Interim Operational Procurement Manager - Water Di

The Operational Procurement Manager will report to the Head of Procurement and work closely with Group Procurement and divisional stakeholders.

• £600 per day - three month contract - paid via an umbrella
• Start 21st of September

Oracle Fusion Procurement Modulesa real bonus!

The primary purpose of this role is to lead the effective delivery of operational procurement activity across the Water division, ensuring robust process control, supplier performance, and compliance with procurement policies and preferred supplier frameworks. The role focuses on driving cost avoidance, improving purchasing behaviours, reducing invoices on hold, and delivering supply chain rationalisation, Maintaining strong governance over P-card spend and master data integrity. It is responsible for producing and leveraging data insights to improve operational performance, supporting bid and mobilisation activity, and embedding new suppliers into business processes.

• Requisitioners from different contracts/regions from the Water division have recently had reporting lines changes into the Head of Procurement to Water, to build a buying desk for the Water business.
• The Water business would like to build a common operating model for requisitioning to support all regions
• The vision is to align and simplify processes, creating capacity, embedding best practice, and enabling the team to flex across regions. This will also support the team's development beyond requisition processing, including directing orders to preferred suppliers, correcting pricing, and obtaining quotations to secure best value.
• A few regions remain to be agreed to be included into the Water buying desk
• The purpose of this role is to move from current state of reporting lines having been changed, to creating a buying desk that is operational, supporting all agreed regions/contracts within Water and delivering value

Roles and Responsibilities

• Manage the performance of the Buying Desk team as part of wider operational procurement delivery, ensuring adherence to lead time SLAs and quality management KPIs
• Act as an escalation point for procurement-related queries, including those arising from the Buying Desk
• Resolve non-standard procurement queries across operational activities, including those received via the Buying Desk
• Develop, implement, and maintain standard operating procedures for operational procurement activities
• Monitor and enforce compliance with preferred supplier pathways across all purchasing activity
• Deliver against an agreed cost avoidance savings target
• Drive improvements in catalogue utilisation and reduce non-catalogue purchasing activity across the business
• Lead the delivery of supply chain rationalisation activities across the BGEN supply base
• Produce and analyse procurement data to support performance management and decision-making
• Support the reduction of invoices on hold by acting as a key Procurement contact and driving issue resolution
• Work closely with preferred suppliers to support operational performance and strengthen day-to-day business engagement
• Support the onboarding and implementation of newly approved preferred suppliers into business operations
• Liaise with Group Procurement to maintain accurate master data and support supplier onboarding processes
• Oversee and control P-card spend in line with company policy and governance requirements
• Provide bid support to work-winning and estimating teams as required
• Own and maintain the Procurement SharePoint site, including content creation, updates, and ongoing administration

Behaviours and Competencies

• Demonstrate strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Exhibit a proactive approach to problem-solving with attention to detail.
• Showcase strong data analysis and presentation skills to make effective procurement decisions.
• Promote health and safety as a top priority, ensuring compliance and active engagement in safety protocols.
• Commit to sustainability and socially responsible procurement practices

Skills and Experience Essential:

• Proven experience in an operational procurement role with a strong understanding of procurement processes, policies, and controls, particularly within a multi-site or operational environment
• Demonstrable experience delivering cost avoidance and driving value through day-to-day procurement activity
• Experience managing and enforcing compliance with preferred supplier frameworks and purchasing policies
• Strong supplier management experience, including performance monitoring and issue resolution
• Experience improving purchasing behaviours (e.g. catalogue adoption, reducing non-compliant spend)
• Proven ability to develop, implement, and maintain standard operating procedures and processes
• Experience managing or overseeing transactional procurement activity
• Strong MS Excel data analysis and reporting skills, with the ability to translate data into actionable insight
• Experience managing escalations and resolving complex or non-standard procurement queries
• Working knowledge of procurement systems (e.g. ERP, P2P systems) and master data management
• Experience overseeing financial governance controls such as P-card spend or similar
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally with operational teams
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver in a fast-paced, operational environment

Desirable

• Degree-level education or equivalent experience/qualification
• Professional certifications such as MCIPS or CIPS
• Experience leading or supporting supply chain rationalisation programmes
• Exposure to Group or central procurement structures and working within a matrix organisation
• Experience supporting bid, estimating, or mobilisation activity
• Understanding of invoice query resolution processes and finance interface (e.g. reducing invoices on hold)
• Familiarity with supplier onboarding processes and systems
• Experience working with preferred supplier programmes or frameworks
• Previous people management or team leadership experience within a procurement or purchasing function
• Knowledge of category management principles (applied at an operational level)
• Exposure to continuous improvement methodologies (e.g. Lean, process optimisation)

We are committed to ensuring that all job applicants are treated equally, without discrimination because of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age.