Procurement Business Partner - 12 month FTC

We’re building thriving communities as one of the UK’s largest housing groups and a leading developer of affordable housing. We believe everyone is entitled to a good home they can afford, in a place they are proud to live. More than 100,000 people live in our homes. If you want to experience work that’s truly rewarding, join us. Because when we achieve together, customers and communities thrive. Work for Orbit. Believe in people.

The role

The purpose of procurement is to obtain competitive prices for supplies, delivering the most value for money for the organisation throughout the procurement lifecycle. This must be done within the applicable legislative framework. You will operate as a dedicated business partner to designated business units. This places the business partner as an interface between procurement and the wider business. The business partner role works closely with internal stakeholders to bring together purchasing needs, influence behaviours and deliver value to the enterprise. The business partner is recognised as a source of procurement expertise and acts as a change agent in implementing new commercial models and processes. This role will be within our Services procurement team and is part of Finance, where you'll help us to invest more back into communities and design for strength.

What you'll achieve

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders to support delivery of Procurement objectives and Orbit’s 2030 Strategy.
• Liaise closely with business units in determining their priorities, requirements and challenges.
• Support procurement team in defining and contextualise strategic and category strategies as they apply to business units.
• Work with procurement leadership teams to identify and execute on process improvements, as well as measuring performance.
• Monitor adherence to purchasing policies and procedures to ensure purchasing standards are upheld.
• Lead on tendering and reviewing existing suppliers.
• Aligns with risk and financial teams to ensure agreed processes are being followed.
• Identify, and supports the mitigation of supply assurance issues and risks as they apply to business units.
• Coordinate relevant data management activities, defining and implementing stewardship strategies with stakeholders such as internal data teams, finance and IT.

What you'll bring

Essential skills

• CIPS level 4 or 5 working towards next level or equivalent
• Understanding of Public Procurement policy
• Good negotiation skills and very confident in dealing with suppliers and customers
• Procurement experience to a similar level
• Fosters a healthy team culture and inspires and motivates colleagues to achieve high performance

Desirable skills

• Experience of operating in a Social Housing environment, ideally within outsourced property operations’ supply chain
• Experience of Construction Category
• Lean practitioner/ Six Sigma or similar.

Why Orbit?

Choosing us means being rewarded in every sense. Here’s what you can expect to enjoy with us. A rewarding experience that works for you We strive to create an inclusive experience with benefits and wellbeing programmes designed to help you, and your loved ones, to thrive. For a better work life balance, we offer flexible working opportunities for many roles. A place to progress From training programmes to professional qualifications, we provide opportunities to learn and develop at every stage of your career. Whether you’re a student, graduate or experienced professional we’ll support you to grow. For leaders, our tailored development journeys are designed to stretch and strengthen your leadership skills. As well as practical training, we give you access to renowned business schools and experiential programmes for greater breadth and depth of learning. A purpose to feel proud of We’re proud to make a difference to people together. We’re values-driven with a commercial focus on performance - because the more profit we make, the more we can achieve for people. What brings us together is a passionate belief in progress and people. Read more about the values and purpose that drive us on our careers website.

How we hire

We aim to make our hiring process simple and fair: Online application Interview(s) Decision and offer We put the safeguarding of our customers, colleagues and contractors at the heart of everything we do and as such, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check.