Senior Category Manager (Job Reference: 26003729)
Primary Location : Antrim-Belfast-Belfast Office
Other Locations :Armagh-Armagh-Armagh Office, Antrim-Ballymena-Ballymena Office, Tyrone-Omagh-Omagh Office
Contract Type : Permanent
Duration of Contract/Contract End Date : N/A
Status : Full-Time
Hours per Week : 36
Working Pattern : Monday - Friday
Grade/Scale : Senior Principal Officer (2) | NJC pts 49 - 52 |£60,886 - £64,147 per annum
Additional Allowance(s) : Not Applicable
Anticipated Interview Date(s) : 5 July 2026
Additional Information: Base location to be determined on appointment. Suitable applicants who are not appointed to the immediate vacancy will be placed on a reserve list which will remain valid for one year and may be offered appointments at the discretion of the EA across all offices during that period.
JOB DESCRIPTION
STRATEGIC UNIT: Procurement and Corporate Services
RESPONSIBLE TO: Head of Supplies and Services Procurement
The Senior Category Manager will assist the Head of Supplies and Services to ensure the successful implementation of a compliant, consistent and professional Procurement Service within EA. The Senior Category Manager will be responsible for providing specialist informed, professional, expert procurement advice and guidance; developing and leading a procurement category to ensure VFM and best practice procurement and contribute to the enhancement of procurement standards across the Category Management structure to ensure continuing CoPE accreditation and maintain full compliance with Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy (NIPPP), Procurement Policy Notes and Department of Finance Sourcing Toolkit. They will be responsible for managing and leading staff.
The senior category manager will be responsible for the following leadership :
Main duties and responsibilities
Setting Vision and Strategy
Working with the Head of Supplies and Service to establish, maintain and communicate a clear and compelling strategic direction for the service and category responsibility.
Contribute to the development of a strategic plan for the Service and the development of the service-specific business plan.
Translate the Corporate vision into service-specific direction and category strategy.
Contribute to the development and implementation of new policies in line with strategic direction.
Challenge conventional approaches, harness new approaches and technology and maximise efficiencies.
Managing the Organisation to Deliver
Manage specialist areas delivery effectively to ensure that the service achieves the highest possible standards of performance and focuses on the needs of internal and external customers.
Agree service performance targets with the Head of Supplies and Services and provide regular progress reports.
Assist in the development agree and implement a robust annual operational plan for the service.
Delegate responsibilities and deploy staff according to their skills and abilities to meet the needs of the service.
Regularly monitor and review plans and make adjustments as required.
Manage and continuously improve the service and specialist category to ensure delivery against performance targets, and to ensure that best value for money is achieved.
Ensure that the service and specialist category contributes to overall Directorate and Corporate performance as appropriate, and provide update reports as required.
Ensure that the Head of Supplies and Services and customers receives high quality service-specific advice.
Apply resources effectively across specialist categories to maximise the delivery of front-line services.
Consider the financial implications relating to effective models of service delivery, and contribute to the successful achievement of the Savings Delivery Plan.
Ensure compliance with relevant legal, regulatory and statutory performance requirements.
Manage the service and category procurement expenditure budget in accordance with all relevant financial policy and procedures.
Follow agreed measures to deliver the service within budget, and take immediate corrective action as required.
Contribute effectively to quality and performance management systems and ensure that the service is being managed as per the requirements of these systems.
Ensure that employees within the service/specialist category team are provided with clear structure, roles and responsibilities and are supported to work in an integrated way.
Focus on addressing key workforce issues including recruitment, employee engagement, retention and training and development.
Investigate all complaints and adverse incidents where outcomes are below expected standards.
Establish effective and rigorous quality assurance systems to maintain high standards.
Leadership
Work closely with the Head of Supplies and Service to provide the service with leadership and direction ensuring that corporate, directorate and service performance standards are achieved.
Promote the ethos and values of the authority and ensure that the service is focused on customer needs.
Foster a culture that supports achievement of the authority’s Strategic Plan by role modelling core values and leadership behaviours to staff in the service.
Lead/manage and communicate change and improvement initiatives within the service/specialist area.
Lead, manage and develop staff within the service/specialist area.
Encourage staff involvement and engagement in the strategic development and operational delivery of the service/specialist area.
Actively encourage teamwork and self-development, and create opportunities to maximise individuals’ potential, stimulate innovation and connection at all levels with front line services.
Promote a positive culture of performance management within the service through individual and small-team accountability. Foster a culture of constructive feedback and learning, and a genuine commitment to regular and effective appraisals.
Prepare and deliver reports on behalf of the Authority as required.
Building Relationships and Working with Others
Build and maintain effective, professional and respectful stakeholder relationships.
Ensure efficient and effective internal communication with staff in the service/specialist area.
Work closely with partner organisations, Head of Supplies and Services/Head of Commercial Procurement Services and colleagues to benchmark services and lead/manage and monitor change.
Build and maintain effective working relationships and clear lines of communication with other Heads of Service/Assistant Directors within the Directorate and in other Directorates.
Develop and maintain clear lines of communication and effective working partnerships with relevant external stakeholders and service user groups.
Lead on/manage engagement with staff, schools and the public on major changes in the service/specialist category that may affect them.
