Senior Procurement & Contracts Manager

Salary: c. £80,000
Bonus: discretionary
Location: Kings Cross, London (Tues - Thurs - in our office, Mon + Fri - your choice)
Employment Type: Permanent, Full-time
Closing Date For Applications: 08.09.2024

About ARIA

ARIA is a new kind of R&D funding agency. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.

We are growing our team to develop bold new approaches that can scale – from programmes to systems, processes and everything in between. If that sounds fun, come and build ARIA with us.

Learn more about how we work here.

Role Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to join ARIA’s inaugural procurement and contracts team in its early formation stage. We are looking for a Senior Procurement & Contracts Manager who will support the Director of Procurement and Contracts in establishing a new team and creating a new function from scratch. 

What you’ll do

The scope of the role will evolve as ARIA continues to grow, but will broadly involve the following:

You will be the driving force behind competitive and non-competitive sourcing activity and contract management across both programme and operational spend, including grants. 

You will create innovative sourcing and contract management policies, procedures and practices across the entire contract lifecycle.

Providing expert advice to the team in the development of optimal sourcing strategies, you’ll lead and oversee competitive and single source procurements and have the opportunity to develop cutting-edge models and approaches, invitations to tender, negotiations and contracts. 

You will be responsible for developing and implementing detailed contract reporting that drives insight and decision making. 

You’ll also be communicating key obligations, risks and important contract matters to the relevant teams, including members of the executive team.

You will develop and implement strategic supplier relationships and contract management processes that maximise mutual goals and partner performance.

You’ll be responsible for managing a team of two, developing and manage direct reports.

Who you are 

A successful candidate will bring many of the following skills/experience to the role:

• Proven procurement/contracts/commercial background, in multi-disciplinary environments covering pre and post-contract activity.
• Experience of leading the generation of competitive and non-competitive sourcing documents and negotiating contracts in a proactive and solution-oriented manner.
• You have experience of managing contract/commercial risk and associated mitigations.
• You have an eye for detail with strong written and numeracy skills and an ability to communicate the complex in simple ways. 
• You have open communication and collaboration skills with an ability to adapt to different levels and stakeholders.
• You have strong negotiating and influencing skills.
• Be comfortable with uncertainty and take a problem-solving approach.
• You have a good grasp of business strategy and a wide appreciation of general business issues.

Desirable criteria

You have a demonstrable record of working in both the public and private sector working on complex procurements and contracts.

Experience of working within the research and development environment.

Experience of grant management.

Application

Please upload a recent CV along with a cover letter below

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days
• Discretionary, non-contractual annual bonus
• Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home
• Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities
• Enhanced family leave arrangements
• A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme
• Life Assurance
• 2 days of paid volunteer days
• 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• An excellent office location in Kings X, London

Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Don’t worry! If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We want to attract the broadest array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to the field, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interests and what you hope to bring to this role.

If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Disclosing any requests are intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process.

ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. You can read our policy here. Our research and development activity will abide by the 3Rs principle. You can read about those here.