Procurement manager

Birmingham Source: WhatJobs

£51,032

Procurement manager

Overview

ID
Salary
£51,032
Type
Permanent - Full Time
Location
Birmingham
Hours
37.5
Closing Date
19/10/2026
Interview Date
27th October 2026
Downloadable Files

About the role

We are looking for an experienced Procurement Manager to join Sense and play a key role in developing our growing Procurement function.

Procurement is a relatively new function at Sense, supporting approximately £24 million of annual corporate expenditure. It's an exciting opportunity to help shape how we procure goods and services across the organisation, delivering value for money while ensuring quality, resilience and positive outcomes for the people we support. Reporting to our Head of Procurement, you will help deliver our organisation-wide procurement plan, working with teams across Sense to understand their needs and providing practical, commercially focused advice.

You will lead procurement and tendering activity, manage key supplier and contract relationships and identify opportunities for savings, efficiencies and service improvements. You'll also manage our Procurement Assistant and deputise for the Head of Procurement when required. This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys being a trusted procurement partner, combining commercial thinking with strong relationships and helping colleagues make informed purchasing decisions.

Key Responsibilities

Work with teams across Sense to understand requirements, plan procurement activity and ensure goods and services are purchased at the right quality, cost and time.
Lead and support tendering, quotation and negotiation processes, ensuring procurement decisions are fair, transparent and deliver value.
Manage contracts and supplier relationships, setting clear expectations, monitoring performance and addressing issues where required.
Identify and deliver savings, efficiencies and service improvements while balancing cost, quality, risk and operational requirements.
Maintain accurate procurement plans, contract information and reporting, providing visibility of savings, risks and progress.
Provide practical advice and guidance to colleagues on procurement, purchasing, contracts and supplier management.
Identify supply chain, contractual and compliance risks and put proportionate actions in place to protect continuity of essential goods and services.
Ensure procurement activity meets relevant legal, regulatory and Sense requirements.
Champion ethical, sustainable and socially responsible procurement.
Manage and support the Procurement Assistant, setting priorities and supporting their learning and development.
Deputise for the Head of Procurement when required and represent Sense positively with suppliers, partners and relevant networks.

About you

You will be an experienced procurement professional who combines strong commercial judgement with a collaborative and pragmatic approach.

We're looking for someone with:

Strong experience within procurement, purchasing or contract management, supporting a range of teams and spend categories.
A good understanding of how effective procurement can deliver value for money, quality, strong governance and positive organisational outcomes.
A proven track record of managing tenders, quotations and commercial negotiations.
Experience managing contracts and supplier relationships, including addressing performance, service and cost issues.
Experience identifying and delivering savings and efficiencies without compromising quality.
The ability to identify and manage procurement, supplier and contractual risks.
Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to provide practical advice and influence stakeholders.
Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, records and reporting.
A collaborative approach and a willingness to share knowledge and help colleagues understand effective procurement.
A commitment to ethical, sustainable and socially responsible purchasing.
A CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement and Supply, or an equivalent procurement or commercial qualification, would be desirable. We'll also consider candidates willing to work towards this.
Previous experience of supporting, supervising or managing others would also be advantageous.

About Sense

Sense is here to break down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs. That's why we're committed to increasing the number of disabled people working across our organisation and creating an environment where everyone can thrive.

We actively encourage disabled people to apply for our vacancies and believe that a diverse range of perspectives, experiences and talents makes us stronger.

We know there's always more we can do to become a truly inclusive employer, and we're working together to achieve that. Join us and help create the change thousands of disabled people with complex needs and families told us they want to see: a world without limits.

If you need us to adjust our recruitment process to help you access our vacancies, then please get in touch with a member of the talent acquisition team. We are a Disability Confident Leader and commit to interviewing disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for a role. More information on this can be found hereOur commitment as an employer | Sense Careers

Our Values

Our values shape the way we behave and work alongside disabled people with complex needs to break down barriers:

We're creating change
We're always learning
We're better together

No agency submissions please: any submissions without prior authorisation from the Sense Recruitment Team will be treated as our own and as such no fee will be payable.