced.
  • To advise the Project Sponsor in the identification of a Project Team for each contract (to include operational managers and specialist advisors including legal, financial, health and safety, and equalities advisors, as required).
  • To ensure the placement of contract notices in the press and the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) as required.
  • To oversee and co-ordinate the timely production all documents necessary for the tender process, including the terms and conditions of contract, service specifications and performance standards, and to liaise with members of the Project Team to ensure that service requirements promote Best Value.
  • To act as the contact point for all pre-qualification and tender queries, using judgement to direct queries to appropriate project team members and to determine when responses are commercially significant, requiring notification to all tenderers. Liaising with members of the Project Team as required.
  • To co-ordinate the evaluation of pre-qualification questionnaires and tenders by the Project Team, leading on development and the reasonable application of evaluation criteria

Hackney is one of the UK's highest performing local authorities, serving one of London's best places to live and work. We have achieved a huge amount: our services, our schools, our public spaces are all amongst the very best. We have changed the reputation, not just of the Council, but of Hackney itself. Bringing jobs and investment into the borough, securing the legacy from the 2012 Games, and making this a place of which we can all be proud. We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and the workforce can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.