The Clinical Support, Mental Health and Social Care Category (CSMHSC) who form part of the Devon Procurement Service (DPS) is recruiting a Senior Sourcing Manager (B7) to join a newly established procurement service.
DPS brings together expertise and buying power across Devon to deliver better value, stronger contracts, and improved outcomes for patients.
We contract on behalf of:
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Livewell Community Services
For information, the three other Procurement categories under the DPS include the below;
Digital & Corporate / Professional Services
Medical & Surgical
Major Capital Projects, Estates & Facilities
You will lead complex sourcing activity, work closely with senior clinical and operational stakeholders, and shape strategic contracts delivering system-wide value.
We offer hybrid and flexible working, with office bases in Exeter, Barnstaple, Torbay, and Plymouth. Occasional travel across Devon will be required.
Recruiting managers’ contact details are provided—candidates are encouraged to arrange a short MS Teams discussion.
Interviews will take place week commencing the 17th August 2026. However, the Trust appreciates this is likely to be a period of time whereby applicants may be on holiday, therefore, some flexibility will be given to accommodate interview dates.
The CSMHSC category team works closely with clinical, operational and executive stakeholders to develop procurement strategies, deliver complex sourcing projects, drive value for money and ensure continuity of supply across critical healthcare services. The portfolio encompasses a wide range of specialist areas including Pathology, Laboratory Diagnostics, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Community Diagnostic Centres, Pharmacy (non-drugs), Infection Control, Sterile Services (HSDU), Genetics, Radiotherapy Physics, Nutrition & Dietetics and other diagnostic and clinical support services. The team also supports commissioning and procurement activity across Mental Health and Social Care services. We would be particularly interested in candidates with commercial, contractual and procurement experience within Radiology, Pharmacy, Pathology, Laboratory Diagnostics or other clinical support service environments, including capital schemes and ideally managed service arrangements. However, we welcome applications from individuals with strong transferable procurement, commissioning, category management, supplier relationship management, contract management or strategic sourcing skills who are keen to apply their expertise within a complex NHS and healthcare setting. Experience of managing high-value stakeholders, delivering complex projects and identifying opportunities for service improvement and value creation will be highly advantageous.
We are a people business – where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment manager for this post who will put you in touch with the recruitment team. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.
***Previous applicants for this role in the last three months should not apply.***
OPERATIONAL
1. Work in accordance with the direction of the Category Manager to ensure that sourcing is a value-adding activity.
2. Handle high-value and complex sourcing activities, in line with category strategies, from inception to completion. This includes developing sourcing strategy, managing tenders through to contract award.
3. Investigate, develop and deliver individual complex sourcing plans to best address the challenges set out by Category Management, delivering excellent customer service, best value for money and compliance with DPS governance.
4. Works with stakeholders to define procurement requirements and translate them into clear, compliant specifications.
5. Sponsor the achievement of DPS Procurement Delivery Board approval of all project gateways, including the Procurement Outcome Report.
6. Provide effective handover of sourcing projects to the Manage & Enable function for contract and/or SRM.
7. Proactively work to achieve Service Level Agreement KPIs and internal DPS performance improvement metric targets.
8. Lead the development and execution of supplier management strategies to ensure high performance and value delivery from key suppliers.
9. Oversee and evaluate supplier performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), addressing high-level issues and driving continuous improvement.
10. Resolve complex supplier disputes and performance issues, ensuring minimal disruption to operations and maintaining strong supplier relationships.
11. Engage with senior stakeholders to align supplier management strategies with organisational goals and provide expert advice on supplier-related matters.
12. Ensure all supplier management activities comply with relevant legislation and internal policies, supporting the development of robust governance procedures.
13. Responsible for input into procurement project delivery, informing on potential sourcing approaches, ensuring that the project reflects appropriate potential sourcing approaches
14. Responsible for providing and receiving highly complex information when dealing with a range of issues from both internal and external stakeholders.
COMMUNICATION
15. Establish professional relationships with identified stakeholders.
16. Use communication, negotiation, and influencing skills to engage a range of staff to ensure the successful of sourcing activity in accordance with agreed Commercial and Sourcing Plans.
17. Lead communicating Sourcing Plans and Procurement Outcome Report recommendation to the DPS Delivery Board for approval, including attending the DPS Delivery Board.
18. Engage with key senior stakeholders engaged in Sourcing projects. This will include dealing with Directors, Clinicians and Patient\Staff side representatives and communicating with people with extremely strong opposing views and objectives i.e. decommissioning services, out-sourcing, change etc.
19. Build and maintain the reputation of DPS as a highly professional service with effective business partnering arrangements ensuring maximum satisfaction among both internal and external stakeholders.
20. Champion a culture of customer service excellence and value for money delivery in sourcing.
21. Work with the Performance and Reporting team to support the development and deployment of streamlined process and communication to enable category management and sourcing to create robust plans and to drive process efficiency improvement.
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
22. Manage the team delivering all sourcing activity to deliver DPS strategies and plans.
23. Identify the level of resources required to deliver individual sourcing projects.
24. Provide commercial support to the budget setting process undertaken by the Partner Trusts.
25. Management of own time, project team and project plan to ensure delivery of sourcing projects in accordance with the agreed Commercial Strategy and Sourcing Plan.
26. Show effective leadership to ensure that sourcing projects are delivered successfully, including proactively demonstrating leadership behaviours.
27. Act as a role model for innovation and improvement within the team.
28. Maintain a culture of flexibility and responsiveness and to respond swiftly to changing priorities.
29. Responsible in full for all aspects of line management of direct reports, including staff development, performance management, identification of training requirements, managing sickness absence, grievance, disciplinary procedures, and recruitment.
