Contents
Contents
Details of the occupational standard
Occupation summary
This occupation is found in small, medium, large, and multinational organisations in private, public and third sectors such as the Local Authorities, Central Government, Education, Finance, Construction, Facilities, Automotive, Manufacturing, Engineering, Health, Retail, Food, Hospitality, IT.
The procurement and supply chain practitioner are found in organisations where there is a requirement to source and procure goods and/or services in line with national or international procurement laws, or internal governance processes.
The broad purpose of the occupation is the process of procurement or buying of goods and services. Procurement and supply chain practitioners are vital for the smooth functioning of the procurement and supply department in any organisation. They are often responsible for ensuring contracts are correctly administered and maintained in accordance with legislation or the organisation’s own procedures. They will use their knowledge of procurement regulations and internal policies to support the wider procurement team in tasks such as market and supplier analysis, bid, quotation or tender construction and response evaluation, supplier database maintenance, purchase order review and conversion, spend analysis, and stakeholder liaison.
Procurement and supply chain practitioners will also often have purchasing requests and contracts for which they will personally develop requests, invitations to quote, or obtain prices, delivery, and other details from potential suppliers. They will contribute to procurement to enable supplier selection, onboarding, management, and closure and undertake a role in the management of supply delivery and quality assurance. Increasingly this occupation requires an awareness of the sustainability impacts of procurement and supply decisions on both upstream supply chain and use of materials, products, or applications over their lifetime. For example, for procurement and supply decisions they may need to understand how to assess the Scope 3 emissions associated with the purchases that are being made. Procurement and supply decisions about raw materials may consider measures related to sustainable resource consumption, whole-life and circular economy thinking.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with their own procurement team as well as colleagues from other internal departments such as operational functions, finance, legal, IT, sales, and marketing. This role also includes interaction with external stakeholders such as suppliers. This role may involve off site and supplier visits, where they will represent their organisation, and hybrid working.
Procurement and supply chain practitioners engage with internal and external stakeholders on behalf of their organisations. They may also engage with organisational sustainability teams, audit departments, the company secretary, or financial teams responsible for statutory and general reporting, including issues around managing and mitigating an organisations carbon footprint.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the work of procurement and supply chain professionals which include the process of procurement, or buying goods and services; however, these roles can be much broader than just procurement. These roles cover a range of related commercial activity such as influencing policy, financial analysis, engaging in contract law, and developing strategy to deliver services. The variety of goods and services that procurement professionals are responsible for is vast. Goods could range from buying a plane to negotiating new stationery supply. Securing services could include finding new and innovative IT systems, outsourcing translation services or closing a deal on a construction project for a new building.
Procurement and supply chain practitioners will work on their own and in a range of team settings. They work within agreed budgets and available resources, and report to senior managers. They may occasionally be responsible for decision making, but more often will guide or influence the decisions of others including collecting and interpreting data to find trends, updating databases, analysing spending and supplier performance, and identifying ways to save money and improve efficiency.
Typical job titles include:
Category buyer
Commercial analyst
Contract associate
Performance monitoring officer
Entry requirements
Whilst any entry requirements will be a matter for individual employers, typically an apprentice might be expected to have already achieved GCSE Maths and English on entry.
Occupation duties
| Duty | KSBs |
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Duty 1 Contribute to the formulation of the procurement category strategy with recommendations generated for their assigned portfolio of work. |
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Duty 2 Contribute to, and where appropriate manage, all stages of the procurement process, within their portfolio of work, collaborating with stakeholders. |
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Duty 3 Manage, advise and coach stakeholders on procurement processes, techniques and policies, procedures to ensure compliance with legal requirements, and to drive the best possible outcomes for the organisation. |
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Duty 4 Maintain a business or operational risk and opportunity register, for their own portfolio, in collaboration with stakeholders. |
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Duty 5 Undertake supply market and supplier analysis to identify procurement opportunities and risks to inform the sourcing strategies within the assigned portfolio. |
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Duty 6 Identify and mitigate compliance risks to procurement processes, within their portfolio of work. |
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Duty 7 Deliver targeted management information to their stakeholder groups. |
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Duty 8 Manage suppliers and stakeholders to ensure successful contractual delivery of purchased goods and services and take appropriate actions to address any shortfalls or excess in the assigned portfolio. |
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Duty 9 Within their portfolio of work, undertake a total cost ownership analysis to ensure overall value is delivered over the contract term. |
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Duty 10 Contribute to the negotiation of the terms and conditions of the 3rd party supply. |
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Duty 11 Undertake analysis of spend and review contracts and supplier performance, within their assigned portfolio of work, to ensure objectives are being achieved and maintained now and in the future. |
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Duty 12 Ensure accurate and up to date contractual information is maintained within the organisation's guidelines. |
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Duty 13 Monitor supplier performance and escalate if required. |
KSBs
Knowledge
K1: Procurement life cycles and how they fit into the organisation’s structure and budgets.
Back to Duty
K2: Relevant regulations and legislation such as procurement, data protection, environmental, social and governance, and how they impact on the procurement process.
Back to Duty
K3: How to collect and utilise market, supplier, and product intelligence to inform business strategies and optimise the procurement process.
