Head of Procurement
Ceannasaí Soláthair

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) is committed to equality of opportunity in employment and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of religious belief, political opinion, race, age, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or people with dependants or without. All applications for employment will be considered on the basis of merit.

Background

The Assembly Commission is a corporate body established by section 40 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.  It must provide the Assembly, or ensure that the Assembly is provided, with the property, staff and services required for the Assembly’s purposes. The organisational structure of the Assembly Commission is illustrated on the Recruitment website.

The Head of Procurement works within the Procurement Office, which is part of the Legal, Governance and Research Directorate. The Procurement Office provides professional purchasing expertise, including advice and direction on good procurement practice, to ensure propriety, efficiency, value for money and compliance with legal obligations.

This is a key post within the Assembly Commission, having full responsibility for developing and implementing procurement policies and procedures across the organisation, influencing strategic decisions and taking overall responsibility for the procurement of high value and high risk goods and services.

The Head of Procurement will be expected to lead the development of all corporate procurement policies, strategies and guidance. The post-holder will ensure that the Assembly Commission embeds best practice and value for money in relevant processes and complies with all legislative and regulatory requirements. The post-holder will be expected to keep fully up-to-date with all procurement developments, including matters relating to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, EU Exit, contract law and other relevant legislation and guidance.

Location

The successful applicant will be based in Parliament Buildings, Belfast.

Completing the form

Only the information presented in the application form will be considered by the selection panel.  CVs or other supplementary material will not be accepted in place of, or in addition to, completed application forms. Completed online forms must be submitted by 12 noon on Tuesday 20 September 2022.

Access the application form.

Application forms submitted after the closing time and date will not be accepted.

Stages of the Selection Process

There are five elements within the Recruitment and Selection Framework:

Experience – the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.

Ability – the aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard.

Technical – the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.

Assembly Skills and Behaviours – the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job.

Strengths – the things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us.

The elements which will be assessed for this role will be Experience, Technical, Assembly Skills and Behaviours and Strengths. The selection methods that will be used are detailed below. Further information on the Recruitment and Selection Framework are included in the Guidance on Recruitment and Selection for Applicants.

Eligibility Sift

The essential criteria reflect the experience and knowledge that an applicant must possess in order to be able to undertake the role. An eligibility sift will be carried out on the basis of the information contained in the essential criteria section of the application form. You must therefore demonstrate clearly in your form how, and to what extent, you meet with the essential criteria for the post.

Shortlisting

The selection panel reserve the right to use shortlisting as part of the selection process for this post. Should shortlisting be used, the shortlisting criterion listed in the Job Specification will be applied. The selection panel reserve the right to set a minimum standard for the shortlisting criterion which applicants must achieve in order to be invited to the interview stage of the selection process. If shortlisting is not necessary, all applicants who have demonstrated the essential criteria will proceed to the next stage of the selection process.

Interview Stage

The interview will address the information contained in the Job Specification and will assess elements of the Recruitment and Selection Framework.

Part of the interview process will be the delivery of a presentation. The subject of the presentation will be advised to the applicant on the day of the interview and the applicant will be expected to present information to the selection panel.

Interviews are planned to take place on 3^rd and 4^th October 2022.

Further Interview Stage

The selection panel reserves the right to hold a further interview stage if deemed necessary.

Further information on the Recruitment and Selection process is available in the Recruitment and Selection Framework and Guidance on the Recruitment and Selection for Applicants.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) has been developed for applicants with disabilities or those with a long-term impairment or health condition, that is expected to last for at least 12 months and which means that they cannot meet all of the shortlisting criteria. In these instances, provided that they have demonstrated in their application form that they meet the essential criteria for the role, the applicant will be invited to interview.

The application form will include a section on disability, and an applicant can indicate whether they wish to apply under the GIS for that particular role and the basis on which they qualify for the GIS.

When considering applications made under GIS, the Human Resources Office reserves the right to request medical information from the applicant’s general practitioner (through the applicant and with their consent).

Applicants with disabilities or a long-term impairment, or health condition, who require reasonable adjustments to enable them to participate in any part of the selection process, should indicate this on their application. A member of the Human Resources Office will then contact the applicant to discuss.

If an applicant feels that they require any adjustments to the application stage, please contact us at recruitment@niassembly.gov.uk.

Key Employee Benefits

Many of our roles offer hybrid working whereby staff have the opportunity to work from home for part of the week.

We offer an annual leave allowance of 25 days, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30 days. In addition, we offer 12 days of public and privilege holidays.

The Assembly Commission will enrol you into the Civil Service Pension Scheme from the first day of employment. Staff contribute between 4 and 9% of salary and the Assembly Commission contribute a further 28 to 35% of salary, depending on your rate of pay.

We also offer a range of non-salary benefits which include supportive family friendly policies; flexi-time; health and wellbeing initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme; supported learning and development; Cycle to Work Scheme; Payroll Giving; and volunteering opportunities.

The successful applicant will be given suitable training, including formal specialised courses as necessary.

As an equal opportunities employer, we are happy to talk about the possibility of flexible working in this role with the successful applicant.

View more details of our employee benefits.

Terms and Conditions of Appointment

This is a permanent appointment. The successful candidate will be an employee of the Assembly Commission.  All appointments are subject to the satisfactory completion of a six-month probationary period.

The standard working week is 37 hours, excluding meal breaks (42 hours gross).  Working hours will be dictated by the mode of operation of the Assembly and may involve work into late evenings, at weekends and on public holidays. 

Please be aware that a major influence in determining when annual leave can be taken will be the parliamentary timetable.

Equality Monitoring

Under Fair Employment legislation, we are required to monitor the community background and gender of those applying for jobs.  You must therefore complete the equal opportunities monitoring section of the application form when applying for the post.

Merit List

The merit list will remain “live” for 18 months from the date it is signed and may be used to fill any further permanent opportunities for the same post.

Communication during the recruitment process

The Human Resources Office will issue most communication electronically.  You should therefore regularly check your email account to make sure you do not miss any important communication.  Please note, sometimes the Recruitment Office emails are automatically filtered as spam by email providers.

Further Information

If you require more information on the recruitment process, please contact the Human Resources Office on 02890 5221741.

Further information about the Assembly is available at: www.niassembly.gov.uk

The ‘Information for Applicants’ does not constitute any term or condition of employment.