Procurement & Payments Manager

Procurement & Payments Manager
Location: Sutton, South London
Contract: Permanent, Full Time
Start: ASAP
We are recruiting for an experienced Procurement & Payments Manager to join a well-established education organisation in South London.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone with a strong background in procurement, supplier management, contracts and financial controls to take ownership of a developing function and play a key role in improving processes, reducing costs and delivering greater value for money.
Reporting into the senior finance team, you will manage procurement and payment activity across the organisation, lead a small team and work closely with budget holders and senior stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead the organisation’s procurement and payments function
* Manage supplier relationships and support effective contract management
* Oversee procurement processes and associated financial controls
* Ensure payments are processed accurately, efficiently and compliantly
* Analyse expenditure and identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies
* Support procurement planning across different departments
* Review existing suppliers, contracts and purchasing arrangements
* Work closely with budget holders and senior stakeholders
* Develop and improve procurement processes, policies and controls
* Lead, support and develop a small team
* Promote best practice and a value-for-money approach across the organisation
About You
We are looking for someone who combines strong financial and commercial awareness with excellent stakeholder management skills.
You will ideally have experience within procurement, purchasing, contracts, payments or a related finance function and be comfortable analysing spend, challenging existing processes and identifying opportunities to improve services and reduce costs.
You should be:
* Experienced in procurement and/or supplier management
* Confident managing contracts and purchasing processes
* Commercially minded with a strong understanding of financial controls
* Comfortable analysing expenditure and identifying savings
* A strong communicator who can influence stakeholders at all levels
* Organised, proactive and able to manage competing priorities
* Experienced in leading or supporting a small team
* Confident implementing process improvements and driving change
Experience within education, the public sector or another regulated environment would be beneficial but is not essential.
This is a fantastic opportunity to join an organisation investing heavily in its finance and procurement functions, with genuine scope to shape processes and make a measurable impact