Procurement Business Partner

We’re building thriving communities as one of the UK’s largest housing groups and a leading developer of affordable housing. We believe everyone is entitled to a good home they can afford, in a place they are proud to live. More than 100,000 people live in our homes. If you want to experience work that’s truly rewarding, join us. Because when we achieve together, customers and communities thrive. Work for Orbit. Believe in people.

The role

The purpose of procurement is to obtain competitive prices for supplies, delivering the most value for money for the organisation throughout the procurement lifecycle. This must be done within the applicable legislative framework. To operate as a dedicated business partner to designated business units, interfacing procurement with the wider business. This role involves working closely with internal stakeholders to bring together purchasing needs, influence behaviours, and deliver value to the enterprise. The business partner is recognized as a source of procurement expertise and acts as a change agent in implementing new commercial models and processes. This role is part of our Capital team where categories include planned investment works, repairs and maintenance to our homes and the equipment within them and compliance. This role is part of Finance where you'll help us to invest more back into communities and design for strength.

What you'll achieve

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders to support delivery of Procurement objectives and Orbit’s 2030 Strategy.
• Liaise closely with business units in determining their priorities, requirements and challenges.
• Support procurement team in defining and contextualizing strategic and category strategies as they apply to business units.
• Work with procurement leadership teams to identify and execute on process improvements, as well as measuring performance.
• Monitor adherence to purchasing policies and procedures to ensure purchasing standards are upheld.
• Lead on tendering and reviewing existing suppliers. Aligns with risk and financial teams to ensure agreed processes are being followed.
• Identify and support the mitigation of supply assurance issues and risks as they apply to business units.
• Coordinate relevant data management activities, defining and implementing stewardship strategies with stakeholders such as internal data teams, finance and IT.

What you'll bring

Essential skills

• CIPS level 4 or 5 working towards the next level or equivalent.
• Understanding of Public Procurement policy.
• Good negotiation skills and very confident in dealing with suppliers and customers.
• Procurement experience to a similar level.
• Fosters a healthy team culture and inspires and motivates colleagues to achieve high performance.

Desirable skills

• Experience of operating in a Social Housing environment, ideally within outsourced property operations’ supply chain.
• Experience of Construction Category.
• Lean practitioner/Six Sigma or similar.

Why Orbit?

Choosing us means being rewarded in every sense. Here’s what you can expect to enjoy with us:

A rewarding experience that works for you

We strive to create an inclusive experience with benefits and wellbeing programmes designed to help you and your loved ones thrive. For a better work-life balance, we offer flexible working opportunities for many roles.

A place to progress

From training programmes to professional qualifications, we provide opportunities to learn and develop at every stage of your career. Whether you’re a student, graduate, or experienced professional, we’ll support you to grow. For leaders, our tailored development journeys are designed to stretch and strengthen your leadership skills, including access to renowned business schools and experiential programmes for greater breadth and depth of learning.

A purpose to feel proud of

We’re proud to make a difference to people together. We’re values-driven with a commercial focus on performance—because the more profit we make, the more we can achieve for people. What brings us together is a passionate belief in progress and people.

How we hire

We aim to make our hiring process simple and fair:

• Online application
• Interview(s)
• Decision and offer

We put the safeguarding of our customers, colleagues, and contractors at the heart of everything we do, and as such, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check.