Category Manager

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is an executive agency of Scottish Government. We manage Scotland’s national forests and land on behalf of Scottish Ministers and serve as part of the Environment and Forestry directorate of Scottish Government. FLS is a fast paced commercial business environment with a high proportion of its core activities being contracted out. Procurement therefore plays a crucial role in supporting the sustainability and success of our business, infrastructure and operational activities.
Our procurement team is a national delivery and support function, structured into four Category Teams and a Policy Team, with staff located in Edinburgh and Inverness. Members of this team work cross functionally with staff in other national support teams and with colleagues in our 5 Regions, located across Scotland.
We are looking for two Category Managers for our procurement structure to help us on our journey towards a strategic category model. They will lead procurement activities in categories including Forest Operations, Corporate and Business Services., Reporting to the Head of Procurement, our Category Managers are responsible for developing category strategies and overseeing the delivery of tendering projects and contract management activities within their categories. They each lead a team of between 4 and 6 staff to deliver these category objectives.
Working as part of the senior procurement team you will lead in transforming the way that Regulated contracts are procured and managed across the organisation, by adopting a category approach for your designated categories.
You will lead the development and maintenance of category strategies for a number of core business activities to support delivery of corporate and procurement objectives.
You will deliver category outputs through a team of procurement and contract management staff, whilst supporting their development needs., Category Strategy Development/Management
+ Develop and maintain a suite of category strategies that reflect FLS business needs and objectives taking account of key supply market drivers, market conditions and trends for the assigned category areas;
+ For each category, pro-actively engage with key internal/external stakeholders to generate, present and agree a robust category strategy that balances business needs, risk, interdependencies and available resources to feed the overall wave plan;
+ Develop appropriate savings targets, service levels and efficiencies for each category and track and report on the level of achievement of these targets;
+ Undertake status reporting for allocated categories and take responsibility for the preparation of reports detailing status, risks and issues for internal forums.
Category Sourcing and Management
+ Feed into the creation of the 2 year procurement pipeline and monitor progress against pipeline delivery, ensuring adequate contract coverage to support business continuity;
+ Allocate the sourcing and contract management work for all areas of your categories, using your team to deliver the various stages of the procurement cycle from commodity strategy through to contract implementation, monitoring and review;
+ Provide support to team members for the projects allocated, making best use of strengths and varying experience of team members;
+ Ensure that procurement activities follow FLS internal governance processes and observe legislative requirements. Provide assurance on each process undertaken; critically examine and challenge the key aspects at each stage;
+ Ensure that all contract implementation and management activity across the category area has been completed.
Staff Management/Development
+ Support team members on a continuous basis and make use of the performance management system, ensuring regular reviews are undertaken;
+ Undertake capability and skills assessment and encourage continuous development through CIPS and CPD;
+ Manage, motivate and develop procurement, contract management and project teams ensuring that resources are efficiently utilised.
Procurement Support & Development
+ Provide procurement advice, guidance and support to all functions to ensure adherence to relevant procurement policy and legislation;
+ Support and deliver Business Partnering activity
+ Contribute to and deliver internal CPD sessions, and cross-organisational training where required
+ Implement relevant aspects of Corporate Procurement Strategy through category work and feed into continuous improvement of procurement process, policy, procedures and systems.

+ Experience of managing multiple complex procurement projects from initiation and tendering through to contract delivery and review;
+ Demonstrable understanding of public procurement legislation, statutory guidance, best practice and its application to category management, procurement and contract management activities;
+ Commercial awareness and understanding of commodity/industry markets, their drivers and the impacts they have on sourcing.
+ Strong analytical and numeracy skills with an understanding of differing pricing models;
+ Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Desirable:
+ Experience of managing and developing staff.
Technical
Essential:
+ Full Membership of Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (MCIPS) OR minimum 3 years strategic sourcing / category management experience with a commitment to gain MCIPS status within 2 years, Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Alongside your salary of £49,493, Forestry and Land Scotland contributes £14,338 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ Learning and development tailored to your role
+ An environment with flexible working options
+ A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
+ A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%