Lead Sourcing / Procurement / Buyer / Purchasing (Contract Specialist III)

King County’s Finance and Business Operations Division, Procurement & Payables section, is seeking a Sourcing / Procurement / Purchasing Lead (Contract Specialist III) on the Goods & Services team!

About Procurement & Payables: Our value stream begins with purposeful procurement planning, incorporates strategic sourcing, a streamlined solicitation process, and post award metrics to ensure that our contracts provide the quality, cost, delivery, and service we expect.

Our Goods and Services staff is responsible for procuring materials, supplies, equipment, and services in support of King County's operational needs.

We are looking for a Contract Specialist Lead who exhibits a strong sense of team-oriented camaraderie and who understands and wholly embraces the value and importance of providing outstanding customer service to both internal and external customers.

We need an employee who brings creative ideas and suggestions to the workplace and who can lead and implement projects for process improvement.

Scope of Job Duties

• Lead staff on the Goods & Services team, including:
• Distributing and overseeing workload
• Resolving contract and procurement issues
• Reviewing and approving solicitations and contracts
• • Leading business process improvement projects
• Training, coaching, mentoring and leading staff to high levels of professionalism, productivity, and performance
• Participating in staff performance evaluations
• Work with King County agency staff, and interact closely with suppliers and contractors to ensure that County business is conducted openly, inclusively, and provides the best value
• Develop alternative contracting methods and appropriate procurement and contract documents
• Exercise independent judgment and initiative when working on issues that require interpretation of complex laws and regulations or where established guidelines or procedures may not exist
• Determine bidding requirements, selection criteria and general terms and conditions
• Develop scope of work and specifications with King County agency clients
• Facilitate evaluation meetings, interviews, proprietary meetings, and debriefs with suppliers, contractors and County staff
• Facilitate complex contract negotiations
• Prepare contract terms and conditions for execution
• Support spend analysis and benchmarking for best practices at the category level
• Support proactive procurement forecasting in conjunction with King County agencies
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contract terms, policies, and procedures
• Have critical thinking skills and bring techniques to reduce waste and increase efficiency

Minimum Qualifications

• Advanced understanding of contract law, regulations, procurement methods, industry principles and best practices
• Experience in leading teams in a culture of continuous business process improvement, including monitoring daily work production, resolving difficult and unusual situations, mentoring, coaching and training
• Experience conducting procurement processes including the preparation of complex Requests for Proposals and Invitations to Bid; and reviewing and approving evaluation scorecards, bid tabulations and vendor selection
• Experience leading staff in sourcing contracts across a wide range of commodities, and thorough knowledge of using and establishing cooperative contracts
• Experience reducing cycle times while maintaining a high level of customer service and compliance with policies and procedures
• Strong communication, interpersonal, writing and customer service skills
• Intermediate level of technology proficiency using MS Office Productivity tools in your daily work
• Ability to manage your time and adapt to changing priorities, work on multiple priorities and projects simultaneously, meet quick deadlines, and produce timely and quality work products
• Ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds

Preferred Qualifications

• Oracle EBS and/or Oracle Procurement Cloud or related experience utilizing procurement technology
• Procurement Certification(s) such as CPPB (Certified Professional Public Buyer), CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) and/or CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity)
• Experience with LEAN processes and principles
• Experience with SharePoint, MS Teams and other collaborative online tools

The Procurement & Payables Section is part of the larger Finance and Business Operations Division portfolio of countywide services. FBOD’s vision “Count on Us” reflects the division’s deep-seated commitment to customer success, equity, employee engagement, resource stewardship, and operational excellence. If these values align with your own, please apply and join FBOD for a rewarding career!

Position Information

• Work Site Details: The team works in a hybrid model, with days in the office as well as telecommuting. The ratio of remote to onsite work will be dependent on business needs and is subject to change. The primary onsite location is King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson, Seattle, Washington 98104. Please reach out for additional details at the contact below.
• Location Requirement: Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
• Work Schedule: This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore is NOT overtime eligible. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, every other Thursday, comprising a 40-hour workweek; normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Union Representation: This position is Teamsters 117 represented.

King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will join an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work in our department's hybrid environment. Employees will be provided with a county-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work.

Employees will need to be available and responsive during scheduled work hours and follow FBOD’s hybrid/remote guidelines that include on-camera participation during virtual video meetings.

The Application/Selection Process: The recruitment for this position is open to all qualified candidates. A completed King County Application is required. Applicants from this recruitment may be used to fill future opportunities in this job classification including Term-Limited Temporary, Special Duty Assignment, Short-Term-Temporary and Career Service vacancies. We highly recommend that you provide a resume.

A cover letter addressing how you meet the minimum qualifications and why you are interested in this position is encouraged as well.

The selection process consists of different phases: screening interview, virtual interview, and if successful, pre-hire reference checking. For some positions, additional phases may also include skill testing, writing samples or additional interviews. Candidates will be updated on the status of their application via the email address used to apply.

Each phase is set for a specific day. Different times will be available for those days only. Please reach out to the contact below to confirm dates. Rescheduling interviews may not be possible and may remove you from consideration if unavailable.

Note: Online applications are preferred. However, if you cannot apply online, go to www.kingcounty.gov/jobs for other options.

If you have any questions or concerns while applying, please contact: Michael Castro, Recruiter Email: mcastro@kingcounty.gov

Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North" values, we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity.

Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles - we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards.

We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class.

Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.