Senior Buyer Review

Senior Buyer working in the Energy sector at Costain. Project Procurement for various projects working with discipline leads to meet the needs of projects on time and to budget. Daily activities include Supplier identification, registration and pre-qualification, running tender processes, evaluating tenders, commercial bid analysis and supplier selection, negotiating contractual terms, placing purchase orders using various systems, supplier acknowledgement, supplier performance reviews, contract management, input into procedures and strategies.

I have expanded my contractual understanding and now contribute to more strategic activities such as project procurement strategies and procurement procedures and tools. Networking with students in different industries provided an opportunity to see alternative ways of doing my role. Financial models have assisted my financial evaluation of new suppliers and also models such as kraljic allowing me to understand where to focus my relationships.

I thoroughly enjoyed the programme. It was great to meet students from other industries learn from others experiences. SR SCC delivered the course to a high standard and made the course days enjoyable. I have learned new skills which I continue to apply in my role. My only complaint would be in regards to the syllabus changes by CIPS and the subsequent challenges for teaching, study materials and exam changes. This was out of SR SCC's control. I believe CIPS should have given the opportunity for all students to complete a level on the same syllabus.

Very well structured, only issues were relating to the syllabus change which did cause a number of issues. The same number of learning days, revision sessions and online module information was available for all modules. Prior to the syllabus change, the system was perfect for ensuring you could perform to a high standard in exams.

Full support from my employer, ensuring I had the sufficient time available to compete the course to the best of my ability. Learning and Development have kept a keen interest in my exam results and how I have progressed. My Line Manager made the qualification part of my annual objectives and offered support throughout, where required.

2 days course, online modules, textbook, crib sheets, case studies, past exam papers, revision sessions. Full suite and worked well for me. No complaint here, other than the syllabus change resulting in information coming much later than previously whilst the new system was fully up and running. Again this was out of SR SCCC's control.

Directly applicable to my role, industry standard qualification. This helps me perform better in my role, but I expect the more advanced levels will have a bigger impact. This qualification also supports my role for evidencing to clients the level of our Procurement team and understanding the global standard for Procurement.

I attend social team activities to help with building up team relationships. This is sometimes specific to our Procurement team and sometimes to a particular project. I have also taken part in charity raising events such as climbing Snowdon for a Children's charity. This gave me the opportunity to meet people from other sectors in Costain and develop new relationships.

Yes

Costain fully supports development of it's staff and has given me the opportunity to undertake the qualification I need to progress. I have been given the opportunity to develop from a Buyer to a Senior Buyer during my time with the company. Projects are varied and the people are great to work with. The variety of the projects allows me to challenge myself in different ways with different teams.

My advice would be to make sure that project work is the right fit for you as an individual. Projects can be very challenging and demanding at key stages in the schedule and some colleagues have found this a difficult change from different industries. Make the most of the opportunity to work for a large organisation with the opportunity to develop an progress.