Deputy Head of Procurement

Senior Leadership Role | Public Sector | Strategic Commercial Delivery

Salary: £55k - 64.5k plus benefits (18% pension, Discounts, Car Lease Schemes, Professional Development)

Location: Hybrid and Nottingham (3 days on site)

An experienced and commercially astute Deputy Head of Procurement to play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering a high-performing procurement function within a large, complex public sector organisation.

This is a senior leadership opportunity for a procurement professional who combines deep technical expertise, strategic vision and a strong customer focus, and who thrives in a regulated, high-impact environment.

The Role

Reporting to the Head of Commercial and Contract Management, you will provide strategic leadership across procurement activity, ensuring compliance, value for money and continuous improvement. You will lead complex, high-value procurements, develop people and partnerships, and act as a trusted advisor on commercial, legal and policy matters.

This role offers genuine scope to influence organisational outcomes, lead change programmes and represent the organisation at regional and national level.

It is an opportunity to take on a high-profile, influential leadership role where your expertise will directly support public services, organisational integrity and value for money, while shaping the future of a commercial function with real impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and deliver complex procurement activity, including above-threshold procurements, frameworks and competitive quotations, in line with current legislation and best practice
• Act as a senior professional authority on public procurement law, policy and governance
• Develop strong, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders to deliver long-term value
• Lead, motivate and develop a team of commercial professionals, embedding high performance and commercial excellence
• Manage and prioritise multiple projects and resources within challenging timescales
• Drive transformation and continuous improvement across commercial systems, processes and practices
• Deputise for the Head of Commercial and Contract Management as required
• Represent the organisation externally and contribute to regional and national collaboration
• Champion professional development through appraisal, coaching and career conversations

Requirements:

You will be a credible senior procurement leader with substantial experience operating at pace in a complex, regulated environment.

• Extensive experience across public sector procurement, including application of Public Contract Regulations and contract law
• Proven leadership experience, with a track record of developing high-performing teams
• Strong project management capability (PRINCE2 or equivalent desirable)
• Experience managing significant and complex budgets
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex issues for non-technical audiences
• A collaborative, customer-focused approach, seeing procurement as an enabler of organisational outcomes

Qualifications

• MCIPS (or equivalent demonstrable experience)
• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience

Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this role, applicants must have resided in the UK for the last 5 years and be willing / able to undertake Security Vetting.

If interested, please apply ASAP and any questions, email claire.shipman@1st-executive.com