Sourcing / Procurement / Buyer / Purchasing (Contract Specialist II)

Full Job Description

This recruitment is to fill a Term-Limited Temporary position that is anticipated to end. If filled by a King County employee who has passed their initial probation, the TLT will be a Special Duty Assignment.

We are seeking career procurement professionals to become part of a growing world class organization.

We are looking for enthusiastic, forward-thinking, agile, and customer service driven employees to add to our great team.

Our current opening is for multiple Contract Specialist II positions on the Goods & Services team.

About Procurement & Payables: Our value stream begins with purposeful procurement planning, incorporates strategic sourcing, a streamlined solicitation process, and post award metrics to ensure that our contracts are providing the quality, cost, delivery, and service we expect.

We leverage people, process, and technology to achieve these outcomes.

Our Goods and Services staff is responsible for procuring materials, supplies, equipment, and services in support of King County's operational needs.

About King County: King County is the largest County in Washington State and the 11th most populous in the United States.

King County is striving to be the best-run government in the United States and focused on many key initiatives, such as Equity and Social Justice and sustainability.

It is the financial, economic, and industrial center of the Pacific Northwest region.

The County provides a broad range of services, including public transportation, road construction and maintenance, wastewater treatment, agricultural services, parks and recreation facilities, law enforcement, criminal detention, rehabilitative services, court services, tax assessments and collections, land use planning and permitting, zoning, public healthcare, emergency medical services, election services, animal control, and the disposal of solid waste.

We seek employees whose behavior is in alignment with our division's core values: Respect, Teamwork, Results, and Innovation

We are looking for staff members who exhibit a strong sense of team-oriented camaraderie and who understand and wholly embrace the value and importance of providing outstanding customer service to both internal and external customers.

We need employees who aren't afraid to bring creative ideas and suggestions to the workplace and have a keen ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with their customers and co-workers.

Scope of Job Duties

• Interact closely with agency staff throughout King County, and work with suppliers and contractors to ensure that county business is conducted openly, inclusively, and provides the best value
• Develop alternative contracting methods and appropriate procurement and contract documents
• Exercise independent judgment and initiative when working on issues where established guidelines or procedures may not exist
• Determine bidding requirements, selection criteria and general terms and conditions
• Develop scope of work and specifications with clients
• Facilitate contract negotiations and prepare contract terms and conditions for execution
• Hold evaluation meetings, interviews, proprietary meetings, and debriefs with consultants and County staff
• Support spend analysis and benchmarking for best practices at the category level
• Support proactive procurement forecasting in conjunction with our agencies
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contract terms, policies, and procedures

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ability to perform research, analyze and solve problems
• Ability to work individually and collaboratively as a team member
• Ability to think differently, are eager to try new things and challenge yourself to improve processes
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contract terms, policies, and procedures
• Have critical thinking skills and bring techniques to reduce waste and increase efficiency
• Strong communication, interpersonal, writing and customer service skills
• Intermediate level of technology proficiency using MS Office Productivity tools in your daily work
• Have critical thinking skills and bring techniques to reduce waste and increase efficiency
• Ability to manage your time and adapt to changing priorities, work on multiple priorities and projects simultaneously, meet quick deadlines, and produce timely and quality work products.
• Critical thinking skills and techniques to reduce waste and increase efficiency

We would love it if you have:

• Prioritize work by identifying critical issues and creating focus, and demonstrate effective and efficient time management
• Read situations quickly, negotiate solutions and resolve conflict through focused listening and the identification of common ground
• Provide excellent customer service, and establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Build rapport with people from diverse backgrounds through active, attentive listening and respect for differing points of view
• Use analysis to solve difficult problems with effective solutions and identify problems that may not be initially obvious
• Manage a dynamic workload in a sometimes-pressured environment, while maintaining composure
• Oracle EBS, Oracle Cloud or related experience utilizing procurement technology
• Procurement Certification(s) such as CPPB (Certified Professional Public Buyer), CPSM (Certified Professional in Supply Management) and/or CPSD (Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity)
• Experience with LEAN processes and principles
• Experience with SharePoint, MS Teams and other collaborative online tools

The Procurement & Payables Section is part of the larger Finance and Business Operations Division portfolio of countywide services.

FBOD’s vision “Count on Us” reflects the division’s deep-seated commitment to customer success, equity, employee engagement, resource stewardship, and operational excellence.

If these values align with your own, please apply and join FBOD for a rewarding career!

Position Information:

Work Site Details: The team works in a hybrid model, with days in the office as well as telecommuting. The ratio of remote to onsite work will be dependent on business needs and is subject to change.

The primary onsite location is King Street Center, 201 S. Jackson, Seattle, Washington 98104. Please reach out for additional details at the contact below.

Location Requirement: Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.

Work Schedule: This position is exempt from the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and therefore is NOT overtime eligible. Employees are paid on a bi-weekly schedule, every other Thursday, comprising a 40-hour workweek; normally 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Union Representation: This position is Teamsters 117 represented.

King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely.

The individual selected for this opportunity will join an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work in our department's hybrid environment.

Employees will be provided with a county-issued laptop and must maintain a home workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work.

Employees will need to be available and responsive during scheduled work hours and follow FBOD’s hybrid/remote guidelines that include on-camera participation during virtual video meetings.

The Application/Selection Process: The recruitment for this position is open to all qualified candidates. A completed King County Application is required.

Applicants from this recruitment may be used to fill future opportunities in this job classification including Term-Limited Temporary, Special Duty Assignment, Short-Term-Temporary and Career Service vacancies.

We highly recommend that you provide a resume. A cover letter addressing how you meet the minimum qualifications and why you are interested in this position is encouraged as well.

The selection process consists of different phases: screening interview, virtual interview, and if successful, pre-hire reference checking.

For some positions, additional phases may also include skill testing, writing samples or additional interviews.

Candidates will be updated on the status of their application via the email address used to apply.

Each phase is set for a specific day. Different times will be available for those days only. Please reach out to the contact below to confirm dates. Rescheduling interviews may not be possible and may remove you from consideration if unavailable.

Note: Online applications are preferred. However, if you cannot apply online, go to www.kingcounty.gov/jobs for other options.

If you have any questions or concerns while applying, please contact: Michael Castro, Recruiter Email: mcastro@kingcounty.gov

Additional Information

Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North" values, we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles - we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer

No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class.

Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply

If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully.

If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.