Deputy Director of Procurement

Salary: $209,359.36 - $268,621.51 Annually

Location : Throughout the County of Santa Clara, CA

Job Type: Executive Management

Job Number: 24-A4W-A

Department: Procurement

Opening Date: 07/24/2024

Closing Date: Continuous

Bargaining Unit: 91

Description

Under general direction of the Director of Procurement, assist in the planning, organizing, and managing of activities and staff of the centralized procurement operations. The Deputy Director of Procurement is the second-in-command position within Procurement and as such will assume all duties and responsibilities of the Director in the Director's absence.

Filing Period and Application Procedure

This recruitment is continuous until filled; the first initial review is Friday, August 23, 2024. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The recruitment may be extended or closed as early as 10 days after issue date. Candidates should be aware that this recruitment can close at any time once a strong pool of candidates is established.
To be considered for this position, please submit:
Résumé and Cover letter explaining why you are the ideal candidate including specific examples from your experience (maximum of 3 pages);

Thorough referencing, background investigation and license/certification verification will be conducted once mutual interest has been established.

Following the final filing date, resumes will be screened in relation to the criteria outlined in the employment standards. The most competitive candidates will be invited to continue in the process. Please contact Quynh Truong, if you have any questions regarding this recruitment.

For additional information on the County of Santa Clara, please visit http://www.sccgov.org

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Typical Tasks

• Organizes, plans, coordinates, and provides technical consultation on activities involved in the procurement of commodities and services for County departments;
• Spearheads efforts of aligning the purchasing and contracting process with the procure-to-pay, cloud-based technology provided by Ariba to streamline the County's procurement functions as the various modules are implemented;
• Establishes business metrics related to business operations, including leading management teams, with primary responsibility for translating business/program vision and strategy into operational tactics and building the necessary organizational support and infrastructure;
• Develops and administers policies and procedures for contracting and purchasing;
• Assists in managing the decentralized contracting and governance divisions;
• Lead procurement innovation and improvement activities to continuously improve and support a positive quality and improvement culture;
• Assess alternative courses of action and their implications, applying professional knowledge and experience to resolve procurement and contract management problems, including investigating best practice client focused approaches and ensuring policy and processes are maintained;
• Selects, supervises, evaluates and provides direction to Procurement Managers and subordinate staff;
• Trains staff and identifies new trends and implements further training for continued development to maintain an up to date operation;
• Establishes and maintains criteria and guidelines on the acquisition of goods and services by County organizations;
• Reviews, analyzes and solves highly technical and complex procurement transactions and problems;
• Provides proactive procurement services to client operations in reaching cost effective solutions to procurement challenges and opportunities;
• Promotes and maintains a customer service orientation while conforming to statutory and regulatory requirements and maintaining the integrity of the public procurement process;
• Represents the Department at various external activities, identifies, develops and manages effective relationships, explains and interprets policies, procedures and regulations with existing and potential vendors, department heads, county staff, and outside organizations ensuring that the goods purchased meet cost, quality and delivery targets;
• Creates and implements procedures for use in competitive bid and negotiated procurements;
• Reviews and approves contracts and/or agreements for service that support County operations and are of significant costs to the County for accuracy and compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and procedures;
• Reviews and awards contracts and other procurement related documents based on pre-determined delegation of authority from the Procurement Director or the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County;
• Works closely with County department representatives in assisting with the development of short-term and long-range strategic procurement plans anticipating/satisfying department needs, maximizing buying power, and minimizing inefficiencies;
• Researches, analyzes and reports on proposed current legislative changes affecting public procurement processes and ensures compliance;
• Design and implement tools and process to improve project/program and portfolio management capabilities within the Procurement Department;
• Develop metrics that provide data for process measurement, identifying indicators for future improvement opportunities. In coordination with the Director, assist in the development and review of the agency-wide , identifying operational issues, develops and recommends revenue solutions and strategies;
• Prepares reports, correspondence, and coordinates publications for dissemination of a wide range of operational procedures and materials for distribution to County departments/agencies;
• Assumes the duties of the Director of Procurement in her/his absence;
• May be assigned disaster service worker duties; and
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Employment Standards

Sufficient education, training and experience which would demonstrate the ability to perform the above management responsibilities and the possession of the following knowledge and abilities.

