Assistant Buyer

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a permanent Purchasing Assistant to join The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust North Midlands. The North Midlands and Black Country Procurement Group is responsible for the Strategic and Operational Procurement for UHNM (Royal Stoke University Hospital, County Hospital, Royal Wolverhampton Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust) and 36 partner NHS organisations within the Staffordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Lancashire Health Economies.

The role is based at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. C37 Pathology Department, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP. Providing support to the Black Country Pathology Service (BCPS).

Main duties of the job

The North Midlands and Black Country Procurement Group is responsible for the management and control of expenditure in excess of £330 million across the local health economy. The Supplies and Procurement function consists of:

• Strategic Procurement
• Operational Procurement including warehousing and stock management services
• Capital Procurement
• Systems Services (e.g. Purchase to Pay Systems)

Working for our organisation

We are the specialist centre for major trauma for the North Midlands and North Wales.

All of our employees make a valuable contribution regardless of role here at UHNM and we are proud of our wide range of development packages aimed at ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their true potential.

In return we ask all of our employees to make a commitment to the values, co-created by or staff, patients and carers, and that unite us as a Trust.

At University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust we know that investing in, supporting and developing our staff has a direct impact on the quality of care that we deliver. Our employees are as important as our patients and the population that we serve.

The role is based at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. C37 Pathology Department, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP. Providing support to the Black Country Pathology Service (BCPS).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For more information on working for the Trust, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

This role will be providing support to the Black Country Pathology Service (BCPS) mainly based at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. C37 Pathology Department, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP

There will be a requirement for the post holder to travel between all sites within the NMBC. This includes County Hospital Stafford, Royal Wolverhampton (RWT), Walsall Hospital Trust (WHT) and Royal Stoke University Hospital (UHNM).

Person specification

Qualifications

• Possess, studying or willing to study to CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Level 4 (Foundation Diploma in Purchasing and Supply) or equivalent qualification.

• ECDL or similar qualification or equivalent level of experience/knowledge to competently use Microsoft Office systems including Word, Excel and Outlook.

Experience/Skills

• Ability to undertake order processing and buying duties associated with the post.
• Ability to use computerised purchasing systems effectively.
• Ability to assess customer requirements.
• Ability to handle queries/complaints effectively.
• Ability to plan, co-ordinate and manage workload and to establish priorities.
• Good organisational skills.
• Ability to meet timescales.
• Customer friendly approach.
• Enthusiastic/ Positive/Self-motivated.

• Ability to interpret, summarise and analyse competitive offers.

Communication Skills

• Good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Good standard of written and verbal English.
• Ability to provide high level of customer service and to promote a positive image.
• Ability to work as an effective team member.

• Ability to explain/introduce purchasing policies, products and processes to other Departments.
• Ability to interface with all levels of staff including Senior Managers.
• Good Negotiator.

Flexibility

• Flexible approach to work/adaptable.

Other

• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to use and work on own initiative.
• Good attendance record.
• Smart appearance.

1. All correspondence will be sent to you via the email address you applied from. Please ensure you check your emails regularly.
2. References - please ensure you provide email addresses for all referees for the last three years of employment.
3. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from everyone regardless of ethnicity, disability, gender, age, faith or sexual orientation. Appointment will be based on merit alone.
4. Flexible working will be considered in line with Trust policies
5. New recruits are required to pay for their Disclosure and Barring Service check (and admin fee) prior to starting if the role requires a DBS check.
6. We work with ‘trac.jobs’ to support out recruitment process. If you have any queries regarding this please read this privacy notice.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has been awarded the Gold Award for proudly supporting those who serve. We actively encourage applications from the Armed Forces community.

We will communicate with you regarding your job application via email. Please be aware that we cannot guarantee the security of any emails sent/received via non encrypted format.

If you would like support completing an application form, please contact the recruitment department on 01782 675533 where one of our trained assistants will be able to help

At UHNM we are fortunate to receive a high volume of applications for many of our roles, on this occasion we would reserve the right to close any advert early, therefore please apply without delay!

If you obtained your qualifications overseas, you will be required to provide an official government translation through ECCTIS (formerly known as NARIC). Please note, this is in addition to any professional registration requirements and not a replacement for your qualifications.

If you are currently in the UK on a visa, you must have at least six months remaining on your visa at the time of application to ensure sufficient time for the recruitment and training process associated with the role. The requirement of at least six months remaining on your visa does not apply to a Skilled Worker Visa, as a new Skilled Worker Visa would be required for a new role.