Deputy Director of Contracting & Procurement

Accountable for the delivery of SRM (including contract management) for QTS’s suppliers, including establishing over-arching QTS SRM strategy and plan for current and future needs. 

Accountable for regularly setting and reviewing key performance indicators (KPIs) and validating the effectiveness of the procurement process. 

Accountable for developing and delivering plans for continuous improvement in the sustainability of goods and services of QTS contracts. 

Responsible for the over-arching process improvement to eliminate unnecessary complicatedness from the procurement process by diagnosing problems and designing innovative solutions to enable QTS to be operate and deliver services effectively and efficiently.  

Responsible for developing, deploying and updating the QTS procurement and contracting roadmap, deploying performance improvement principles and introducing automation as appropriate. 

Manage and develop the implementation of Category Management processes within QTS and develop the procurement and supply chain function to ensure the provision of the best possible services, measured by procurement and supply chain efficiency. 

Review waivers and notices in instances where there is indication of poor or untimely engagement with QTS, undertaking root cause analysis as necessary to identify the reasons and to develop an approach to mitigate future problems. 

Undertake audits and assurance of procurement processes, with the aim of ensuring cost effectiveness and realising savings. 

Responsible for continued performance of the procurement process in meeting service level agreement KPIs and internal QTS performance improvement metric targets. 

Responsible for providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, dealing with groups of internal and external staff, where there may be significant barriers to acceptance or understanding. 

Identify, develop, and promote best practices, with the aim of improving QTS performance and sustainability. 

Drive the development, management and delivery of the Trusts procurement cost improvement programme, operational metrics and corporate reporting. 

Provide regular updates to the QTS, that the 'manage and enable' operates within set budgets. 

Professional lead for contract management, with accountability for the development, deployment and maintenance of plan and strategies to meet QTS strategies and corporate objectives. 

Monitor and measure the performance of the procurement and supply chain team against key result areas and produce regular reports for Executive Management Team. 

Lead a culture of transparency and high-quality data to enable accurate reporting and interpretation of spend. 

Support growth and upskilling of capabilities across QTS in procurement and contracting excellence.  

Develop and maintain a view of existing skills and skills gaps across the teams within QTS to enable the development of plans to drive improvement in procurement understanding and capability. 

Lead on the development of strategies and new initiatives which support commercial income generation and efficiency opportunities. 

Responsible and accountable for a range of projects/ and or programmes and initiatives. Budget setting across a range of services/areas, managing and monitoring related activity, liaising with finance colleagues to ensure appropriate costing and ensure compliance with Standing Financial instructions and Standing Orders. 

Develop commissioning/ service models that ensures value for money and promote excellence. 

Constantly strive for value for money and greater efficiency in the use of these budgets and to ensure that they operate in recurrent financial balance year on year. 

Accountable for developing and applying robust governance procedures to ensure that contracts deliver their contracted benefits and that SRM delivers added value to QTS and by extension our clients. 

Responsible for supporting the QTS Directors and Service Leads in improving their governance to deliver QTS strategies and corporate objectives.  

Ensure all activity is compliant to the law, QTS governance and other relevant QTS Member governance. 

Establish professional relationships with key stakeholders both internal and external to QTS. In particular, the development of relationships with stakeholders at a senior level, including Executives and Senior Leadership Teams/Managers to deputise effectively for the Director of Finance, Contracting and Procurement as and when required for matters relating to Procurement or Contracting. This is a shared responsibility with the Head of Finance who is responsible for deputising in matters relating to Finance.  

Use well developed communication, negotiation, and influencing skills to engage a range of staff to oversee and direct the delivery of operational duties (detailed above) in line with agreed QTS plans and other commitments. 

Responsible for reporting QTS’s procurement performance to key forums, such as – but not limited to - the QTS Board and Finance and Performance (F&P) Committee.  

Build and maintain the reputation of QTS as a highly professional service with effective business partnering arrangements ensuring maximum satisfaction among both internal and external stakeholders. 

Champion a culture of customer service excellence and value for money delivery in the sourcing and management of suppliers, services and materials.  

Coordinate periodic surveys of QTS stakeholders, structured to identify the extent to which QTS engages effectively, including wider aspects such as the effectiveness of communication to stakeholders.