Policy, Performance and Systems Manager

About The Job

Salary: £60,379 - £63,721 a year plus £3,203 car benefit allowance

Hours per week: 37

Contract type: Permanent

Are you passionate about driving transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement across complex systems and processes? Do you have the leadership skills to shape compliance frameworks while keeping people and outcomes at the heart of decision-making? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

We are seeking a Policy, Performance and Systems Manager to provide strategic leadership across our procurement ecosystem. This is a pivotal role where you’ll ensure our systems, processes and performance data are used effectively to deliver strong outcomes and embed a culture of integrity and openness.

Working closely with senior managers, you’ll take the lead in designing and improving systems that not only support the council’s strategic objectives - including Luton 2040 - but also help us achieve meaningful Social Value outcomes from our contracts. You’ll play a key role in removing unnecessary barriers, introducing pragmatic solutions, and making sure that business needs remain central to the way our systems are configured.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead on compliance and performance, using data and systems controls to strengthen transparency and accountability.
• Ensure procurement systems are effectively configured to deliver expected outcomes while staying aligned to business objectives.
• Provide insight through data analysis and reporting, sharing findings with colleagues at all levels to support effective decision-making.
• Develop strong working relationships with local partners and anchor institutions, co-designing initiatives that support supplier development and capacity building.
• Collaborate with the Economic Growth team to engage local suppliers, helping to grow their capability and confidence to bid for contracts.
• Regularly prepare and present reports, grounded in research and consultation, to support evidence-based strategies for improvement.
  
  

About You

You will bring substantial experience of ensuring compliant processes and systems are in place to demonstrate value for money, alongside a strong background in purchasing and procurement with excellent commercial understanding of markets and the economics that underpin them. With in-depth expertise in procurement policy, system and tool development, and commissioning processes, you will be confident working in partnership with departments to embed best practice.

Your career to date will demonstrate leadership - both in managing teams and supporting staff development - as

well as experience of working within a unitary authority or similarly complex, multi-functional organisation that serves the public good. You will be adept at acting on your own initiative while building positive relationships across all levels of the organisation, ensuring consistency, and escalating issues appropriately when required.

Highly skilled in preparing and presenting complex reports to senior management, you will combine strong analytical ability with excellent communication skills to inform decision-making. You will also be able to lead, motivate, and engage colleagues across different teams, fostering collaboration and improvement.

Your up-to-date knowledge of UK procurement legislation and relevant EU directives will ensure all activity is compliant, supported where necessary through liaison with legal experts. You will also have a demonstrable understanding of how legislation impacts markets, finance, and contractual arrangements. Ideally, you will be working towards, or already hold, membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) or be able to evidence equivalent professional knowledge and experience.

About Us

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision – that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

Application Process

On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.

Benefits

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

• From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
• Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
• Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
• Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
• Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)

Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home

Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns

Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways

Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons

Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel

How To Apply

We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high-quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out!

Our ‘How to apply' page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply