Procurement & Contract Advisor

Reporting to the Manager, Procurement Services, you will be responsible for a variety of purchasing functions as well as facilitate the public procurement process for Strathcona County acquisitions. In this role, you will provide guidance and support to various departments to effectively manage procurement activities, meet trade agreement requirements, and facilitate the optimization of project deliverables.

This posting is for one permanent full-time position.

**Responsibilities**:

- Provide customer-focused centralized procurement support services to Departments
- Coach and train department and corporate staff on procurement legislation, standards, and processes to ensure risks are identified and mitigated with appropriate strategies
- Provide recommendations to meet departments' specialized procurement needs and ensure legislative requirements and established protocols are met
- Guide departments to develop well-defined specifications, requirements, and evaluation criteria that will lead to attaining overall best value and optimized results from suppliers during performance of the work
- Research, identify, recommend and implement best practices to optimize and advance procurement practices at Strathcona County
- Draft and prepare comprehensive front-end RFx documents
- Draft contracts using templates and facilitate execution of the contract with suppliers
- Facilitate evaluation and negotiable RFP processes, including shortlisted supplier presentations, demonstrations, interviews, and negotiations
- Develop supplier management and contract management expertise, instrumental to the County's success in obtaining the best value for procurement
- Identify opportunities for operational improvements by ongoing monitoring of procurement process and results

Skills and Abilities
- Considerable knowledge of the principles and practices of procurement for large scale purchases of a diversity of goods, services, and construction
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills with exceptional negotiation and conflict resolution skills
- Excellent organizational, planning, and cross-functional team skills
- Ability to handle sensitive information, maintain confidentiality and deal tactfully in an open and political environment
- Ability to make complex purchasing decisions; evaluate competitive bids and make recommendations regarding the awarding of tenders
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- Ability to work under tight deadlines with a high level of accuracy and strong attention to detail

**Qualifications**:

- Degree or Diploma in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance or related field with a background in Procurement
- A professional procurement designation (Supply Chain Management Professional - SCMP or Certified Public Procurement Officer
- CPPO, or Certified Public Professional Buyer - CPPB) is an asset
- Minimum of 3-5 years experience in a large corporate or government purchasing environment with end to end responsibility for large scale procurement for a diversity of goods, services, and construction
- Thorough knowledge and extensive experience in purchasing methods and practices with current knowledge of legislative/regulatory frameworks governing procurement including the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA)
- Business analysis, analytics, and/or project management experience is an asset
- Contract negotiation experience is an asset

In addition to providing a dynamic working environment, we offer a competitive salary and benefits package. As a Permanent, Full-time Strathcona County employee, benefits include 75% employer-paid health and dental care with a flexible health or wellness spending account, participation in an earned day off program, pension plan through LAPP, and 3 weeks of vacation time.

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies for similar positions within the next 6 months.

**Job Types**: Full-time, Permanent

**Salary**: $71,289.40-$89,107.20 per year

Schedule:

- Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

- Sherwood Park, AB: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

**Experience**:

- purchasing: 1 year (preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Sherwood Park, AB