Principal Consultant - Procurement & Commercial

Do you enjoy providing solutions that make our world a better place?

How about being part of the change that matters. As a knowledgeable and experienced Procurement & Commercial professional, join our talented Procurement & Commercial Consulting team, where everyone has a voice, and together we face our clients' problems head-on. It's a diverse and inclusive work environment where world-class talent knows no distinctions.

The Role:

Step into a rewarding role in our 'Aerospace, Defence, Security and Technology' (ADS&T) division. As a Principal Procurement & Commercial Consultant, you'll stay challenged, providing key clients with day-to-day advice, support, and solutions.

We are looking for talented, well-rounded, knowledgeable, and experienced Procurement & Commercial professionals with a track record of delivering a variety of solutions to high standards. As a Principal Consultant, you will be given significant responsibility and exposure to our clients and be expected to act as an ambassador for our business. You will be accountable for the overall quality and timeliness of the delivery of assignments and the role may also require you to lead an Atkins team responsible for specific project outputs. Our Principal Consultants are also expected to help develop our business. This may include contributing to bids or managing a bid team, developing new business propositions, or researching potential new markets.

Your purpose:

As a Principal Consultant we want you to help us grow our business by:

• Managing and working within multi-disciplinary teams (at our clients’ premises and in our Atkins’ offices, across the UK) to deliver excellent results for our clients.
• Guiding our clients through complex tendering processes (including using current Public Sector procurement procedures) to engage suppliers that will provide the goods or services, including IT, that the client seeks. This may include facilitating workshops to understand the business need, preparing tender specifications, working with client legal advisers, engaging with suppliers, co-ordinating tender evaluation and supporting clients in negotiations.
• Providing contract management, supplier management or commercial advice to clients; for example, assessing supplier performance and helping clients gain performance improvements from their suppliers.
• Preparing reports and presenting to a range of client stakeholders up to board level.
• Contributing to the development of our tools, techniques and methods that can be shared to build capabilities within our Procurement & Commercial team and Business Consulting & Transformation practice.
• Contributing to Business Consulting & Transformation (and wider business) sales – including bid development and sales presentations to clients.
• Supporting the development and delivery of marketing campaigns.

What you can bring?

Successful candidates will be given significant responsibility for working with our clients from day one. We are looking for knowledgeable and experienced Procurement & Commercial people who can demonstrate the following capability and experience across the following areas:

Client Management –

• You can build good and lasting relationships with clients at all levels in a business environment.
• You are able to gain client trust and identify opportunities for adding further value to the client relationship.
• You maintain a flexible attitude to working in a multi-disciplinary environment.

Technical Delivery –

• You have experience in specifying tenders and selecting service providers, preferably using UK Public Sector procurement procedures.
• Ideally you will have experience in one or more of our key markets (Defence, Aerospace, Security, Energy, Utilities, Highways, Rail, and the Public Sector).
• CIPS accreditation or similar is highly desirable.
• Customer Relationship Management experience is highly desirable.
• You have a degree or equivalent qualifications; however significant relevant experience will also be considered.

People –

• You are a strong team player and can communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• You can demonstrate an ability to transfer skills and knowledge to colleagues and clients.
• You are proactive and enjoy working with a variety of people, but also comfortable working independently.

Business Development –

• You have knowledge and experience of leading or contributing to the sale of management consulting work – including bid development and presentations.
• You have supported the development and delivery of marketing campaigns or promotional events for consulting services.

Why work for Atkins?

People join us because they share a desire to be at the forefront of the ADS&T Business Unit and deliver outstanding projects. We empower our people to be the professional individuals they want to be, working on projects they feel proud of, making a difference to the world they live in and the legacy they leave behind.

We develop individuals through a portfolio of training and development courses designed to help you make the best of your abilities and talents. We encourage participation in all forms of training and have an active programme of in-house as well as external training for all our staff.