Principal Procurement Consultant

About Us

(part of the Harris Group) is a leading SaaS and consultancy organisation specialising in supporting complex and high-value procurement across the UK and internationally. Our flagship solution, AWARD®, underpins some of the most significant public sector, defence, and infrastructure programmes worldwide, enabling fair, transparent, and evidence-based decision-making.

Our solutions and services span the lifecycle of the procurement process from development of a procurement strategy, through specification of the requirement and design of the scoring mechanism, to the evaluation itself and the subsequent analysis and reporting. We have an enviable client base across a wide spectrum of industries internationally, including transport, defence, infrastructure, IT, health and education.

Commerce Decisions Ltd is seeking to recruit a Principal Procurement Consultant with a technical background in software-led consultancy, preferably within Complex Procurement environments, who is intelligent, highly articulate, and most importantly motivated to develop our capabilities and our business to support growth. The successful candidate will be responsible for defining and supporting new and existing business, reporting to the VP of Professional Services and working closely with the wider Commerce Decisions professional services and sales teams. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key part in the next stage of growth for Commerce Decisions Ltd; we are looking for an enthusiastic team player who is comfortable with the opportunities and challenges of complex procurement and looking for the next step within their career.

The Principal Procurement Consultant will play a lead role in the Professional Services team, as well as engaging with the Sales & Marketing and Development teams within Commerce Decisions.

Role responsibilities

• Deliver across the breadth of Professional Services products (including Criteria development, weighting, VfM, evaluation design, evaluation support), ensuring outputs are defensible, auditable and aligned to client objectives.
• Lead and manage engagements with clients to ensure we delivery effective and timely support, as well as value for money to our clients – whilst controlling and escalating risks appropriately.
• Work closely with the Sales Team, to position, develop and win new business – organically within existing projects, in identifying new leads and contacts, and in developing propositions for new clients and markets.
• Play an active role in the process of quality management and peer review, operating within our policies and guidance.
• Support the VP PS in the coaching and upskilling of other members of the team.
• Advise clients on the best use / configuration of AWARD® for their procurements, support or undertake AWARD® configuration / peer reviews to support the software delivery, and support clients in their use of AWARD®.
• Support the VP PS in identifying and implementing improvements to the delivery of the Professional Services products, including through the use of AI.
• Promote the products and services in the wider market through e.g. webinars, event attendance, use of social media, public speaking, white papers, etc.

Additional detail on role requirements:

• Develop and maintain an excellent working knowledge of the AWARD® software.
• Work with the consulting and product support teams to develop and maintain an understanding of how best to deploy and use AWARD® to meet the needs of new clients.
• Maintain an excellent working knowledge of the procurement lifecycle, Canadian procurement law and best practices around the sourcing and selection of suppliers, and planning and execution of supplier evaluations.
• Work with our consulting, product support and wider sales teams to ensure we are providing a coherent, proactive and professional service to clients.

Successful candidate

• Ability to obtain Canadian security clearance (Reliability Status or Secret)
• Experience in delivering software-led consultancy in the public sector
• Experience of managing client relationships and growing business in a consultancy context
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to manage and control small/medium sized projects
• Ability to manage multiple portfolios
• Ability to travel within Canada and ideally occasionally Internationally (for e.g. Harris and CD company events, Harris training events)
• Ability to work calmly under pressure
• Ability to work in an organised manner and be self-motivated
• Experience of using standard MS Office applications
• University Education (Undergraduate Degree)
• Experience in public procurement design
• Understanding of Government of Canada procurement frameworks (PSPC/Treasury Board) and DND procurement processes, and of provincial/municipal procurement practices.