Senior Contract and Procurement Manager at C40 Cities

Position Description

• The role will sit in the legal team, where it will lead on reviewing procurement requests to ensure alignment with C40 policy and developing the procurement function to increase strategic value-add to the wider organisation. 
• Your time will be split between responding to the day-to-day needs of the organisation and driving long-term projects.
• The role will work closely with other teams in C40, including the Regions and Mayoral Engagement team, finance and the Programme Management Office to ensure processes and best practices are embedded - with a particular focus on how c40 can use our procurement decisions to advance our equity, diversity and inclusion goals. 
• You will continually assess the organisation’s needs from a procurement function and define the team’s strategy and direction accordingly. You will be propositional about continued improvements and efficiencies to be made to procurement processes. 
• You will build  the wider organisation’s understanding of procurement best practices and procedures within C40, agreeing realistic delivery timeframes, and promoting best practices. You will provide effective training, advice and support to internal colleagues running procurement exercises. 
• You will review submissions to ensure alignment with the procurement policy, and negotiate services contracts and statements of work with Suppliers. You will lead on different types of procurements as well as advising on both contract variations and contract extensions.  
• This role will produce monthly reports on procurement activities to share with internal stakeholders, and work closely with the finance team and Programme Management Office to ensure costs are forecast and issues appropriately escalated. 
• As a member of the Corporate Services team, the post holder will advise internal and external stakeholders on a daily basis and be expected to think strategically about how the procurement function can be developed. This will be a varied role and with excellent opportunities to contribute to the development of the department’s direction and purpose.

Responsibilities:

• Develop the Procurement Function to deliver strategic value-add to the wider organisation, with a particular focus on developing fit-for-purpose streamlined processes and mainstreaming our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion goals. 
• Develop and/or update guidance and tools for procurement
• Proactively and reactively provide advice and training to staff on procurement processes using different channels and methodologies (1:1 support, presentations, FAQs, etc.)
• Review procurement requests - where relevant - for compliance with internal policies, procedures, and donor requirements. 
• Review, provide input to and/or draft Services Contracts, as needed.
• Support team members to negotiate agreements with suppliers as needed
• Work collaboratively with the programme teams and wider legal team to address supplier non-performance and contract management issues as they arise. 
• Collaborate with Finance and Programme teams on grant audits and provide evidence for procurement  as required.
• Support effective collaboration with all internal stakeholders including the Programme Management Office, Regions, Finance, and programmatic teams.
• Produce monthly procurement reports for senior leadership and other stakeholders, analyse procurement trends, and factor findings into procurement processes as relevant.  

Person Specification:

• Demonstrable experience managing procurement processes, with experience in the development sector beneficial
• Demonstrable work experience of international and cross-border procurement, particularly in the Global South
• Experience developing and rolling out procurement processes, including with diverse teams
• Experience with bringing an equity and diversity lens to procurement processes an asset
• Experience with asset management beneficial
• Experience driving culture shifts and delivering change in a growing organisation. 
• Proven ability to build consensus among teams, ideally internationally
• Strong judgement and ability to accurately articulate the pros and cons of a course of action, based on established facts
• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Capable of balancing day-to-day responsiveness to a busy and fast-paced organisation alongside big-picture strategic projects. 
• Strong commitment to the values of equity, diversity and inclusion. 
• Experience working in international grants/ projects would be advantageous to the role.
• Experience with managing procurements funded by restricted grants preferred.  
• Experience interpreting and drafting legal documents in a non-attorney capacity is beneficial. 
• Experience with a project management framework beneficial