Head of IT Procurement

About Us
Salary - Competitive
Work Type - Onsite - 3 days office / flexible arrangements available
Job Location - WINDERMERE - LINGLEY MERE, LINGLEY MERE, LINGLEY GREEN AVENUE, GREAT SANKEY, WARRINGTON, WA5 3LP
Role Type - Permanent
Employment Type - Full Time
Working Hours - 37.0 Hours per Week
United Utilities' (UU) purpose is to deliver great water for a stronger, greener and healthier North West of England. We are committed to providing our services in a way that respects the environment, supports the economy, and benefits society.
We value diversity, inclusion and innovation in our workplace, and we foster a culture where our people can grow, excel, and be themselves.
We uphold our ethics, values and business model to fulfil our mission and, by setting clear goals and objectives, we create sustainable long-term value for our colleagues, customers and communities. Whether you work with a team that shares your vision or join a network of peers with similar interests, you will find a welcoming and supportive organisation to be part of.
We've got a lot to offer. You'll be part of a thriving FTSE 100 company and will enjoy a range of core benefits that reflect your value and value contribution.
Benefits

• A generous annual leave package of 26 days, which increases to 30 days after four years of service (increases one day per year), in addition to 8 bank holidays
• A competitive pension scheme with up to 14% employer contribution, 21% combined, and life cover
• Car cash allowance - £5,000
• Up to 20% performance-related bonus scheme, as well as recognition awards for outstanding achievements
• A comprehensive healthcare plan through our company-funded scheme
• MyGymDiscounts - gym and wellness benefit that offers up to 25% off on gym memberships and digital fitness subscriptions
• Best Doctors
• Salary Finance
• Wealth at Work courses
• Deals and discounts
• EVolve Car Scheme
• Employee Assistance Plan
• Mental health first aiders
• ShareBuy
• MORE Choices flexible benefits
• Enhanced parental leave schemes
  

Job Purpose
The Head of IT Procurement is responsible for strategically managing the sourcing and procurement of IT products and services to ensure cost efficiency, compliance, and alignment with business objectives.
This role bridges the needs of the Technology Services team with commercial strategy, driving contractor performance and procurement delivery.
What You'll Be Doing

• Leadership of a specific spend category team, comprising a market management, sourcing delivery, and supplier collaboration capability.
• Responsible for building influential relationships with relevant business stakeholders through the implementation of the full business partnering model.
• Lead the development and implementation of highly complex, business critical and high spend (greater than £150M) market strategies, influencing annual spend of more than £80M per annum.
• Oversight of the team in their delivery of market, sourcing and supplier collaboration led value.
• Responsible for facilitating the delivery of multi-million pound savings and defined benefits, working in collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, approved by Finance, and applied to budgets, where applicable.
• Lead the annual business planning process for the specific spend category and relevant stakeholders.
• Lead regular external market benchmark assessments, reflected in the integrated market strategies, to include competitor market watch assessments, market trend analysis, market dynamics and innovation.
• Active management of business compliance to the Procurement Policy specific to spend category, whilst ensuring workload management & prioritisation and agile working methodologies are adopted for qualified opportunities.
• Recognised throughout UU and the external market for their market, sourcing and supplier collaboration management expertise. Bring innovation, insights, and ideas back into UU to solve real business problems and to support the delivery and success of the business.
• Lead a team of motivated and talented commercial professionals, fostering team-work, coaching, challenging, promoting talent management, with a succession plan implemented.
  

Technical Skills & Experience

• Extensive experience in a reputable organisation, or experience working in a equivalent Role.
• Preferably degree educated, with a relevant post-graduate qualification (e.g. CIPS,RICS, MBA, MSC)
• Significant experience of leading business critical spend categories, sourcing strategies, and strategic supplier relationships.
• Proven senior level stakeholder management and business partnering skillset.
• A demonstrable level of line management experience.
• Proven level of negotiation and dispute resolution skill set.
• Politically savvy, with the ability to use exemplary direct and indirect influencing strategies.
• Demonstrable level of problem-solving experience and in large, complex organisations
• Experience with cross-functional collaborative working methods.
• Detailed knowledge of the Utilities market sector.
• Project management experience would be an advantage
• Knowledge of vendor evaluation, selection, and management to engage with external technology partners effectively.
• Extensive knowledge of Information Technology industry regulations and data privacy laws to ensure technology practices align with legal requirements
• Understanding of the Commercial role in IT governance, IT strategy and Enterprise architecture.
• Proficient understanding of IT delivery methodologies such as agile project management and DevOps
• Proficient understanding of IT service management, including incident and problem management tools and support processes.
  

Qualifications
Essential Qualifications

• Degree educated, with a relevant post-graduate qualification (e.g. CIPS,RICS, MBA, MSC)
  

Desirable

• Specific knowledge of Technology use in Utilities or Energy Sector. E.g. Water Network Management Systems, Geospatial, SatelliteKnowledge of OT and its impact on the Technology Services Estate
  

Other
We rely on every employee to ensure our customers receive the best possible service, day in, day out. In return, we ensure that you will be well rewarded for your efforts, from an excellent salary through to development opportunities that will really kick start a thriving career here at UU.
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