Position Description

Procurement Specialist - Construction

It’s an exciting time to join

We’re transforming the way we do business with significant investment in customer, digital and business innovation, re-

designing our infrastructure to service communities for generations to come and pursuing a circular economy so we can not only reduce our environmental footprint but also reduce energy costs to keep customer bills affordable. We’re also engaging communities to achieve better outcomes and supporting our incredibly talented and valued leaders and people.

Organisational Context

east Victoria across an area of 20,000 square kilometres. The service delivery area is bound by Corryong, Yarrawonga,

Benalla, and Dartmouth. We operate 21 water treatment facilities and 22 wastewater treatment plants that service most towns across the region. Over 200 full time equivalent staff are employed at our centres in Wodonga, Wangaratta, Benalla,

Yarrawonga, Corryong, Beechworth, Mount Beauty, and Myrtleford.

Our operations are overseen by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) on behalf of the

Minister for Water, and the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) on behalf of the Treasurer. We continue to invest in innovative and long-term capital projects which contribute to the health and well-being of current and future generations.

Our Commitment to Health and Safety

free from bullying and harassment for all employees, contractors, customers and visitors. We prioritise the health, safety

(physical and psychological) and wellbeing of all staff and customers.

Our Mindsets

At where our people are aligned with our business direction, proud of their contribution to business performance, and own a culture that is centred on the following mindsets:

- Committed to advancing and supporting people to succeed.

- Consistent in interactions with people and in applying processes.

- Provide empathy for people and be willing to place oneself in another person’s position.

- Accountable for one’s own actions and responsibilities and playing your part for the success of the

organisation.
- Cooperative with others to work towards the Corporation’s common goals.

Position Objectives The Procurement Specialist - Construction:

- Leads the construction procurement stream and is accountable for enterprise-wide value, risk,

compliance, market and supplier outcomes across the capital works program.
- Develops and leads the implementation of procurement policies and processes across the procurement

lifecycle for construction procurement in line with Department of Treasury and Finance; Ministerial

Directions for Public Construction; Social Procurement Framework; Local Jobs First Policy; Fair Jobs Code and Modern Slavery legislation.

- Provides leadership and strategic advice to senior leaders and staff on procurement strategies, including

for complex and high-risk construction procurements.
- Undertakes analysis across the capital program spend to identify opportunities for improvement and

innovation and delivers change management to embed outcomes.
- Partners with business units to facilitate and deliver construction tender and quoting processes.

Key Responsibility Areas

- Determining and recommending procurement and commercial approaches for major, high-value and/or

organisation-critical infrastructure projects.
- Providing qualified leadership, quality assurance and direction to employees and suppliers

undertaking construction procurement activities.
- Leading and supporting contract negotiations, including establishing negotiation strategies and

facilitating complex discussions with suppliers.
- Ensuring procurements are undertaken in accordance with

achieve value for money and alignment with organisational objectives.
- Ensuring compliance with various Victorian and Commonwealth Government policies e.g. Social

Procurement Framework, Local Jobs First Policy, Fair Jobs Code, Recycled First Policy and Modern Slavery.
- Building and maintaining effective relationships with internal stakeholders and strategic suppliers to





maximise contract value and manage risk.
- Advising and assisting staff with procurement and tendering activities, including procurement plan

development, risk management and issue resolution.
- Developing and delivering procurement and evaluation training and capability uplift across the

organisation.
- Undertaking category analysis and development of organisation aligned procurement strategies.
- Establishing performance measures and reporting to senior leaders on value realisation, risk, compliance,

market performance and continuity of supply.
- Developing, maintaining and drafting tender and contract documentation.
- Ensuring accurate procurement and tendering records and ensuring compliance with procurement

systems, policies and audit requirements.
- Contributing to the continuous improvement of procurement frameworks, systems and practices.
- Representing

partners and major suppliers.

Organisational Relationships

This role reports to the Manager Enterprise Programs and Procurement and liaises with internal stakeholders, peer water corporations, local government, government agencies, suppliers, contractors, industry representatives and members of the public to support procurement outcomes. The role has enterprise-wide reach across planning, infrastructure delivery,

operational, environmental teams from officer to senior leader level.

