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A focus on understanding demand is a key aspect of procurement and commissioning.
What do we mean by understanding demand, needs and current spend?
The ability to gather demand data in relation to council and / or service needs, using a combination of past spend analysis and data insights to predict likely future needs.
Knowledge
- Knowledge of procurement and contract law.
- Knowledge of category management.
- Knowledge of spend analysis at a council, contract, supplier, and category level.
- Understanding of best practice commissioning, sourcing and procurement processes and tools.
Skills
Able to:
- Gather demand data: Eliciting insights from a range of sources, including strategy and service planning documents, requirements planning and demand forecasting.
- Analyse existing cost and spend: Understanding current spend patterns and associated costs.
- Collaborate and communicate: With colleagues to triangulate demand and cost data, to understand and validate needs and to consider options to meet them.
- Think critically: Applying critical thinking to understand opportunities for smarter commissioning and / or delivery including opportunities for aggregation, rationalisation or delivering services in a more cost-effective way.
- Develop procurement strategy and plans: Setting out the objectives and actions which will be taken to drive strategic outcomes.
- Manage risk: Identity, assess and manage risks associated with procurement and commissioning, ensuring related mitigations are in place and within the council’s risk appetite.
Behaviours
Behaviours associated with understanding demand, needs and cost require team members to be:
- Precise
- Analytical
- Collaborative
- Assertive
- Organised
- Solution focused
- Decisive
- Inclusive
- Resilient
- Adaptable and pragmatic
- Committed to continual learning
Procurement and commissioning – maturity index
A related procurement and commissioning maturity index has been created to enable councils to understand their current maturity and to set, and work towards, a target state. This can be downloaded below.