Category Manager

Castlefield Recruitment are delighted to be partnering with North Eastern Universities Procurement Consortium (NEUPC) to recruit a Category Manager. NEUPC is a not-for-profit purchasing consortium with 23 university members and is one of eight UK Higher Education Purchasing Consortia (UKUPC) established to deliver and manage a wide range of collaborative framework agreements designed to maximise non-pay expenditure within the university sector. 

The Consortium is responsible for the development and management of UK compliant supply arrangements on behalf of its Membership and for helping to maximise a range of benefits year-on-year.  NEUPC is also a member of UKUPC – a HE UK network that is  dedicated to improving both the quality of procurement for its membership and helps to increase the level of collaborative procurement opportunities across the sector.

Utilising a partnering approach NEUPC provides collaborative procurement expertise, guidance and agreements that are aligned to, and actively support members’ needs, values and objectives.

This role would suit someone who thrives on business engagement, working closely with a wide variety of key stakeholders to help shape, challenge and lead on their future procurement strategies.

We also want to hear from confident project leads who can question and drive projects that help to explore new approaches across the procurement function. Ideally, they should feel confident with milestone reporting and delivery outcomes.

The Role:

• Responsibility for establishing, coordinating, and managing more effective collaborative procurement arrangements on behalf of NEUPC members. This would mainly be delivered through a range of category management tasks and activities
• Driving member growth through strategic business engagement by demonstrating value added benefits including cost -savings, leveraging industry networks, offering tailored procurement solutions, and showcasing success stories to attract new members and strengthen consortium influence.
• Ability to draft, issue and evaluate all tender documentation in line with UK regulations and lead category group requirements in the designated categories
• Proactively managing contracts, monitoring performance and managing potential risks
• Strong understanding of sustainable procurement, risk assessment and incorporating sustainable criteria into procurements
• Maintaining and developing the relevant contract databases, in collaboration with the other members of the organisation

The Benefits:

• Private health insurance
• Defined contribution pension
• Life insurance
• 38 days inclusive of the usual Bank Holidays and 5 Customary holidays (as determined by the Company)
• Hybrid working (1 day a week in the Leeds office, 4 days working from home)

The Person:

• Strong communication and engagement skills
• Previous public sector experience
• Ability to manage contracts and monitor performance
• Good knowledge of UK procurement legislation and any other legislation related to the Higher Education sector.
• Several years purchasing experience
• MCIPS is desirable

For more information, please contact Louisa Holstead at Castlefield Recruitment for an informal discussion.

Please note that direct approaches and speculative CV’s will be directed to Castlefield Recruitment to be included in the recruitment process.