Accountability and Extent of Authority

- Accountable for developing, implementing and improving procurement and tendering processes, frameworks and

documentation.
- Input into procurement policies and ensuring accountability of relevant processes, ensuring alignment with

organisational goals and the capital works program.
- Accountable for ensuring compliance with legislative, policy and governance requirements.
- Accountable for the ownership and continuous improvement of construction procurement processes, systems and

associated documentation, ensuring the accuracy, integrity and auditability of records.
- Exercises broad discretion in determining procurement approaches and partners with business units to resolve

complex and novel matters. Freedom to act is governed by organisational goals and policies, and legislation.
- Accountable for the development and maintenance of the decision-making framework for construction

procurement outcomes with financial, operational, regulatory and reputational implications for
- Provides advice relied upon by senior leaders in determining procurement and policy decisions.

Judgement and Decision Making

- Applies high-level analytical and problem-solving skills to identify risks, issues and opportunities in construction

procurement and tendering.
- Develops options and recommendations to address complex procurement challenges and improve outcomes.
- Exercises judgement within delegation frameworks in relation to procurement, including performance and

compliance.
- Exercises judgement in balancing risk, value for money and operational requirements in procurement decisions.
- Provides specialist procurement advice, including on complex and high-risk matters, to support organisational

decision-making.
- Provides probity advice and guidance to stakeholders to support sound procurement practices.
- Determines appropriate contracting and market engagement models for major and complex construction

programs.
- Acts as the organisational escalation point for procurement, probity and contractual issues during approach to

market and evaluation stages.

Specialist skills and knowledge

- Strong understanding of government construction procurement and tendering frameworks, policies and

best practice.
- Demonstrated capability in managing high-risk procurements and tenders, including governance,

financial,



performance and compliance considerations.
- Well-developed commercial acumen, including negotiation and supplier management expertise.
- Experience in applying innovative approaches to construction procurement to optimise outcomes.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management capability.
- Understanding of the broader operating and regulatory environment relevant to
- Demonstrated knowledge of strategic procurement, commercial and contracting models, infrastructure

markets, financial analysis and probity.
- Experience in establishing supplier panels and advising on complex negotiations.

Management Skills

- Ability to manage construction procurement programs and tender schedules to ensure timely delivery and

continuity of supply.
- Ability to plan, prioritise and manage competing priorities while independently coordinating workload to meet

organisational objectives and position KPIs.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills to deliver procurement outcomes.
- Ability to manage construction procurement and tendering activities across multiple projects or categories.

- Ability to lead a specialist construction procurement function, set priorities, manage own work, resources and

stakeholder expectations, providing professional direction and quality assurance.
- Ability to identify commercial and efficiency opportunities within the Capital Delivery program, in partnership with

the Capital Delivery team. Interpersonal Skills

- High-level communication and influencing skills, including the ability to negotiate, provide clear advice and drive

organisational adoption of procurement best practices.
- Ability to build trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong written communication skills, including preparation of reports, briefs and complex documentation.
- Demonstrated capability in delivering training and building organisational capability.
- Ability to support and mentor staff to improve construction procurement and tendering maturity.

Qualifications and Experience

- Relevant tertiary qualification in procurement, commerce, business, law or a related discipline with relevant

experience. Or other formal qualification with extensive and diverse experience in construction procurement and tendering within a government or regulated environment.
- Extensive experience partnering with business units to deliver construction or infrastructure procurement within a

government or regulated environment or a comparably complex organisation.
- Experience in developing procurement frameworks, policies or process improvements is highly desirable.
- Demonstrated experience working within Victorian Government construction procurement frameworks or

comparable public infrastructure frameworks (preferred but not required).
- Experience in governing the appropriate, secure and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support

procurement activities, including adherence to organisational policies, data privacy requirements, and the ability to support capability uplift and develop safe, auditable practices is highly desirable.

Requirements of Employment

Employees of

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

- Ensuring the Health, Safety and Wellbeing of yourself and others.
- Adhere to

training.
- Report all incidents regardless of the severity and participate in incident debriefs.
- Take all reasonable actions to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of yourself and others in the workplace.
- Proactively focus on your physical and mental wellbeing.

Protecting the Environment helping our communities build resilience and adapt to climate change. This will be demonstrated through continued emissions reduction, climate adaptation and environmental stewardship.

Data Privacy

As a Victorian government organisation,

2014 (“PDP Act”). There are 10 Information Privacy Principles (“IPPs”) in the PDP Act that govern the way that North East

Water collects and handles the personal information of current and future employees and customers.

Privacy Statement can be found on our website.

📌 Construction (Wodonga)
🏢 North East Water
📍 Wodonga