Procurement Officer - Procurement , Grants and National Contracts - ( Ref : 6468 )

Job Description

This role sits within Natural England’s Procurement, National Contracts and Grants team, part of the Planning and Performance Directorate. The team supports organisation‑wide procurement activity, ensuring compliance with procurement policy, Public Contracts Regulations and internal processes, while also providing insight, guidance and escalation routes through Defra Group Commercial.

As an Officer, you will work closely with the Senior Specialist in Commercial Contracts and other Seniors to deliver essential administrative and coordination tasks. This includes managing two shared mailboxes on a rota basis, supporting transparency and other reporting through data analysis and trend identification, supporting contractual administrative tasks such as dealing with customer queries and processing invoices linked to Purchase Orders. You will play a key role in helping the team maintain high standards of compliance, customer service and operational efficiency across commercial activities.

Job Description

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities Note: Enter a brief description of what the job entails and identify and describe up to five key tasks. These tasks and key responsibilities should be based on the relevant SFR Distinct Role Description.

• Provision of various team support activities and projects, including but not limited to: second line assurance, data analysis, sign posting and advocating, etc.
• As part of a rota, deal with national contact, procurement and general grant enquiries through the multiple mailboxes.
• Carry our administrative and data analysis tasks to support the smooth running of various Commercial Contracts including Enterprise Car Hire, GPC, CTM etc.

Essential

• Good data management and data analysis skills and knowledge of working with data.
• Good communications skills (verbal & written), including an ability to build trustworthy partnerships with others and to convey technical information to non-specialists. Work safely and in accordance with compliance regulations including good data handling and GDPR.
• Effective use of Microsoft applications (Word, Outlook, Excel, Teams) and other systems for day-to-day work
• Build working relationships and work effectively as part of the immediate team, with both internal and external customers.

Desirable

• Whilst it is desirable that applicants have a strong commercial awareness and have handled data sets previously, it is important to note that flexibility and keenness to learn is just as important.
• A knowledge of Microsoft Power BI, Microsoft Forms and adaptability to apply these IT skills to other systems such as those managed by our commercial partners (Bank of Scotland/NatWest) or a willingness to learn with training and support.

Competencies

Technical Skills

• Experience of working with Stakeholders
• Experience of working with excel and other Microsoft applications
• Experience of analysing data and communicating this via appropriate methods.

Personal Effectiveness

• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)
• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Practitioner)
• Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Basic)

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)
• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Practitioner)
• Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Basic)

Work Delivery

• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Practitioner)
• Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies, and procedures (Practitioner)
• Consider the financial implications of your work and seek income from our products and services (Practitioner)

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details