Procurement Advisor

Are you a strategic procurement professional with a passion for public service and a talent for navigating complex procurement landscapes? Strathcona County is seeking a Procurement Advisor to lead high-value, high-impact procurement initiatives that safeguard the County’s legal and financial interests while enabling efficient service delivery.

As a key member of the Procurement Services team, you will provide expert guidance across the full procurement lifecycle, lead negotiations, manage risk, and drive continuous improvement in procurement practices. This impactful role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment where your decisions carry significant risk, impact, or visibility and is committed to excellence in public procurement.

**Key Responsibilities**:

- Provide strategic procurement advice to departments, ensuring compliance with trade agreements, legislation, County policy and internal controls.
- Procurement planning, including determining the best procurement method and timelines
- Lead complex, high-value procurements for goods, services, and construction, ensuring strategic alignment and defensibility.
- Provide strategic oversight of the full RFx lifecycle, including scope development, evaluation criteria, bid assessments, negotiations, and contract transition.
- Plan procurements by selecting appropriate methods, establishing timelines, and defining evaluation strategies that ensure best value.
- Draft and manage RFx documents and contracts with a high degree of legal defensibility, including leading needs assessments with departments.
- Identify and mitigate procurement risks throughout the process.
- Develop strategies to lead negotiations and debriefs with suppliers and affected parties.
- Navigate multiple interests to maintain best value for the County
- Collaborate with Legal, Finance, Contract Management, and others to resolve complex procurement challenges
- Coach and train staff on procurement best practices, risk mitigation, and compliance
- Drive process improvements and contribute to the modernization of procurement practicesSupport system optimization and provide expert guidance on the County’s e-procurement tools

**Qualifications**and Skills**:

- A degree in Business Administration or a related discipline, or a diploma in Supply Chain Management, Business, or Finance
- A recognized procurement designation (e.g., SCMP, CPPB, CPPO) is considered an asset
- A minimum of five years of experience in a complex, high-volume procurement environment, preferably in the public sector
- In-depth knowledge of public procurement legislation and trade agreements (e.g., CFTA, CETA, NWPTA)
- Demonstrated experience leading end-to-end procurements and negotiations
- Strong drafting skills with the ability to draft professional documents by structuring content effectively, aligning with organizational requirements and templates, and collaborating with stakeholders to refine and finalize materials to ensure accurate, defensible procurement documents
- Strong writing skills with the ability to express ideas clearly, concisely, and effectively in written form, including grammar, tone, structure, clarity, and audience awareness.
- Presenting to all levels of leadership with clear and professional presentation skills
- Solid analytical skills and a proven ability to lead cross-functional teams through complex challenges
- Financial and strategic acumen to understand drivers behind procurement decisions and downstream impacts
- Experience in competitive sourcing, supplier negotiations, contract execution, spend analytics, and supplier risk management is considered an asset
- Effective organizational, time management, and multi-tasking skills to prioritize and complete work within restricted timelines while ensuring attention to detail and accuracyAbility to work independently and demonstrate initiative and resourcefulness

**Who We Are**:
Strathcona County is a specialized municipality located in the heart of Alberta. Our vision is to become Canada’s most livable community, where our workplace culture and identity are supported by our people plan and values of integrity, respect, safety, fairness, and cooperation.

**Why Join Strathcona County**:(depending on position)
- Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package, which includes:

- Extended health and dental coverage
- Health and wellness spending account
- Life and disability insurance and critical illness programs
- Retirement and pension programs
- Earned day off program
- Employee and family assistance program
- Commitment to employee development, through internal and external training and development opportunitiesWell-being programs and a safety culture focused on physical and psychological health in the workplace

Equivalencies of education and experience may be considered. This role may be eligible to participate in our hybrid work program.

This competition may be used to fill future vacancies for similar posit