Procurement and supply chain practitioner

This occupation is found in small, medium, large, and multinational organisations in private, public and third sectors such as the Local Authorities, Central Government, Education, Finance, Construction, Facilities, Automotive, Manufacturing, Engineering, Health, Retail, Food, Hospitality, IT.

The procurement and supply chain practitioner are found in organisations where there is a requirement to source and procure goods and/or services in line with national or international procurement laws, or internal governance processes.

The broad purpose of the occupation is the process of procurement or buying of goods and services. Procurement and supply chain practitioners are vital for the smooth functioning of the procurement and supply department in any organisation. They are often responsible for ensuring contracts are correctly administered and maintained in accordance with legislation or the organisation’s own procedures. They will use their knowledge of procurement regulations and internal policies to support the wider procurement team in tasks such as market and supplier analysis, bid, quotation or tender construction and response evaluation, supplier database maintenance, purchase order review and conversion, spend analysis, and stakeholder liaison.

Procurement and supply chain practitioners will also often have purchasing requests and contracts for which they will personally develop requests, invitations to quote, or obtain prices, delivery, and other details from potential suppliers. They will contribute to procurement to enable supplier selection, onboarding, management, and closure and undertake a role in the management of supply delivery and quality assurance. Increasingly this occupation requires an awareness of the sustainability impacts of procurement and supply decisions on both upstream supply chain and use of materials, products, or applications over their lifetime. For example, for procurement and supply decisions they may need to understand how to assess the Scope 3 emissions associated with the purchases that are being made. Procurement and supply decisions about raw materials may consider measures related to sustainable resource consumption, whole-life and circular economy thinking.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with their own procurement team as well as colleagues from other internal departments such as operational functions, finance, legal, IT, sales, and marketing. This role also includes interaction with external stakeholders such as suppliers. This role may involve off site and supplier visits, where they will represent their organisation, and hybrid working.

Procurement and supply chain practitioners engage with internal and external stakeholders on behalf of their organisations. They may also engage with organisational sustainability teams, audit departments, the company secretary, or financial teams responsible for statutory and general reporting, including issues around managing and mitigating an organisations carbon footprint.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the work of procurement and supply chain professionals which include the process of procurement, or buying goods and services; however, these roles can be much broader than just procurement. These roles cover a range of related commercial activity such as influencing policy, financial analysis, engaging in contract law, and developing strategy to deliver services. The variety of goods and services that procurement professionals are responsible for is vast. Goods could range from buying a plane to negotiating new stationery supply. Securing services could include finding new and innovative IT systems, outsourcing translation services or closing a deal on a construction project for a new building.

Procurement and supply chain practitioners will work on their own and in a range of team settings. They work within agreed budgets and available resources, and report to senior managers. They may occasionally be responsible for decision making, but more often will guide or influence the decisions of others including collecting and interpreting data to find trends, updating databases, analysing spending and supplier performance, and identifying ways to save money and improve efficiency.