Back to Duty
K4: Market and product intelligence and supplier innovation support the development of business cases.
Back to Duty
K5: How commercial models are applied to generate the best value for the organisation, and how they influence customer and supplier behaviour.
Back to Duty
K6: The principles of achieving efficiencies and continuous improvement.
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K7: The importance of collaboration between the Procurement, Finance, and other business functions.
Back to Duty
K8: Incorporate business objectives and needs into procurement specifications by utilising tools and techniques to create solutions.
Back to Duty
K9: The principles and purpose of commercial contracting.
Back to Duty
K10: How contract terms, conditions and obligations affect delivery, supplier performance and outcomes for the organisation.
Back to Duty
K11: Ethical and sustainability risks and opportunities related to sourcing decisions.
Back to Duty
K12: The use of procurement to drive “social value” and sustainability, such as emissions reduction, use of diverse suppliers (SMEs, Ethnic Minority Business), addressing human rights in the supply chain, and combatting environmental harm.
Back to Duty
K13: The documentation and terminology that form part of the commercial contract process such as the contract and its appendices.
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K14: The procurement negotiation techniques required to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
Back to Duty
K15: The organisation’s commercial strategy and policies, procedures, and governance processes.
Back to Duty
K16: Principles and purpose of the organisations contract governance, risk management, and internal controls.
Back to Duty
K17: Supplier performance monitoring, management, and reporting techniques which impact on, service, quality, and sustainability objectives.
Back to Duty
K18: Category specific knowledge of contracts, market, and legislative requirements to ensure goods or services are procured in a compliant and sustainable way.
Back to Duty
K19: How to conduct planning and forecasting which support the business decisions and the delivery of procurement.
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K20: Analyse spend data and generate recommendations to feed into business and commercial strategies.
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K21: The components, benefits, and constraints of taking a category management approach throughout the procurement life cycle.
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K22: The digital and software tools used in procurement and supply chain management, such as “source to contract” platforms, supply chain finance tools, complex sourcing, and auctions, spend analytics, AI, risk tools and guided buying.
Back to Duty
K23: The organisation's contract award process.
Back to Duty
K24: The principles of continuous improvement and how to identify and implement opportunities for improvement within the procurement and contract management process.
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K25: The use of horizon scanning to identify the current and future needs of the sector and procurement landscape.
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K26: Project management tools and techniques.
Back to Duty
Skills
S1: Manage relationships with stakeholders.
Back to Duty
S2: Interpret business requirements by assessing the demand for the product or service.
Back to Duty
S3: Undertake market analysis to establish potential routes to market.
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S4: Conduct benchmarking to evaluate costs against industry standards.
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S5: Prepare or contribute to the drafting of a sourcing plan which meets business needs, including corporate social responsibility factors.
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S6: Use the organisation's documentation designed for commercial procurement processes for the supply of goods and services.
Back to Duty
S7: Notify potential suppliers of proposal requirements.
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S8: Use selection and award criteria to source requirements from external suppliers evidencing how supplier bids are evaluated against them.
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S9: Analyse the financial implications of decisions and identify cost-saving opportunities.
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S10: Liaise and negotiate with suppliers and stakeholders to ensure the timely delivery of purchased goods and services.
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S11: Support contract award and briefing of suppliers in line with the organisations processes and governance.
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S12: Monitor and manage contract performance to meet time, costs, service, and quality objectives.
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S13: Manage contract performance and advise suppliers on any areas for improvement.
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S14: Maintain contract documentation such as change control, version control.
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S15: Use IT and software to produce spreadsheets and presentation packages to communicate information.
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S16: Identify, raise, and facilitate discussions with stakeholders to resolve any issues or risks.
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S17: Analyses sustainability challenges and risks at each stage of the product or contract life cycle.
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S18: Manage information in accordance with policy and processes.
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S19: Continuously review work processes to identify and eliminate inefficiencies and simplify workflow.
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S20: Use available systems and tools to identify relevant data.
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S21: Interpret, analyse, and evaluate data through questioning to drive actionable intelligence and support decision making.
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S22: Use horizon scanning to identify future changes in procurement and contracting.
Back to Duty
Behaviours
B1: Role models ethical behaviour and practices.
Back to Duty
B2: Seeks learning opportunities and continuous professional development.
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B3: Takes responsibility, shows initiative, and is organised.
Back to Duty
B4: Considers the “big” picture and the detail together.
Back to Duty
B5: Works flexibly and adapts to circumstances.
Back to Duty
B6: Works collaboratively with others across the organisation and external stakeholders.
Back to Duty
Qualifications
English and Maths
English and maths qualifications must be completed in line with the apprenticeship funding rules.
Other mandatory qualifications
Professional recognition
This standard aligns with the following professional recognition:
- Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply for Diploma Membership
Version log
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2 | Occupational standard, end-point assessment plan and funding band revised | 15/10/2024 | Not set |
| 2.1 | End-point assessment plan revised | 13/04/2023 | 14/10/2024 |
| 2.0 | Standard and End-point assessment plan revised. | 09/09/2017 | 12/04/2023 |
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 03/02/2016 | 08/09/2017 |
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