About APUC

Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC) is the Centre of Procurement Expertise for, and owned jointly by, all of Scotland's Universities and Colleges. With collaboration, responsibility, and integrity at the heart of what we do, we're all about helping our member institutions achieve their objectives, whether you are putting together Framework Agreements, or working directly in one of our client institutions.

Joining APUC means joining a community of peers, and getting the chance to get together often and having network opportunities throughout the year. Peer support and collaboration is integral at APUC.

We currently employ around 90 people, most of whom are based within Colleges and Universities but with some based in our regional offices in Stirling (HQ), Glasgow and Edinburgh.

About the Role

We are excited to offer an excellent opportunity for a passionate and ambitious procurement professional seeking the next step in their career. This role focuses on the procurement of goods and services within the Higher and Further Education (HE/FE) sectors in Scotland across the wide and varied landscape of the Estates & Facilities area. We welcome applications from individuals with good procurement experience, eager to join our team. This is a strategically important position within APUC, offering a chance to make a meaningful impact. The post holder role will have their own portfolio of Framework Agreements and will lead, promote, and support collaborative procurement activities, including contractor and contract management and responsible procurement practices. They will also serve as a key representative of strategic procurement, assisting the drive and delivery of best practices across the sector to ensure responsible and sustainable procurement and best value are implemented effectively.

The role reports to the Head of Sourcing and sits within the Estates Category team, part of the wider Strategic Sourcing Team.

The individual should have strong knowledge of procurement processes and practices, engaged and invested in sustainability, in particular regarding the impacts of climate change and the development of social value, and have excellent interpersonal skills to engage and influence with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and the supply chain. The role will also play an important part in the delivery of supply chain management across a broad range of goods and service areas for APUC and across the sector.

The post holder will be an ambassador for APUC, the HE/FE sectors and for the professions generally. They must demonstrate the highest levels of professionalism and ethical behaviour, whilst working with a passion to bring positive change and value for money to the sector.

Person Specification

Knowledge & Skills:

Qualifications: Membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply or working towards this (preferred).
Personal Skills: Be a professional, credible procurement manager, have the essential competencies of clarity of purpose, self-confidence, integrity with strong influencing ability.
Judgement Skills: To be able to deal with demanding situations calmly while demonstrating empathy and respect.
Legislative Knowledge: Strong knowledge of UK and Scottish procurement legislation as it relates to the HE/FE sector and of the legislative requirements of other Framework Agreements available and accessible to the sector.
Project Management Skills: Have proven skills in meeting demanding targets and deadlines on a day to day basis.
Commercial Analysis: Should demonstrate sound commercial knowledge and good numeracy skills.
Strong Negotiation & Communication Skills: Experience of contract drafting and negotiation and the ability to effectively influence and engage stakeholders at all levels within the organisation.
Systems: Knowledge and Understanding of the systems and processes utilised in the procurement of goods and services.
Understanding of Supply Chain Impacts: Expertise in the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of multi-level supply chain management, particularly concerning modern slavery, human rights, biodiversity, and climate change.
Customer Management: Provide outstanding customer and stakeholder service levels including responding quickly and flexible to all reasonable requests for information and/or support.
Attention to Detail: A methodical approach to systems management and organisational tasks, ensuring accuracy and thoroughness in execution.
High Intellectual Calibre & Ethical Standards: Demonstrates exceptional intellectual capacity paired with the highest levels of integrity and ethical conduct.

Responsibilities:

Deputise for the Head of Sourcing where required.
Undertake end to end tendering for the Framework Agreements in their portfolio for the category, and the implementation and promotion of such Framework Agreements.
Mentor and support other team members at Operational and Development level where required.
Undertake strategy development and market analysis work to accurately define the clients’ needs and translate that into flexible but effective specifications for tendering and contract management.
Contract Management of the majority of suppliers within their portfolio of work with support from the Head of Sourcing where required.
Embed responsible procurement activity into the end-to-end tendering process and provide input into key organisational responsible procurement activity.
Manage or participate in other projects as required from time to time.
Collate, analyse and disseminate various management information.
Have knowledge of the ethical/social and environmental impacts occurring in the supply chain and actively take steps to identify and rectify areas of concerns/areas for improvement.
Liaise with the various stakeholders to provide and receive key information, providing ad hoc information and analysis as required.
Undertake negotiations within the scope of the role with support from the Head of Sourcing where required.
Apply financial knowledge and understanding to enable appraisal of supplier’s financial positions, total costing, and the compliance of Framework Agreements.
Undertake any other reasonable duties at the appropriate level as required by the company from time to time.

Contacts & Relationships:

The post holder must build strong working relationships with all stakeholders and foster the reputation of APUC as a source of expert guidance and support on sustainability and responsible procurement both to institutional customers and to suppliers.

Why Work at APUC

Full time hours are 35 hours per week on average and can be worked 5 x 7 hour days or you can compress your hours to work either 4.5 days per week, 9 days per fortnight (so a long weekend every 2 weeks) or 9.5 days per fortnight. If you choose a 9 day fortnight, our default non-working time is a Friday but occasionally other days can work better.
We aim to provide a work life balance for colleagues and offer flexible work options for all including flexible start and end times and options to take longer or shorter lunches as preferred.
Hybrid working with colleagues coming into the office 5 days per fortnight. Our Glasgow office is based in Glasgow Caledonian University. Space is available for those who want to come in more often, and we have in-person and online events throughout the year to make sure we stay well connected.
Your holiday entitlement (given in hours) is equivalent of 26 x 7 hour days and an additional 14 x 7 hour fixed and floating days to cover bank holidays and the festive break.
We are closed for the festive period (between Christmas and New Year) and Good Friday and Easter Monday. Every year!
You will be automatically enrolled into our pension scheme and our Group Life Assurance which is based on your annual salary from day 1 of employment.
We offer enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental pay (subject to eligibility criteria).
Wellbeing activities and events are organised throughout the year in accordance with key national mental and physical health awareness dates.
Career development is important to us and all staff have regular performance reviews and there is a variety of funding options to enable staff to pursue professional and leadership qualifications, as well as other learning and development opportunities such as access to our Procurement Skills Development Programme and internal workshops.
Cycle-to-work schemes are available with Cycle Solutions and Halfords (maximum value of £1,500).
Retail and gym membership discounts & offers with access to our mydiscounts portal.
Home & Technology benefit is an affordable way of accessing new technology by making savings on National Insurance. Products include tablets, laptops, desktops, SmartTV's, games consoles along with garden furniture and equipment, home improvement tools and more.
Access to Scotwest Credit Union which offers a range of affordable loans, mortgages and savings accounts.
We have an Employee Wellbeing Policy and Annual Plan, a team of trained Mental Health First Aiders, and all of our people managers are trained in providing support for employees experiencing mental health issues. Our EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) can be accessed through an online portal which gives access to a library of health and wellbeing articles, as well as allowing you to book counselling sessions.
We have an Employee Representative and Consultation Group, who meet quarterly. We regularly ask for feedback in a variety of ways at company events or through surveys.

How to Apply

If you are interested in applying please email your full CV, along with covering letter, explaining why you feel you would like to work with APUC and in the particular role mentioned, noting your current salary level and notice period.