Procurement Specialist

About Us
The Ontario Cannabis Store provides safe, responsible access to recreational cannabis for adults 19 and older. We operate the sole legal online store for recreational cannabis in Ontario and are the provincial wholesaler of cannabis for private retail stores.
Working at the OCS is a unique opportunity to be part of an agile start-up in a ground-breaking new industry. We’re a diverse team passionate about delivering a great customer experience, working together with mutual respect and building value out of our differences. We’re an inclusive organization that understands that delivering great results comes out of ensuring every voice is heard.
About the Role
We're seeking a Procurement Specialist to join our Procurement team The Procurement Specialist will deliver successful Procurement outcomes by coordinate the procurement and/or purchasing process for small to large, low to medium complexity and risk procurements within a defined set of categories to single or multiple clients across the organization, in compliance with all applicable processes, policy and related guidelines. They will ensure that the OCS’s needs are met at the best possible price, quality, and timelines.
With a strong ability to multitask, they will be responsible for a wide range of duties including managing the RFx lifecycle, purchase order creation and management, analytics and reporting, and other duties as assigned.
They will provide advice and guidance to OCS employees on procurement policy, related procedures, guidelines, and processes including competitive go-to-market processes, legal agreements/contracts processes, and others as required.
About Your Day
- Establish productive working relationships with stakeholders, suppliers and the vendor community
- Consult with stakeholders to understand their business and identify opportunities for more effective acquisition of goods and services
- Assist and advise stakeholders with procurement strategies and planning to develop creative procurement approaches that are consistent with OCS policy
- Execute and manage the entire end to end RFX process for assigned projects which at a minimum would include Requirements Gathering, RFx Creation, RFx Posting/Closing, Evaluation, Contract Negotiations, Signatures, and debriefs while ensuring compliance with applicable policies and legislation
- Assist stakeholders with market research and supplier analysis
- Assist in creating RFX procedures and forms and advise stakeholders on the criteria required to effectively participate in the process
- Guiding and facilitating the development of RFx scope and specifications
- Conducting kick-off meetings and evaluator training
- Advise on selection methodologies and evaluation criteria
- Facilitating evaluation and consensus process
- Assist and advise on developing pricing strategies
- Assist and advise stakeholders on building negotiation plans, methods, and strategies
- Assist in negotiations with vendors to secure best offers, confirm responsibilities and contract terms
- Input accurate information into the eTendering site and all procurement documents for retention and audit purposes
- Assist with response evaluation and selection by validating compliance criteria are met
- Provide written recommendations on the process and outcome of procurements
- Ensure that records are maintained, and all procurements are documented from origination to completion in applicable procurement and contract management databases and systems
- Ensure all appropriate systems, reporting and data management activities are completed to maintain data integrity for reporting and tracking purposes. This includes accessing and updating information in multiple systems and platforms within the procurement technology ecosystem in the delivery of services to internal clients
- Assist and advise business areas on NCBC processes and policies
- Accurately create and issues various contract types, including purchase orders, and ensuring all required documentation and approvals have been obtained
- Act as a point of liaison with the vendor community, proponents and existing suppliers, including setup of site visits, vendor meetings and vendor communications from start of competition to contract finalization
- Support and enable the collection of category and vendor(s) or service provider(s) data, performance, compliance, savings and benefits tracking, measurement, and monitoring activities

About You
- Post-Secondary education in business/commerce or related field, and/or supporting courses in business/commerce, finance, procurement, supply chain, or other related areas, or a relevant combination of education and experience
- Minimum 3 years in a strategic sourcing and/or vendor management role
- Knowledge of strategic sourcing and intermediate procurement and strategic sourcing concepts
- Public sector procurement knowledge and experience including appropriate provincial and federal requirements is preferred
- Sound know