SENIOR PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING SPECIALIST [2 openings]
Req #: | 172100 |
Department: | UW FACILITIES: FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION |
Appointing Department Web Address: | https://facilities.uw.edu/ |
Job Location: | Seattle Campus |
Posting Date: | 09/19/2019 |
Closing Info: | Open Until Filled |
Salary: | Salary and benefits are competitive. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience. |
Shift: | First Shift |
Notes: | This recruitment may be used to fill 2 openings. |
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years.
UW Facilities (UWF) manages the University’s buildings, infrastructure and land, with more than 1,100 employees in a variety of fields. The Asset Management group includes Capital & Space Management, Real Estate, Sustainability and other teams responsible for planning and workload management. The Operations group includes Project Delivery, Maintenance & Construction, Campus Utilities & Operations, Building Services, Transportation Services and Safety. Supporting these groups, as well as the separate Emergency Management team, are the Business Intelligence & Information Technology group and the Finance & Administration group.
Finance & Administration has an outstanding opportunity for a Senior Procurement and Contracting Specialist.
The Senior Procurement and Contracting Specialist(s) (SPCS) primary purpose is to serve under the Director, and Assistant Director of UW Facilities Procurement & Sourcing, and with delegated authority, assume responsibility for all UW Facilities procurement and buying operations, policies, and standard operating procedures.
UWF is also responsible for capital construction and social justice initiatives that support the built environment and has an annual operating budget of approximately $250M, a real estate portfolio with a value of approximate $800M, and capital spend of approximately $800M.
The SPCS will independently initiate, develop, manage, report, and maintain accountability for all procurement, buying, contracting, and sourcing deliverables throughout the 1100-person UW Facilities organization; and approximately $800M in annual business transactions, requiring a thorough understanding of industry buying; an experienced knowledge of the range of commodities UW purchases and their inherent and changeable value; and related rules and regulations surrounding each item UW Facilities encumbers.
Identify and track sourcing and contracting opportunities, develop and deliver organization-specific procurement procedures and methods, conduct informal and formal, phased solicitations, as well as negotiate, execute, renew, and oversee all resulting contracts and vendor relationships.
Create process and contracting frameworks, analyze procurement, financial and procedures through gathering data, business, economic and project-cycle metrics to provide overall business reporting to the Associate Vice President of Finance and Administration and UWF business reporting.
Independently procure and contract, making decisions as necessary for all UW Facilities purchasing, buying, and contracting. Identify emerging issues and trends in a vast range of commodity areas throughout UW Facilities.
Responsible for business process management and bringing in strategic alignment among all UWF buying operations by developing and implementing policy and standard operating procedures. The SPSC will ensure, research and indemnity changes and opportunities in the market, develop efficiencies, leverage buying power in the organization and across the enterprise, overall; and create effective business operating procedures that realize maximum stewardship of UW Facilities funds.
Position Dimensions and Impact to the University:
UWF is one of the largest and most diverse administrative units on the Seattle campus supporting a large urban university campus. While there are many formal policies to follow under State requirements, the establishment of a new UWF integrated organization comes with many new and uncharted areas requiring creative problem solving and highly developed critical thinking skills while balancing risk and return to UW Facilities and the University. The Senior Procurement and Contracting Specialist(s) in UWF will provide a deep experience and subject matter expertise in public procurement and contracting, and provide in-depth analyses and reporting with quick turnaround times to leverage UW’s buying power, enact legislative and regulatory changes, and lead changes in process and internal policy.
A critical component of the SPCS’s role is to ensure UW’s compliance with federal, state and local regulations, changing state mandates. The compliance needs of University and organizational requirements may change with legislative and grant requirements. The SPCS will manage new, or changed, requirements while meeting the business needs of UWF, external vendors, and outside contractors. At the same time, the SPCS engages the internal and external community to further UW’s mission of engaging and solidifying lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with a range of small, local, and diverse suppliers as set forth in RCW 43.26 and Policy 16 by the Board of Regents September 2015.
The SPCS plays an essential role in identifying, negotiating, and contracting large-scale savings and/or procurement efficiencies for the UW Facilities and the overall university. The SPCS’s expertise provides the necessary background to skillfully identify, propose, and gain consensus in order to divert and reallocate scarce resources toward the greatest overall impact on reducing UW Facilities annual spending.
The UWF Procurement & Sourcing team interfaces, coordinates, and collaborates closely with UW Central Procurement, as well as UW Facilities operations, maintenance, and construction projects for all three campuses.
Where construction, renovation, and space changes are involved, the SPCS fosters an environment of teamwork and collaboration across UW’s administrative units, departments, and all 18 schools and colleges across campus facilities in Seattle, Bothell, Tacoma, and outlying posts. This interface is essential to support UW’s commitment to supporting certified local, small, and diverse members of Washington state’s Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises.
