KBS Maritime
Supplier Management Specialist
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Supplier Management Specialist
Location: HM Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNBP)
Service Area: Supply Chain
Hours of Work: 37 Per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: up to £48,000
KBS Maritime delivers Asset Management, Facilities Management, and Energy Solutions across the maritime and defence environments. With parent companies KBR and BAE Systems, the JV has the pedigree of two huge companies, but we have the ethos of a small business where our people are valued and empowered to succeed. It’s a great place to work and we bring opportunity to all our team.
We're looking for a Supplier Management Specialist to join our Supply Chain team in HM Naval Base Portsmouth. In this role, you'll manage procurement activities across a range of services that support day-to-day operations. You'll work closely with internal teams and suppliers, leading sourcing and tender activities, supporting contract negotiations, and helping to deliver value for money. It's a varied role with plenty of stakeholder engagement, giving you the chance to build strong supplier relationships, identify improvements, and make a real impact on service delivery.
What you will be doing:
- Managing end-to-end procurement activity, from sourcing and tendering through to contract placement and supplier management.
- Working closely with stakeholders to understand requirements, provide procurement advice, and deliver commercially sound solutions.
- Leading tender processes, including preparing tender documentation, engaging suppliers, and evaluating submissions.
- Supporting contract negotiations and helping to secure best value while meeting operational needs.
- Building strong relationships with suppliers and monitoring performance to ensure successful service delivery.
- Identifying opportunities to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and deliver continuous improvement across the supply chain.
- Ensuring procurement activity is compliant, well-managed, and supported by accurate records, data, and reporting.
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What you will bring:
- Proven experience managing end-to-end procurement activities, from sourcing and tendering through to contract placement and supplier management.
- Strong supplier relationship management skills, with the ability to build effective partnerships and drive supplier performance.
- Commercially aware, with a good understanding of contracts, pricing, and risk, and able to make sound procurement recommendations.
- Confident working with stakeholders at all levels, gathering requirements, providing advice, and challenging where appropriate.
- Able to use data and insight to identify efficiencies, cost savings, and service improvements.
- Adaptable and comfortable working in a changing environment, whether that's navigating existing manual processes or adopting new systems and ways of working.
- Experience within Facilities Management, Hard FM, Defence, or Maritime environments would be advantageous.
- Ideally, you'll hold CIPS Level 4 (or equivalent experience), although this is not essential.
About you:
- A confident communicator, able to build strong relationships with stakeholders, suppliers, and colleagues alike.
- Commercially minded, with sound judgement and the ability to make balanced, evidence-based decisions.
- Organised and self-motivated, taking ownership of your workload and managing priorities effectively.
- Adaptable and resilient, comfortable working through change and embracing new systems, processes, and ways of working.
- A collaborative team player with a continuous improvement mindset who enjoys sharing knowledge and helping others succeed.
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You’ll get:
- 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Holiday purchase scheme, following successful completion of probation period
- Early finish on a Friday
- Discretionary company bonus scheme
- Enhanced pension scheme – employee contribution 4% and company contribution 6%, or you can increase your contribution to 6% and company contribution will increase to 10%
- Life assurance x 4 (subject to scheme T&C’s)
- Access to our internal benefits and discounts programme for all colleagues
- Cycle to work scheme
- Group income protection
- Flexible parental benefits (if applicable)
- Free parking onsite
- Access to our Internal employee assistance network, giving you the opportunity to reach the heights of success within your new position.
- Continued professional career development
- Kudos reward opportunities (internal achievements scheme)
- Occupational Health & Wellbeing Services
- Discount off entry into the Historic Dockyard
Application process:
Applications are urged to apply prior to the advertising closing date 26th October 2026
Background checks & security:
Please note that due to the nature of the site we are based on and the work carried out, once offered we carry out a number of pre-employment checks which include UKSV clearance applications – you will need to be eligible for this and willing to go through the process. For more information, please speak with the Talent & Recruitment team.
About us:
At KBS Maritime, we're not just another company – we're an exciting and dynamic joint venture between industry leaders BAE Systems and KBR. Our team is dedicated to providing Asset Management, Infrastructure Management, Energy Solutions, and Alongside Services at His Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth (HMNBP), the beating heart of the Royal Navy.
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