Experience Note: The qualified candidate would typically possess education and experience equivalent to a Bachelor's Degree in Public or Business Administration, Management, Material or Supply Chain Management or a closely related field, and five (5) years recent experience managing a large purchasing operation for a large public organization or private entity comparable to the organizational structure of the Procurement Department for the County of Santa Clara.

Possession of an Accredited Purchasing Practitioner (AAP) or a Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) certification issued by the Institute for Supply Management, or Certified Public Procurement Buyer (CPPB) from the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, Inc. is desirable.

Knowledge of:

• Principles of organization, administration, and management of a large procurement operation necessary to plan, organize, direct, manage, train and develop staff and operations of a large public organization;
• Laws, regulations, policies, and procedures related to large scale public agency procurement including solicitation of bids/proposals, financing, evaluation of offers, negotiations and awarding contracts;
• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) rules and regulations and Contract Law as it relates to the procurement of goods and services;
• Administrative problems involved in the operation of a complex, modern public procurement organization;
• Principles, practices and techniques of administration, organization, budget preparation, personnel management, affirmative action, labor relations, counseling, supervision, training and development, financial administration, and public relations;
• Cost analysis, standard costing, statistical control, and other principles of cost management and process improvement; and
• Principles of management analysis methods, study plan preparation and statistical methods and organizational design necessary to formulate, implement, and evaluate administrative policies.

Ability to:

• Plan, organize, direct, and evaluate the activities and staff of a comprehensive procurement program for a large public organization;
• Analyze operations, design, develop and implement new organizational structures and procedures;
• Develop budget and monitor processes to assure operation within fiscal requirements;
• Communicate effective in writing and verbally, and prepare meaningful reports;
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with all levels of medical, professional, administrative and support personnel;
• Instruct staff in the methods utilized in the preparation of specifications and analysis of bids; characteristics and types of materials, supplies, and equipment suitable to meet the needs of a large government entity;
• Formulate, implements, interpret, and explain provisions of federal, state, and local legislation, rules, and regulations pertinent to the administration of Department policies and procedures;
• Negotiate contracts and lead negotiation teams;
• Apply enterprise resources planning software to facilitate on-line procurement and centralized acquisition of goods and services;
• Effectively represent the Department on a variety of matters with government officials, vendors, the community, other departments, agencies, and contractors;
• Provide technical consultation to County departments on procurement issues;
• Evaluate programs using outcome data to determine the effectiveness of components and implement modifications as necessary;
• Analyze new and revised statutes and proposed legislation in the areas of procurement to determine effects on County programs and departments; and
• Exercise appropriate initiative and judgment in answering questions, releasing information and resolving problems that are highly complex and sensitive in nature.

Overview of County of Santa Clara's Executive Leadership Benefits package.

01

Please answer the following questions and submit your responses with a completed application and resume. This information is REQUIRED, as it will be used to initially determine minimum qualifications. For those applicants meeting the employment standards, this information will be critical in the subsequent competitive assessment to identify those candidates to be invited to the oral examination. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of required supplemental responses. You may attach a separate sheet and type "see attached" in the required field for each question. If you are attaching a separate document to answer the supplemental questionnaire, the responses should be limited to 2-3 pages. Do you understand this requirement?

• Yes
• No

02

Please describe your experience in implementing and maintaining an ERP/Procurement Management System for either private or public sector. If no experience, please type "N/A".

03

Please describe your experience & proficiency using a procurement management system, or any third-party management or supplier management software.

04

What areas or processes have you worked on in reducing contract cycle times within the solicitation/strategic sourcing processes?

05

Please describe which commodity/category (or commodities/categories) you have sourced in the past. Please describe how those past experiences are applicable to the County's needs.

06

Describe a recent successful change management project you initiated and managed end-to-end. What challenges did you face and what did you do to overcome them? What impact did it have on the organization?

Required Question