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What will you be doing?

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Commercial and Procurement Division at Kent County Council. The Division is driven by its mission to ensure the Council is delivering ‘best value’ for Kent residents across £1.2b of contracted spend. By ‘best value’, we mean much more than value for money and delivering savings. We are committed to delivering wider social, environmental, and economic benefits to Kent communities and supporting the Kent economy.

We are looking for ambitious and motivated professionals to join our Division as Commercial and Procurement Officers. As an officer, you will be responsible for providing procurement sourcing support and advice across a diverse portfolio of categories.

We are seeking roles within the Place team which is broken down into the following portfolios:

• Environment & Circular Economy
• Growth & Communities
• Highways & Transportation

This role offers you the opportunity to earn a salary and obtain a nationally recognised Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) level 4 qualification, whilst gaining valuable skills and experience working within the Commercial and Procurement Division.

We also welcome applications from candidates who already hold CIPS Level 4 or a higher CIPS qualification. For successful candidates who are already professionally qualified, there may be opportunities to continue their professional development through further CIPS study, subject to business needs and funding arrangements.

More information on the CIPS level 4 qualification can be found here: Level 4 Procurement and Supply Chain Practitioner | CIPS

This is a career graded (apprenticeship) role. It is expected you will be appointed at KSF and move to KSG once Apprenticeship training is completed, with ongoing opportunities for continued professional development within the Division.

The focus of the role will be to support the team in providing expertise and professional advice relating to the procurement of works, goods and services, flexing and working across different categories.

To join us, you will have one of the following:

• Previous commercial or procurement experience in the private or public sector
• Project management experience with a willingness to learn commercial and procurement as a new career
• Have recently graduated University looking to start a career in commercial and procurement

You will have an excellent work ethic, a positive attitude, be organised, and able to support on multiple projects. You will have excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers. You will have the ability to research, analyse and interpret data/information to support development of procurement plans and category strategies. In this role, each day will offer a chance to build on your experience, knowledge and skills which will help shape the future of Kent.

The Kent County Council is a fully inclusive Employer and we take our values and behaviours very seriously and are looking for employees who are equally passionate about the right values and behaviours.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Closing date for applications is Friday 7th August, with interviews being held in Maidstone or on MS Teams in early September.

About you

For more information, contact Craig Merchant by e-mail craig.merchant@kent.gov.uk.

About us

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.