Responsibilities include:
Strategic Sourcing
• Independently manage UWF supply portfolio ensuring transparency of spending
• Responsible to generate and implement efficient sourcing and category management strategies
• Analyze and calculate costs of procurement and suggest methods to decrease expenditure
• Develop and initiate negotiation strategies and secure profitable deals
• Optimize sourcing procedures to attain maximum efficiency
• Cooperate with stakeholders to guarantee agreement on terms and processes
• Research and anticipate shifts in the negotiating power of suppliers
• Perform cost and scenario analysis, and benchmarking
• Estimate risks and apply risk minimizing techniques
• Discover and partner with trustworthy vendors and suppliers
• Determine quantity and timing of deliveries
Conducts market research and development of potential partners for UW Facilities as an organization. Serves as a market-to-owner liaison. Expected to understand UW Facilities target partner markets, and how those partners accomplish their best and highest work to maximize value and return on the UWF investments. Work towards packaging and leveraging buying power to make best use of UW Facilities spend.
Procurement
• Understand and apply all federal, state, and university required procurement requirements and ensure compliance with all applicable codes
• Devise and use established sourcing strategies and support UWF employees specific to their work needs
• Investigate best-value suppliers and initiate business and organization partnerships
• Negotiate with external vendors to secure advantageous terms
• Approve the ordering of necessary goods and services
• Finalize purchase details of orders and deliveries
• Examine and test existing contracts
• Track and report key functional metrics to reduce expenses and improve effectiveness
• Collaborate with key persons to ensure clarity of the specifications and expectations of the company
• Foresee alterations in the comparative negotiating ability of suppliers and clients
• Anticipate unfavorable events and prepare response strategies
• Perform risk management for supply contracts and agreements
• Control spend and build a culture of long-term saving on procurement costs
Conduct solicitations and negotiate contracts in the best interest of UW Facilities, applying an understanding of the fundamentals of contract law, the elements of a contract, contracting authority, and working with subject matter experts such as risk management and legal counsel. Interface with campus partners such as central procurement as necessary to conduct UW Facilities business.
Contract Development and Administration
• Oversee the preparation and revision of contracts that involve the purchase of goods, services, and construction
• Oversee proposal planning and administration of contracts
• Negotiate terms and conditions
• Prepare contract briefs and revisions summarizing contractual requirements and budgets
• Track authorizations and correspondence
• Maintain detailed and organized files that meet several level of auditing standards
• Prepare contract change notices, monitor contractor performance, including the reporting and status of contractor and owner deliverables
• Maintains internal controls for each contract which will include original contract, all correspondence, changes/deviations, amendments, clarifications, payment schedules
• Prepare and disseminate information to appropriate employees regarding contract status and develop and regularly report on the same.
• Ensure that all contractors engaged are in compliance with legal requirements, owner specifications and government regulations
• Perform closing activities as needed
• Track payments and deadlines as needed
• Analyze and mitigate risk for those contracts executed by UWF
• Provide contract summaries and ensure contract execution in accordance with UWF policy
Independently develops, drafts, and maintains UW Facilities specific terms and conditions, contract templates, internal controls checklists, short forms, or other contracting, sourcing, and procurement tools needed by the organization. Create contract administration plans and internal controls for all contracts types (good, services, and construction). Serve as liaison with UW Facilities staff and supplier/vendor/contractor ensure contracting compliance and performance. Regularly review contract spend analytics and communicate with supplier and customers. Ensure regulatory documentation compliance, payments, performance, and closeout.
Vendor Management
• Research vendors to find the best products and prices available within a given market.
• Establish standards and guidelines for vendors, monitoring vendors to ensure these policies are being followed.
• Conduct interviews and meetings with new vendors.
• Negotiate new and existing vendor contracts.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with vendors by communicating with them frequently to answer questions and check their satisfaction levels.
• Monitor sales trends, noting which items are selling faster than others, and write reports displaying this data.
Develop an interactive relationship with key suppliers/vendors/contractors. Identify metrics for evaluation and develop scorecard or rating system. Conduct vendor audits which includes contract compliance analysis, purchasing pricing analysis, service analysis, or similar. Solicit feedback from UWF staff on service and product quality. Review purchasing history, conduct randomized market price analysis spot checks to compare UW pricing with market. Present findings and make recommendations to Director, AVP, or central procurement for use in creating/updating terms for new contracts or amend current contracts.
Business Process Improvement
Participate in, or lead, internal or cross-departmental continuous improvement projects utilizing a variety of methodologies and tools. Contribute to all assigned project teams regarding procurement, buying, and/or contracts. Write and update any process/procedural documents as needed to reflect current business process improvements.
Lead Responsibilities:
Procurement & Contract Management
Core Competencies
• Demonstrate personal integrity and trustworthiness.
• Manage stressful situations and changing priorities effectively.
• Anticipate, recognize and resolve problems.
• Be responsible and accountable.
• Use organizational skills and provide attention to details.
• Maintain a positive, optimistic, and success-oriented attitude.
• Exercise professionalism, which includes being tactful and courteous.
• Exhibit a professional work ethic.
• Continuously promote a safe work environment.
Requirements include:
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Desired:
Conditions of Employment:
As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here.
Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 / 206-543-6452 (tty) or dso@uw.edu.