Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

It’s not every job where you make a difference for the people of Scotland. But it’s what’s behind every job here.

Our work keeps Scotland’s water flowing, from reservoir to tap – and from sewer to treatment plant through creating and engaging with the best possible supply chain that supports and enable our ambitions and outcomes for our customers.

Do your bit by using effective leadership, influencing and negotiation through procurement, supply chain management, innovation and partnering ecosystems to achieve our big strategic aims – right here at our CIPS Platinum accredited procurement ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Stepps.

As part of the leadership team, you will deliver the PSC vision: Through digitally enabled supply chain integration, we collaborate to create an efficient, sustainable and agile supply chain that delivers great value for Scottish Water and our customers, supporting a flourishing Scotland. We will do this through delivering these key activities:

Procurement & Sourcing - Ensuring SW has access to the goods and services it needs at the right time, to the right standard, representing value for money; delivered efficiently by a world-class procurement team.

Risk Management - Ensuring structural, ethical, local, and global supply chain risks, including value for money, are effectively monitored, managed and made visible to SW to enable a sustainable and agile supply chain.

Supply Chain Development - Ensuring the supply chain remains fit for purpose through long term strategic alignment between SW & its supply chain partners & wider partnering ecosystems.

We are looking for 2 Procurement Category Managers, starting as soon as possible or in January 2025.

What you’ll do

You will be part of the Procurement Leadership Team (PLT) that will set the business plan and forward strategy of the function.

You will position key approaches and outcomes to our governance groups as appropriate.

You will be developing category strategies, strategic sourcing/ procurement of goods/ service and negotiation with suppliers, to make sure this aligns the framework of UK procurement regulations for Utilities and Scottish Government legislation to deliver SW-aligned outcomes. Which also means, you will have the sole responsibility to approve legally compliant procurement documentation which published in the public domain. You will need to minimise procedural litigation risk and potential reputational damage to Scottish Water.

You will prepare a range of reports to facilitate decisions taken by senior stakeholders. You will need to make sure PSC data is analysed and informed the wider business to support business decisions, leveraging suitable digital solutions. You’ll also manage and optimise business to business relationships (internally and within the supply chain).

You will oversee supplier relationships, manage risks (structural, commercial, and ethical), and drive improvements in supplier performance, to make sure we get the best value for our investments.

You will also support our Supply Chain Development area, which includes innovation, carbon reduction in the supply chain and wider partner ecosystems initiatives. This will include current PSC transformation projects.

You will develop procurement policy, processes, and approaches to wider business engagement that’s verified to ‘CIPS Platinum; accredited standard. You’ll manage governance practices to meet audit and legal requirements.

You will seek opportunities to lean processes and maximise the use of digital integration. Seeking and facilitating opportunities to drive and deliver further value for SW through its supply chain and wider partner ecosystems.

Lead on key commitments to support the implementation of the Transformation change initiatives. Ensure collective prioritisation to maximise performance and achieve employee buy-in.

You will lead our team’s training and development efforts, empowering our staff to excel and driving Scottish Water to achieve exceptional results. You’ll support and approve the 5-year training journey required for achieving the MCIPS professional qualification.

You will contribute fully to our shared mission of navigating Scottish Water successfully through the challenges being presented through the current construction market conditions. Minimising the adverse time and cost impacts on the capital programme through forward planning and sequencing.

You will contribute actively to the long-term success of Scottish Water through fully engaged participation in PLT, contributing to our strategic thinking and development, and the visible leadership of functional teams, wider leadership community, our workforce and partners. Specifically demonstrating and embedding BRIC (Bold, Responsible, Inspiring, Caring) leadership characteristics.

What you’ll bring

You will have a proven track record of delivery over a period of at least 8-10 years, including extracting learnings and continuous improvement. This can be across any sector, although Utilities, Public Sector and Construction could be desirable. A range of procurement delivery including complex procurements is also desirable.

You will possess strong analytical skills with the ability to draw out key messages and findings to make recommendations and / or support decisions at senior levels, including prioritisation of team activities.

You will be able to demonstrate your ability to effectively influence stakeholders and suppliers at all levels. Including experience of managing people and/or project teams.

You will have a proactive, ‘can-do’ approach and energy - this is essential to ensure delivery at pace and to a high quality. Undertaking horizon scanning for future opportunities, including experience for leading and driving positive change and transformation.

You will be able to demonstrate problem solving abilities, active listening skills and effective, tailored engagement approaches.

You will be professionally qualified to as a minimum MCIPS level.

Driving license is required.

Looking out for you

We are passionate about professional development and will pay for you to study and sit exams. We'll also pay the cost of your annual professional memberships.

The Procurement Team in Scottish Water is envied for its promotional opportunities. We have an ethos of developing our enthusiastic and talented people and creating the right opportunities for them to grow and progress through the organisational structure right through to general management opportunities.

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

This is a full time (37.5 hours per week) role. You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave.

And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working. For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), and life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus and car allowance. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

The salary will be starting from £62,000 dependent upon experience. This role also comes with a car allowance of £530 a month, and a yearly bonus of 15%.

This role is suitable for hybrid working. We bring our Procurement team together every Wednesday and on alternating Mondays in Stepps and your visible in-person leadership will be required. You can also expect to spend some days visiting other Scottish Water sites and offices.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll accept applications until midnight on Monday 19 August 2024 . And we’re aiming to do interviews for this role on 29 August 2024. When applying, please submit a CV and Cover Letter as part of your application.

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk