Procurement Manager

Behind every great lesson is a central team ensuring our schools have the highest quality resources, services, and commercial partnerships. As our Procurement Contracts Performance Manager, you aren't just reviewing reports—you are shaping and enforcing the contract performance frameworks that ensure our school leaders and site teams receive exceptional service delivery.

In this exciting new role within our central procurement function, you will act as the key bridge between localised school realities and Trust-wide strategic oversight. You will hold suppliers strictly accountable for building, maintaining, and populating their own performance reporting suites, ensuring seamless communication and transparency across all Trust schools.

Your primary focus will be to centralise the operational performance of key service contracts—such as catering, cleaning, and grounds maintenance—ensuring they deliver consistent value across the Trust. You will achieve this by holding commercial partners accountable to rigorous KPI and SLA frameworks, and by synthesizing granular, school-level operational data into comprehensive, Trust-wide performance reports for executive leadership. In addition to this strategic reporting, you will govern supplier-led dashboards, oversee compliance with the Procurement Act 2023 (TPA) and PCR 2015 regulations, enforce contractual remedies when performance standards are not met, and act as a central expert to support School Business Managers with training and clear escalation pathways.

This is a hybrid all year round role working 22.5 hours per week over 3 or 4 days (to include Tuesday to Thursday) with office-based and home working. Alternative working patterns will be considered on request.

• Commercial & Supplier Expertise:
  Proven experience in supplier management, contract governance, and tracking KPI/SLA frameworks within a multi-site function.
• Regulatory Knowledge:
  Practical experience or clear understanding of the Procurement Act 2023 (TPA) and PCR 2015 statutory transparency regulations.
• Analytical Mindset:
  Strong commercial acumen and data interrogation skills to evaluate supplier dashboards, spot trends or gaps, and maintain a "single source of truth".
• Stakeholder & School Focus:
  Exceptional communication and listening skills, with the ability to translate busy school operational needs into technical supplier requirements and support School Business Managers.
• Confidence & Leadership: A robust supplier management style with the confidence to challenge underperformance, negotiate remedies, and manage escalations.

• Professional Agency:
  We trust your expertise. You will have full ownership of designing, reviewing, and approving supplier-led contract performance tools and dashboard architecture across the Trust.
• Agile Working:
  Enjoy genuine hybrid flexibility, balancing home working with a minimum of one collaborative day per week in our Central Team offices (at Rose Hill Primary School).
• Structured Impact:
  Work directly alongside the Head of Procurement and central operations leadership in a cohesive, supportive environment where commercial accountability and operational improvements are valued.
• Shared Growth:
  Support for role-specific CPLD, formal professional contract management qualifications, and clear developmental pathways.
• The Whole Person: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and a workplace culture that respects your life outside of work.

Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of…