Job Description

About Barnet Council

Barnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centers, vast green spaces and diverse communities all help make it a great place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive, Collaborative - which drive everything we do.

About the role

The Head of Commercial and Procurement will lead Barnet Council's Commercial and Procurement strategy, ensuring that the Council's significant spending power delivers maximum value, transparency, and positive outcomes for residents. Overseeing procurement and contract management activity across the organisation, embedding best practice, compliance with UK procurement legislation, and strong commercial governance.

Beyond compliance, this role will drive innovation, social value, and sustainability through procurement - ensuring Barnet's suppliers, partnerships, and commissioning activity directly support the Borough's strategic priorities, including net zero ambitions, inclusive economic growth, and community wellbeing. This is a pivotal leadership role shaping how Barnet uses procurement to deliver better outcomes, smarter spending, and a stronger borough.

Overseeing more than £250m of external third-party spend, leading a central team supporting a largely devolved model of procurement and contract management. Your role will be to develop strategic relationships across the organsiaiton and a team that acts as trusted, proactive, influential business partners both internally and externally creating a high-performing, collaborative culture.

Please click here to download the Job description for this role. (Right-click and select "Open in new tab" so you can keep the job description open while completing your application)

About you

You will be a strong and inspiring leader with experience in developing and leading high-performing services, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Bringing broad commercial expertise, you will have a proven track record of driving service transformation, promoting innovation, and supporting organisations to achieve financial sustainability. You will demonstrate success in reducing overall costs through effective procurement practices.

You will have experience in building and maintaining strategic relationships with key suppliers and partners, ensuring transparency, accountability, and sustained value delivery throughout the procurement lifecycle.

With a strong data-driven approach, you will leverage insights to shape the Council's procurement forward plan, enabling early identification of opportunities for savings, aggregation, and effective resource planning. You will provide strategic oversight of the Council's third-party spend portfolios to maximise value and efficiency.

What we offer

• 31 days annual leave, plus public and bank holidays
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which provides a valuable guaranteed income in your retirement together with security for your dependents
• Work-life balance options may include hybrid working, flexitime, job share, home working, part-time
• A vast range of lifestyle discounts from major retailers, supermarkets, energy suppliers and more
• Broad range of payroll benefits including cycle to work, eye care vouchers, travel and gym membership
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Employee well- being training programs including confidential employee assistance

How to apply

Read the job description and person specification before clicking 'Apply' to commence the online application form. If you would like any further information about the role before applying, please contact Barry May, Assistant Director, Resident Experience, Digital & Commercial - barry.may@barnet.gov.uk

Barnet Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Barnet operates stringent safer recruitment procedures, this may include AI Detection Screening, Biometric ID/Right to Work Checks, Qualification and Registration Checks, Up to 6 years of Employment Data and Insights to Accelerate Screening (Konfir), Up to 5 years of Employment History References, DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) Checks, Credit Checks and Social Media, Sanctions and Occupational Health Screening.

To deliver Barnet Council's commitment to equality of opportunity in the provision of services, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. As such we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds.

Barnet Council embraces all forms of flexible working (including part-time, compressed hours, and hybrid working) and is committed to offering employees a healthy work-life balance. Candidates are encouraged to talk about relevant requirements and preferences at interview. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

All posts with the council are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the council satisfaction your suitability for the position in which you will be employed.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient number of applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible.

Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically. Should you not hear from us within four working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.