Work with external agencies; for example, education sector partner organisations, to identify opportunities for joint working that might bring greater consistency across the sector, and/or improve efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery.
Job specific duties
Contributing to and supporting the delivery of EA Corporate objectives in relation to procurement; playing a major role in developing and implementing the EA’s Corporate Procurement Strategy, Procedures and Procurement Plan.
Lead, develop, implement and monitoring category plans and category strategies and associated procedure and documentation in line with best practice and gain stakeholder engagement to plans.
Developing Procurement Strategies and Policies within an EA Procurement Category and leading in the implementation of same.
Managing an EA Procurement category function(s); to include planning and allocation of work to staff, providing leadership in the development of policies and plans, in line with the EA’s strategic and corporate planning objectives.
Managing and supporting the implementation of Procurement Strategies by the production and delivery of comprehensive Action Plans, translating corporate and strategic objectives into realistic, achievable and time-bounded goals.
Ensuring implementation of standardized procurement procedures and documentation to maintain a compliant, professional procurement function.
Lead, develop, implement, manage and monitor the quality and productivity of the category, with management information and/or KPIs to support the achievement of objectives.
Developing procurement strategies for the category as a whole and also for each individual tender requirement within the scope of the category.
Proactively engaging in regular market sounding to establish feasibility, capacity, capability and encouraging innovation.
Developing, implement and monitor contract management and supplier relationship management strategies as integral aspects of procurement activity across the categories.
Proactively manage and monitor supplier performance in line with PPNs, Contract Management protocol, contractual terms and conditions and KPIs.
Review, development and dissemination of good practice, keeping abreast with relevant case law and developments in Procurement.
Ensuring mandatory use of eTendersNI for the procurement category.
Where opportunities for collaboration exist, proactively work in conjunction with CPD and other CoPEs to drive the efficiency agenda.
Plan and manage the workload and category specific procurement pipeline – linking to the wider EA procurement pipeline and achievement of deadlines for contract implementation.
Analyse requests for DACs and provide advice to Head of Supplies and Services and Head of Commercial Procurement Services.
Provide accurate, professional and expert advice, guidance, training and support to Board Members, EA staff and schools/customers/end-users on all Procurement matters ensuring awareness of and compliance with Procurement legislation.
Ensuring that all Procurement staff are aware of and comply with Procurement policies, procedures and processes which underpin Procurement within the organisation.
Build partnerships/networks with other Departments, schools, Government bodies, industry sector bodies and external service providers, for the establishment of mechanisms to share and improve Procurement information and services.
Focus on building relationships with the supply chain; early market engagement, encouraging innovation.
Liaising with Procurement professionals internally and externally; working co-operatively to ensure consistent and coherent approaches towards Procurement practices across all EA categories.
Implementing and communicating the EA’s Procurement strategy and policies as they relate to the work of other sections.
This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.
In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.
To view the summary of terms and conditions for this post click here.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
1. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.
2. You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.
3. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
4. Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
5. Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
6. In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form on how you meet any desirable criteria.
Section 1 - Essential Criteria
The following are essential criteria which will initially be measured at the shortlisting stage and which may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
Factor
Essential Criteria
Method Of Assessment
Professional Membership
Hold a full membership of CIPS
Shortlisting by Application Form
Experience
Have five years’ experience working in a procurement and/or purchasing and supply environment two of which must be in a senior role* in a large public or private organisation
- A senior role is defined as a Procurement Manager (with responsibility for procurement team/s and category) or above
Shortlisting by Application Form
Knowledge
Knowledge and experience of applying Procurement Legislation including Public Contract Regulations (2015) and Procurement Act 2023
Knowledge and experience of embedding Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy (NIPPP),and Procurement Policy Notes (PPNs) within public sector contracts
Knowledge of procurement case law and application to procurement function
Knowledge and experience of applying Category Management and its benefits
Knowledge of embedding efficient procure to pay processes into contracts
Shortlisting by Application Form
Other
The successful candidate will be required:
to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion;
OR
be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.
Shortlisting by Application Form
Section 2 - Essential Criteria
The following are additional essential criteria which will be measured during the interview/selection stage in line with EA’s Game Changing People Model.
Factor
Essential Criteria
Method Of Assessment
Knowledge
Demonstrable knowledge of e-TendersNI
Interview
Skills/Abilities
In line with EA’s Game Changing People Model we will look for evidence of:
High level communication skills, with ability to communicate at all levels using different mediums
Good organisational skills and ability to organise a busy workload and team to deliver effective results on time
Ability to lead, manage and motivate others through change and in challenging circumstances
Ability to work under pressure to address and meet conflicting priorities
Ability to take a responsive and customer focused approach to work managing stakeholders relationships
Ability to use own initiative and judgement to solve problems and respond to others
Ability to drive continuous improvement and service improvements for the benefit of stakeholders
Interview
Values Orientation
Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect EA’s Values/ethos. You will find information about our Values here.
Interview
Section 3 - Desirable Criteria
Some or all of the desirable criteria may be applied by the Selection Panel in order to determine a manageable pool of candidates. Desirable criteria will be applied in the order listed. You should make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet the desirable criteria, as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
Factor
Desirable Criteria
Method Of Assessment
Experience
Demonstrable experience in the use of e-TendersNI
Shortlisting by Application Form
DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’.
In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage.
Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.
