Supervisor Of Purchasing (Procurement)

The City of Barrie is a vibrant, progressive, and growing community with deep connections to our heritage, to nature and to the opportunities surrounding us. Our community values quality of life; the ability to play year-round with 300 hectares of park space, our beautiful waterfront, our lively downtown core and the nearby hills, wetlands, and forests. We also value connections; to our neighbours and the community, to our road and rail network, and to the opportunity Barrie provides to enjoy life.

Everything Barrie has to offer, from the water we drink to the roads we travel on, has one thing in common - municipal workers. Joining a municipality is one of the most rewarding, engaging, and exciting careers you could choose. It is a career you can take pride in knowing that every day you make a positive impact on an entire community. We are one team, with one goal and we all work together to continue making our community great.

With a growing population of over 150,000 residents, an operating budget of $408M and a capital budget of over $360M, and 930 full-time permanent staff, our municipality is committed to meeting the needs of our residents and business community by delivering efficient and effective services.

Inspire our Future

Reporting to the Chief Procurement Officer, the Supervisor of Purchasing is responsible for supervising and overseeing the procurement of goods, services and construction for City operations and leading a team of highly capable Purchasing Agents. This position assists the Manager in the development and implementation of procurement policies and procedures while ensuring compliance with the City’s Procurement By-law, applicable legislation, regulations, and trade agreements, and procurement best practices. This position leads purchasing planning in support of the City’s strategic plan; provides consultation, support, and interpretation on procurement related issues to City Council, Senior Leadership Team, Executive Management Team, and City staff.

This position establishes, monitors, and maintains vendor/supplier relationships; and receives, investigates, and resolves escalated procurement issues/complaints. This position leads and implements continuous improvement initiatives and updates processes in alignment with industry standards and best practices. This position supervises and oversees complex and major purchases; provides technical advice, guidance, direction, and expertise during the development of competitive bid documents; analysis and evaluation of offers and proposals, preparation and implementation of contracts, and contract delivery. Overall, this position plays an integral role in ensuring the City’s procurement operations procure the necessary quality and quantity of goods or services to support City operations, in an efficient and effective way with a focus on best value and encourage the most open, competitive bidding process practicable to mitigate the City’s risks and liability.

Ideal Qualifications:

Note while we have an extensive list of qualifications, we are open to individuals who feel they have the ability to take their career to the next level and step into this exciting supervisory opportunity.

• Stakeholder Engagement and Relationship Management: Progressive experience managing and planning in an environment involving multiple clients, vendors, relationships, stakeholders, and specialized procurement needs.
• Procurement Experience: Five (5) years’ progressive experience and a proven track record in all facets of procurement and supply chain management. Ideal experience will include at least two (2) years experience in public sector contract management and two (2) years of demonstrated ability to lead a team.
• Communication and Interpersonal: Excellent oral and written communication, interpersonal and presentation skills, ability to manage working relationships, interact with all levels of management/staff and to provide subject matter expertise including business cases involving technical information.
• Critical Thinking: Proven ability to provide expert advice, input and negotiation services into the development and execution of procurement strategies and related processes; acts as the subject matter expert to program leaders and procurement staff in the interpretation of the public sector procurement practices and Barrie’s procurement policies.
• Policy and Legislation: Knowledge of the Ontario Public Sector’s procurement framework and principles of accountability, fairness, value-for-money as well as knowledge of international trade agreements.
• Technology: Proficient in the use of online bidding systems, digital records management, and a variety of computer applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft Office tools.
• Customer Service Excellence: Skilled at ensuring that procurement and supply chain needs are met through ongoing review of services, prioritization of work and working with leadership in business planning and business process improvements.
• Education and Certifications: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, within a relevant field of specialty, preferably Finance, Commerce, Economics, Business, or related discipline. A designation from an accredited institution such as a Supply Chain Management Professional (SCMP), Certified Public Procurement Officer (CPPO) or Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) Designation.
• People Leadership: Experience and ability to provide exceptional leadership to staff, including mentoring and coaching coupled with the ability to be proactive and build enthusiastic, high performing staff teams in a unionized work environment.
• Project Management: Skilled in managing multiple projects and delivering measurable results.
• Planning, Negotiation and Contract Management: Experience planning, negotiating, and managing contracts within a procurement framework.

Benefits of working for the City of Barrie include:

• Location – convenient and centrally located downtown office in Barrie, Ontario.
• Employee Development – leadership training opportunities to further enhance your skills.
• Virtual work policy – The Corporation offers hybrid work opportunities.
• Healthcare – An exceptional, expanding multi-site hospital is in our community with a state-of-the-art acute facility.
• Compensation and Benefits – a very competitive salary, benefit and vacation package including a defined benefits pension plan through www.omers.ca
• Low cost of housing – Barrie provides opportunities for a robust and affordable lifestyle. The choices range from a more developed urban centre to rural properties, to waterfront living. Housing options are significantly more affordable than regions in and around the Greater Toronto Area. Relocating to Barrie offers many former GTA residents the opportunity to live mortgage free.

How to Apply

To explore this opportunity, please apply via email by June 30, 2023 or sooner to [email protected] quoting project CB-SP. Qualified applicants will receive immediate consideration and may be interviewed in advance of the closing date.

Should you wish to speak to our Executive Recruiter or to receive a detailed position description, please contact or Tim Lukasewich at 416-214-9299 x8, [email protected] or Jon Stungevicius at 416-214-9299 x1, [email protected].

All applications will be held in strict confidence. We thank all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Personal information is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and will be used for employment assessment purposes only.