#TeamTalks: The pivotal role of the Procurement Operations team
Welcome to the February edition of the NOE CPC Customer Newsletter, and the first edition of our new #TeamTalks series, where we focus on the teams bringing NOE CPC services to you.
This month, we are spotlighting our Procurement Operations team, who are responsible for supporting our category teams in the delivery of our procurement services, and for supporting you, our customers, with your enquiries and queries.
We spoke to Natalie Ledger, our Head of Procurement Operations, about her role, the projects her team are working on, and how the team has developed since its formation.
“Following my appointment into the role, after my previous role as an NOE CPC Category manager, myself and Neil Davis worked together to establish the team back in 2018, and over the last six years, it has most definitely evolved. What’s been evident in that time is the importance of aligning members of our team to the four Hub category teams we have, so that they can provide them with dedicated procurement and administrative support. The aligned support helps the category teams navigate that journey from an idea to a project, through to a tender and the award, whether that’s establishing a new framework agreement or running a tender on behalf of one of our customers. Having that support is so important, whether it’s for our own internal governance processes, or external governance recently introduced from NHS England and the Cabinet Office.
“The Procurement Operations team has played a pivotal role in what NOE CPC has delivered in that time – not just the broad portfolio of frameworks we offer, but also facilitating the delivery of internal projects such as our Accredited Framework Host Status, navigating the introduction of the Cabinet Spend controls and receiving accreditation by the Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF), demonstrating our commitment to improving delivery of the best possible service to our customers
“It’s going to be a highly interesting, but challenging, time for everyone involved with public procurement this year, with the introduction of the Procurement Act later this month. Within our pipeline we have already identified five procurement projects to establish new framework agreements that we will be looking to publish under the new act within the next 12 months.
“So, it’s really important that we are confident that we have got that knowledge around the requirements of the new Act, updating our tender templates and our internal governance processes. That’s something I will be leading on, as one of the NOE CPC Procurement Act Learning and Development Champions
“We have also invited our new Head of Training and Events, Rob Pearce, to join the Learning and Development Group, because he has an important role to play in how we develop and deliver training for our customers; specifically guidance, tools and templates on how to call off under framework agreements that have been established under the new Procurement Act.
“It’s an exciting time for the Procurement Operations team, and we are looking to recruit further, so we can provide additional support, with the vision that members of our team continue to become an extension of the Category teams, and gain the skills and knowledge so that they can play a lead role in future procurement projects, with Category colleagues’ supervision.
“One of the things we are especially proud of as a team is how we have seen individuals develop. Colleagues have come into the organisation in roles, such as a Customer Support and Assistant Buyer, and we have seen them develop their knowledge and their skills and expertise. When a promotion opportunity within the Procurement Operations or Category teams has become available, they've have been confident in their ability to apply, and in many cases they have been successful. What has contributed to this is the way we align resources to the category teams so that they are working with them, and learning from them, on a day-to-day basis.
“We’ve seen Neil develop, and he is now taking up the newly-created role as Procurement Delivery and Process Manager. Neil’s primary focus will reviewing our use of Atamis and our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in Dynamics 365, and how our current internal governance processes work with these systems. We have only really scratched the surface of what Atamis can do for us, certainly in terms of our workplan, contract management and supplier relationship management. You can read more about Neil’s new role here.
“We will be recruiting to replace Neil’s current role, and that individual will be responsible for managing our Support Desk, which has gone from strength to strength since it was established in early 2019, especially in terms of keeping our response times prompt. The recent Customer Satisfaction Survey responses demonstrated the value of the Support Desk function.
“Our Support Desk team are always happy to help with any enquiries you may have, so feel free to email them or give them a call on 0114 212 2122.”