University of Edinburgh
Category Head - Laboratories, Medical & Veterinary Medical
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UE08: £50,253 – £61,759 per annum
CAHSS / Procurement (Finance)
Full time: 35 Hours per week
Open-ended (permanent)
Vacancies available: 1
We are now looking for great people to join our award-winning procurement team. We are looking for people who make things happen, who challenge the status quo, are excited about working in a diverse, dynamic environment and really want to make a change.
This is a great opportunity to join one of the key strategic teams in the University, in the role of Category Head of Laboratories, Medical & Veterinary Medical (Labs).
Be part of our new Procurement journey.
The Opportunity
Reporting to the Head of Strategic Procurement, the Category Head (Labs, Med & Vet Med) role is to lead, develop and manage a small, professional and high-quality procurement team, delivering procurement excellence for the University within the Laboratories (Labs), Medical (Med), Veterinary (Vet) and Agricultural Category. This will include both (i) improving the service and value delivered to our internal stakeholders, as well as (ii) improving external supplier performance, to successfully achieve our strategic procurement ambitions and support the University in achieving its overall strategic objectives.
The vast majority of equipment, goods and services bought by the Strategic Labs Team derive from the College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine (CMVM) and the College of Science & Engineering (CSE), represented on the following University campuses across the Edinburgh region;
- BioQuarter (mostly CMVM, some CSE)
- Easter Bush (CMVM)
- Kings Buildings (mostly CSE, some CMVM)
- Western General (CMVM)
- George Square (CMVM & CSE)
Main Responsibilities
- Prepare and deliver annual commodity plans to achieve best practice indicators, focusing on improving category influence, value for money, deliver the University procurement capability and influence whole life costs and sustainable procurement.
- Develop the Labs procurement category in a strategic and operational nature, working in collaboration with Operational Procurement and Contract & Supplier Management teams, to ensure value for money and efficiencies are achieved across the University.
- Deliver commercial value to internal stakeholders and projects for their Labs, Medical and/or Vet Medical requirements, in line with the strategic ambitions of the project/department and University.
- Develop strategic and creative approaches to market through agreed commodity procurement strategies, in collaboration with key stakeholders, to support the University in achieving its strategic objectives.
- Provide valuable supply market advice to stakeholders for current and future requirements with the aim of delivering additional commercial value for the University, achieving sustainability and social responsibility objectives, improving competition, and delivering efficiencies.
- Manage, maintain and develop supply agreements for the University, carrying out contracting, tendering and sourcing exercises where required, and in line with relevant legislation.
- Deliver and embed appropriate contract and supplier management for the University’s supply relationships/ agreements, ensuring that optimal value is obtained throughout the life of the contract and that supply risks are mitigated.
- To reduce both capital and recurrent costs through effective routes to market against an agreed cost-savings targets.
- To manage, plan and demonstrate procurement leadership and good governance for a wide category of goods and services.
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Person
The ideal candidate for the Category Head (Labs, Med & Vet Med) post will be a talented, well-rounded leader with the following characteristics:
- A Professional Diploma (MCIPS), relevant degree or substantial experience in a procurement environment.
- Existing category knowledge within Laboratories, Medical and/or Veterinary Medical industry.
- Demonstrated experience in delivering procurement excellence and value for money in line with agreed targets.
- Several years’ experience delivering a relevant procurement service, showing knowledge appropriate to this high value technically diverse environment.
- Outstanding and highly responsive customer management skills.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills, along with the ability to make astute business decisions in collaboration with others.
- Ability to effectively lead and motivate a team of procurement professionals.
- Strong influencing skills to build trusted and successful relationships, as well as contributing to business strategies/cases and projects.
- Experience evaluating and established framework agreements and contracts.
- Good knowledge of all legal aspects of general public procurement legislation and policies.
- This role is ideal for an ambitious person who would like to develop a career within one of Edinburgh's most prestigious organisations and make a key contribution to its ongoing success.
The job description can be found in the advert pack. Click here
How to apply
- CV
- Cover Letter
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
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- A competitive salary.
- An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
- To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
- Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.
Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also a Stonewall Proud Employer, actively promoting LGBTQ+ equality.
We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and particularly encourage applications from candidates currently underrepresented in the School of Mathematics.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).
The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant.
Key dates to note
The closing date for applications is 1 September 2026 at 12pm.
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
The Finance Department is responsible for the effective financial management, stewardship and long-term financial health of the University, which has a turnover in excess of £900m per year. It exercises control over the University’s finances, provides expert financial guidance particularly for key decision making, and provides an effective services and information for the financial conduct of the University’s business. It follows core values and behaviours to value and strengthen its team and delivery of its services – One Team; Expert; Innovation; Customer Focused; and Transparent.
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