Procurement Manager

We are looking to appoint a forward-thinking and innovative procurement professional to our central Procurement Team based at our head office in East Croydon. Working alongside the Head of Procurement and an existing team, this is a brand new role which has been created to complement and increase capacity of the team. As the Harris Federation continues to grow, the successful applicant will help handle a growing workload of formal tendering activity and procurement support to our academies, and contribute to the cashable savings made by the team.

Your Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented and experienced procurement specialist with an extensive track record in public sector procurement. Previous procurement experience within education sector is highly desirable, and individuals with an estates procurement background would complement the team's current experience, knowledge and skill set.

The role will have exposure to a breadth of tendering and contracting opportunities that will offer enrichment and reward. The following key principles govern what the team does, and how it operates:

• Compliance with EU Procurement Directives & UK Public Contract Regulations (PCR2015)
• Achieving value for money (VFM) - to achieve the right balance of cost, service, quality, timeliness and risk
• Control - ensure adequate controls are in place and complied with
• Efficient and effective processes - ensure that logical, consistent and easy to follow processes exist and are not unnecessarily bureaucratic, with scope for continuous improvement

The Team complies with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply Code of Conduct and the Seven Principles of Public Life

Support for CPD studies is available for the right candidate. As an employee with the Harris Federation, you will receive a generous benefits package, including performance and loyalty bonus, pension scheme (LGPS), Harris wellbeing cash plan and additional Harris benefits.

What we are looking for

The successful applicant will need to provide expert and effective advice, guidance and technical support on all matters relating to procurement to meet the needs of internal customers within the Federation whilst extracting maximum value for money and ensuring compliance with Public Contract Regulations and Federation policies and procedures. You must be able to effectively and professionally deal with external suppliers and contractors whilst adhering to the procurement team's code of conduct.

Why work for the Harris Federation?

The Harris Federation is a top performing Multi Academy Trust with an established track record in school improvement, and at the forefront of developing exceptional practitioners and senior leaders. The Federation provides a highly supportive network of Academies, Executives Leaders, Principals and mentors to help develop and progress your career.

Professional development and collaboration are key to our success, and we provide top quality training at every level from Beginner Teachers to Executive Leaders. We invest in our staff with coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of training programmes, delivered by our Teaching School Alliance. Two Harris academies hold Teaching School status and Harris also runs the highly successful London Thames Maths Hub, as well as working in partnership with a number of external organisations.

Harris is a Federation and not a chain; each academy is different, reflecting the particular aspirations and leadership style of its Principal. All of our primary and secondary academies are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted and we are recognised for transforming the life chances of the children that we educate.

We look for talented individuals who want to help transform education in London, and create exceptional places of learning.

Harris academies are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. In line with our commitments to safeguarding, the Harris Federation uses preferred agencies and is unable to work with any agencies where Terms of Business have not been agreed by both parties prior to an engagement.