Procurement & Contract Manager Digital Spoke

Procurement & Contract Manager Digital Spoke

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

We support hybrid working, allowing flexibility while ensuring employees can excel in their roles,with anexpectationof1-2daysperweekin the office.

Reading Borough Council is looking for a Procurement and Contracts Manager to play a vital role in supporting our Digital & Technologyprocurement needs.

This role acts as a dedicated business partner for budget managersacross the entire Councilandcollaborates with digitaltechnical expertsto ensure the best value for money solutions are inplace for a digitally secure and innovative organisation. It willdeliversourcing and ensure robust contract management related to the Council’s technology landscape, including:

• Software and applications (SaaS,onpremise, cloud services)
• Digital infrastructure and networks
• Professional digital and IT services

You’llhelp ensure procurement processes run efficiently and in full compliance with regulations, supporting delivery of critical digital capabilities that underpin every service across the organisation. Contract values typically range from £5k to major multimillionpound programmes.

You will want to have knowledge of the Procurement Act 2023, and ideally Public Contracts Regulations 2015 – top candidates will have completed the Procurement Act eLearning course.

The role works with a range of contract types including service contracts, framework and DPSCalloffs, calloff arrangements, and digitalspecific commercial agreements (such as licence subscriptions and support/maintenance contracts).You’llwork closely with a range of service managers and suppliers to ensure effective contract delivery, riskmanagementand value for money across our entire technology portfolio. Holding a Level 4 or higher CIPS qualification is preferable, although apprenticeship and training options will be available.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.

This role is key to ensuring procurement processes follow our internal governance requirements, plans proactively for procurement cycles, and supports implementation of Council policies such as Social Value and working towards Net Zero. The postholder will oversee a diverse portfolio of technology contracts, including software licensing, cloud hosting, digital transformation programmes, managedservicesand infrastructure support.

You will lead procurement activity and support the mobilisation of new applications, upgrades and enterprise-wide digital solutions. The role also helps ensure commercial compliance across essential corporate digital services such as Microsoft licensing, telephony and unified communications, end user devices, data platforms and IT support arrangements.

By embedding best practice procurement arrangements and ensuring compliance with governance frameworks, this role helps secure value for money while supporting essential corporate initiatives across the Reading borough.

• Lead and manage end-to-end procurement processes, including complex tenders and competitive quotation exercises across a range of digital and technology requirements, ensuring timely and transparent delivery of a wide-ranging portfolio of projects.
• Ensure adherence to public procurement regulations, including the Procurement Act 2023 and associated legal frameworks.
• Support service leads in defining technical and commercial requirements, ensuring supplier engagement and market understanding for IT-related categories.
• Oversee the procurement of software including upgrades and renewals, ensuring alignment to technical architecture principles.
• Embed category management approaches to optimise outcomes, including consideration of lifecycle costs, interoperability, application rationalisation, data security and ongoing support needs.
• Support contract mobilisation and transition activities…