This is a leadership opportunity for someone who is passionate about people, capability and excellence. Someone who gains genuine satisfaction from helping others succeed, building high-performing teams and creating an environment where individuals are empowered to perform at their very best.
As the leader of a team managing complex, high-value and high-profile regulated procurements, you will be responsible for creating the conditions for success. You will provide direction, remove barriers, develop capability and build a culture where accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement are embedded in everything the team does. Your success will be measured not only by the quality of procurement outcomes delivered, but also by the strength, engagement and development of the people within your team.
We are seeking an experienced and inspiring people leader who can coach, support and challenge others to achieve their full potential. Through your leadership, you will help individuals navigate complexity, build confidence and continually strengthen their commercial and procurement expertise. You will create an environment where people feel trusted to take ownership, encouraged to grow and motivated to consistently deliver outstanding results.
With deep expertise in regulated procurement, you will provide the strategic oversight, guidance and assurance that enables the team to succeed. Rather than personally leading every procurement, you will set the benchmark for quality, professionalism and commercial excellence across the function. You will champion best practice, drive continuous improvement and ensure compliance, commercial rigour and customer focus are at the heart of every sourcing activity delivered by the team.
As a senior commercial leader, you will build trusted relationships across the organisation and position the sourcing team as a valued strategic partner. Working closely with business leaders and stakeholders, you will influence decision-making, provide commercial insight and help shape successful outcomes. Through your leadership and credibility, you will enhance the reputation of the function, ensuring it is recognised for its expertise, professionalism and ability to deliver results that matter.
This role will suit an individual with substantial experience of leading teams within a regulated procurement environment, together with a proven track record of developing people, improving performance and creating a culture of excellence. We are looking for someone who combines outstanding people leadership with deep commercial credibility; someone who can inspire others, raise standards and build a team that is recognised as a benchmark for procurement excellence.
If you are passionate about developing people, creating high-performing teams and shaping the future of a professional sourcing function, we would love to hear from you.
Vacancy Details
Duration: Permanent
Location: This role is based in The Quadrant, Milton Keynes.
This role is a full-time opportunity, flexible working patterns will be considered. For the Quadrant location, you must live within 90 minutes.
Band & Salary: Band 2.B £71,163 - £86,801 depending on skills and experience.
Key responsibilities:
- Lead complex sourcing activities for medium to high-value goods and services, using commercial sourcing models where appropriate. You'll manage procurement activity within an OJEU-regulated environment, ensuring all legislative, regulatory and risk requirements are met, while influencing annual spend of £300m-£500m.
- Work closely with Strategic Category Managers and key stakeholders at Head of level to deliver Integrated Category Strategies, developing and executing sourcing pipelines that support business objectives.
- Act as the lead negotiator on high-value sourcing initiatives, securing significant savings and benefits for the business. You'll collaborate with stakeholders and Finance to ensure benefits are realised and reflected in budgets where applicable.
- Build strong relationships with customers and stakeholders, creating a collaborative approach that supports the smooth transition from sourcing activity into ongoing Strategic Supplier Management.
- Challenge and shape demand requirements, helping customers and stakeholders maximise value through effective aggregation and sourcing solutions while remaining aligned to their priorities and objectives.
- Provide expert sourcing advice and guidance, drawing on your specialist knowledge to introduce innovative approaches, fresh ideas and best practice that create a sourcing-led competitive advantage.
- Monitor supplier and competitor markets, carrying out regular market assessments to identify opportunities and support the delivery of the best possible Total Cost of Ownership.
- Lead, support and develop a team of Sourcing Specialists and/or Sourcing Managers, providing coaching, guidance and development opportunities while fostering a collaborative, high-performing team culture that maximises value for the organisation.
About the team
You'll be joining a supportive and collaborative Commercial & Procurement team that plays a key role in keeping Britain's railways running efficiently and safely. We work closely with a wide range of stakeholders across the business to deliver value for money, ensure compliance, and support strategic objectives. It's a fast-paced and dynamic environment where your ideas are valued, and professional development is encouraged. Hear what some of our brilliant team members think about Network Rail in this video