View Vacancy – MNL – DDat Commercial Procurement Manager, HEO

Main purpose of job:

Based at the British Embassy in Manila, the job holder will have a role in the creation of a newly established team that will lead on the procurement of technology for the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The Technology Sourcing Team will be a part of the FCDO’s wider Commercial Directorate and report into the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Commercial Team located in the UK. The role of the Technology Sourcing Team will be to lead on execution of procurements that are primarily focused on acquiring commodity ICT services such as hardware, software, labour and cloud services. 

This will include the full procurement lifecycle: 

• working with customers in the FCDO organisation to quality assure specifications.
• determining the appropriate procurement procedure to use.
• preparation of tender documentation including allocating commercial risk appropriately via terms and conditions and selecting appropriate pricing mechanisms.
• liaison and coordination with suppliers to clarify requirements.
• coordinating the formal evaluation of bids and maintaining a strong audit trail of how decisions were made.
• agreement of contracts with successful suppliers and debriefing unsuccessful suppliers.
• documenting award reports setting out a formal record of how the successful supplier was identified.
• conduct contract handover procedures to contract managers.

As a Procurement Manager you will report to the Senior Procurement Manager, and you will be part of a team of procurement specialists based in Manila. You will work closely with the rest of the DDaT Commercial team in the UK to take requirements and execute procurements that comply with the FCDO’s processes and procedures. 

The procurements undertaken are regulated under UK law and while knowledge of this would be beneficial it is not essential as 1) full training will be provided; 2) the execution of the procurements will be in line with the FCDO’s documented processes.

The Technology Sourcing Team will be managed from the UK by the Global Head of Technology Sourcing within DDaT Commercial.   Due to the remote management aspect of the role, the job holder will require strong communication and interpersonal skills to interact with colleagues, customers and suppliers in the UK.

Roles and responsibilities:

Supplier and Sourcing Management – Procurement Delivery (70%)

You will have responsibility for execution of the procurement process for technology-based goods and services for requirement owners within the FCDO to ensure that business needs are met, value for money is achieved, and that procurements align with Global Category Plans that are developed and managed by the team in the UK. 

While the processes to follow are pre-set, there will be a degree of decision making and problem solving required with you determining the route to market, approach to risk allocation under the contract, the pricing model, the procurement plan/timeline and the contract term. You will also be required to review statements of requirements and design simple commercial models as part of the procurement process. You may be required to provide advice and recommendations to senior grades based on your research and analysis for them to make a decision.

The FCDO operates a tiered approach to determining approvals and assurance with a second pair of eyes on tender documentation being essential before they are issued to the market. It is expected that for lower risk procurements you will develop the necessary collateral subject to review and assurance of your line manager before procurement documents are issued to the market. For higher value and complex procurements, it is likely that you and your line manager would work on preparing the documentation together, with a final sign off from the Category Lead within the UK. 

As this is a new team being set up it is envisaged that during the first year of the team’s establishment, the level of contact, supervision and coaching from the UK Commercial team will be higher than when the team is embedded and operating effectively from year 2 onwards. 

In executing the procurement process it is expected you will have regular contacts with the requirement owners, usually Grade 6 to SEO in IDD. In terms of contact with the UK Commercial team, you will have semi-regular contacts with:

• the category team leads – to ensure the procurement being contemplated aligns with any wider category strategy. This may involve making recommendations on the appropriate approach to fulfil procurement requirements based on in-depth and sound analysis and technical knowledge;
• the head of contract management to ensure relevant information is included with any handovers of contracts let into formal contract management

In managing the procurement process you will be responsible for ensuring your procurements meet quality, legal, audit, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office requirements. All procurements will need to align to FCDO’s global processes and are conducted using the FCDO’s the e-Sourcing Toolset.  

In addition to your standard duties, a degree of flexibility will be expected from you to support other spend categories as and when there is spare capacity within the team or if there are urgent requirements that take priority over their day-to-day duties.

Stakeholder Management (10%)

As part of your day-to-day role, you will be expected to interact with numerous stakeholders (both internal and external). This will involve managing expectations, communicating clearly, and using expertise in procurement to give credible advice to stakeholders. 

You may be required to provide complex information, negotiating changes in the scope of requirements, securing agreement to proposed actions, and offering advice to senior grades on the effects of operational change.

The role will require a confident communicator who can navigate a complex stakeholder environment and maintain professionalism in challenging situations and apply their procurement expertise to ensure the best outcome for the FCDO.

You will need to:

• educate stakeholders on procurement processes, organisational policies and the need for ethical behaviour within the public sector, explaining the rationale behind your decisions in a way that stakeholders understand the broader business implications of working within a regulated sector
• develop relationships with FCDO stakeholders such as; Information, Digital and Data (IDD) Directorate (the IT Department of the FCDO) to promote commercial best practice, and Legal to review and engage on commercial matters.
• contribute to global category development with local expertise and knowledge of spend, markets, and environments.
• work collaboratively with stakeholders to find mutually beneficial solutions when conflicts or misunderstanding arise, resolving concerns or conflicts related to procurement through research, analysis, and sound interpretation of guidance, ensuring resolution in line with FCDO’s global procurement processes.

Support for Team (20%)

You will be expected to actively participate in following activities:

• create positive impact to the team through suggesting improvements to enhance the quality of service, securing good external relationships, and enhancing organisational credibility
• overseeing/managing various administrative duties such as ensuring accuracy of records of supplier contracts, maintaining audit trails for procurement exercises, document preparation, organising meetings and general team support
• generate and distribute regular reports on procurement activities on procurement progress and spend analysis
• provide information to central systems team within Commercial Directorate to allow them to create Contract Purchase Agreements on HERA (the FCDO’s finance system)
• assist on setting up procurement events upon Jaggaer (the FCDO’s e-sourcing system)

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

None

Candidates should note that the FCDO operates within a regulated sector for procurement and that training will be provided on the UK’s legal framework for conducting public sector procurement. However, skills and experience in the basic principles of conducting a procurement and creating a contract will be an essential foundation.

Essential on arrival:

• Commercial Technical Skills: previous experience in leading on complex commercial situations and leading teams to deliver great procurement outcomes. In particular candidates should have experience in running procurements, developing specifications, designing pricing mechanisms and allocating risk under a contract.
• Working Internationally: previous experience in working in a procurement capacity which is regional/international and beyond domestic market
• Communicating and Influencing: proven experience in influencing internal and external stakeholders with strong customer service skills and experience in guiding and supporting non procurement staff
• Extensive English language and Filipino