Senior Procurement Buyer (across civil service)

2026-09-27T00:00:00

Location: Taunton, Somerset, GB, TA1 4

Application Deadline: 2026-12-26T19:01:08.58

This role is 'across government' which means that only existing civil servants are eligible to apply. It has been posted on Linkedin to attract people who are not necessarily actively looking for a new opportunity. Therefore, we are not looking to work with agencies on the role as we are directly sourcing.

Job summary

Join UKHO Procurement - a role where you grow while making a national impact.

Are you looking to develop your procurement career in a role that offers real responsibility, structured learning, and exposure to public sector best practice? This role at the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is designed to help you build confidence, capability, and experience in a supportive, professional environment.

Reporting directly to the Strategic Procurement Buyer and working within a collaborative team, you'll progressively manage medium to high complexity procurements from discovery through to contract refresh. You'll apply the Procurement Act 2023, UKHO and MOD policy in practice, developing your commercial judgement while delivering compliant, value-for-money outcomes.

You won't be expected to know everything on day one. Instead, you'll be supported to build strong market awareness, challenge requirements appropriately, and grow your ability to run competitive tenders and manage suppliers effectively. You'll contribute to larger procurement activities, develop your data analysis and reporting skills, and learn how to embed supply chain resilience into contract management.

You'll also act as a trusted advisor to colleagues across UKHO, gaining experience in stakeholder engagement and professional procurement advice.

If you're motivated, organised, and keen to progress your procurement career while supporting work that matters nationally, this role offers an excellent opportunity to learn, grow, and make a genuine impact.

Hybrid working

Attendance in the office is required in accordance with business need - which is likely to be 60% of working time with one of those days being every other Thursday.

Job description

End-to-end procurement delivery: Manage the full procurement lifecycle from discovery through to contract refresh, including tendering, negotiation, and contract award, ensuring value for money and compliance with public sector procurement law.

Commercial and data analysis: Analyse and manage procurement data and statistics to support informed decision-making, reporting, and continuous improvement.

Professional advice and guidance: Advise and guide UKHO staff on procurement processes, ensuring policies, procedures, and best practice are understood and applied.

Supplier relationship management: Manage supplier relationships, including undertaking contract reviews in line with agreed governance and performance requirements.

Team and project support: Support the wider Procurement team as required, including contributing to larger procurement activities and collaborative working.

Lifecycle support and administration: Provide whole-life procurement support to stakeholders, including meeting management, reporting, electronic filing, and associated administrative tasks.

Person specification

End-to-end procurement experience: Ability to manage the full procurement lifecycle from initial definition through tender, award, contract management, and refresh.

Public sector procurement knowledge: Understanding of UK public sector procurement regulations and practice, ideally within a central government environment.

Stakeholder engagement: Proven ability to work effectively with business stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver compliant, value-for-money outcomes.

Systems capability: Experience using procurement IT systems, such as e-tendering and contract management platforms (e.g., Delta from BiP), or the ability to learn new systems quickly.

Communication and influencing skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to persuade, motivate, and support others to achieve procurement objectives.

Data and analytical skills: Good capability in analysing procurement data to support reporting, performance monitoring, and informed decision-making.

Self-management and teamwork: A proactive self-starter who can work independently while also contributing effectively as part of a collaborative procurement team.

#s1-Gen

developing your commercial judgement while delivering compliant, value-for-money outcomes.You won't be expected to know everything on day one. Instead, you'll be supported to build strong market awareness, challenge requirements appropriately, and grow your ability to run competitive tenders and manage suppliers effectively. You'll contribute to larger procurement activities, develop your data analysis and reporting skills, and learn how to embed supply chain resilience into contract management.You'll also act as a trusted advisor to colleagues across UKHO, gaining experience in stakeholder engagement and professional procurement advice.If you're motivated, organised, and keen to progress your procurement career while supporting work that matters nationally, this role offers an excellent opportunity to learn, grow, and make a genuine impact.Hybrid workingAttendance in the office is required in accordance with business need - which is likely to be 60% of working time with one of those
days being every other Thursday.Job descriptionEnd-to-end procurement delivery: Manage the full procurement lifecycle from discovery through to contract refresh, including tendering, negotiation, and contract award, ensuring value for money and compliance with public sector procurement law.Commercial and data analysis: Analyse and manage procurement data and statistics to support informed decision-making, reporting, and continuous improvement.Professional advice and guidance: Advise and guide UKHO staff on procurement processes, ensuring policies, procedures, and best practice are understood and applied.Supplier relationship management: Manage supplier relationships, including undertaking contract reviews in line with agreed governance and performance requirements.Team and project support: Support the wider Procurement team as required, including contributing to larger procurement activities and collaborative working.Lifecycle support and administration: Provide whole-life procurement
support to stakeholders, including meeting management, reporting, electronic filing, and associated administrative tasks.Person specificationEnd-to-end procurement experience: Ability to manage the full procurement lifecycle from initial definition through tender, award, contract management, and refresh.Public sector procurement knowledge: Understanding of UK public sector procurement regulations and practice, ideally within a central government environment.Stakeholder engagement: Proven ability to work effectively with business stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver compliant, value-for-money outcomes.Systems capability: Experience using procurement IT systems, such as e-tendering and contract management platforms (e.g. Delta from BiP), or the ability to learn new systems quickly.Communication and influencing skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to persuade, motivate, and support others to achieve procurement objectives.Data
and analytical skills: Good capability in analysing procurement data to support reporting, performance monitoring, and informed decision-making.Self-management and teamwork: A proactive self-starter who can work independently while also contributing effectively as part of a collaborative procurement team. #J-18808-Ljbffr

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