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Key Roles in Public Procurement

What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes? By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

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Ash Bedi
Managing Director
Public Spend Forum
Washington DC
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Replies

  1. These sort of open-ended questions routinely seem to break down into semantics┬ádebates.┬á Rather ask what are the top 3 critical enablers of outcome excellence – however you want to define it. (please see attached article).

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    Joe Sandor
    Retired Professor
    Michigan State University
    Lecanto FL
    (517) 488-8931
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    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0
  2. It would be great if others can provide examples of roles they have within their organizations.

    Ash – in terms of common roles I’ve seen, these include:

    • Strategic
      • Planning/Procurement Analyst
      • Category or Commodity Manager
      • Data Analyst
    • Contract Execution focused
      • Contracting Officer
      • Contract Specialist
    • Requirements/Program
      • Requirements Analyst
      • Program Manager

    There are of course many other roles that may be specific to the type of organization. 

    Raj

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    Raj Sharma
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
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    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 19:38
    From: Joe Sandor
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    These sort of open-ended questions routinely seem to break down into semantics┬ádebates.┬á Rather ask what are the top 3 critical enablers of outcome excellence – however you want to define it. (please see attached article).

    ——————————
    Joe Sandor
    Retired Professor
    Michigan State University
    Lecanto FL
    (517) 488-8931
    ——————————

    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0
  3. In the contract execution category, I used to hear a lot about different types of CO roles in the federal government. Terminating Contracting Officer, Administrative Contracting Officer, etc. Some of the leaders I worked under were advocates of bringing those roles back, suggesting that not every 1102 should aspire to be a “jack of all trades” procurement professional.┬á

    Wonder what some of our other leaders here would have to say about that?

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    Frank McNally
    Director, Learning & Content Development
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    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-26-2018 14:59
    From: Raj Sharma
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    It would be great if others can provide examples of roles they have within their organizations.

    Ash – in terms of common roles I’ve seen, these include:

    • Strategic
      • Planning/Procurement Analyst
      • Category or Commodity Manager
      • Data Analyst
    • Contract Execution focused
      • Contracting Officer
      • Contract Specialist
    • Requirements/Program
      • Requirements Analyst
      • Program Manager

    There are of course many other roles that may be specific to the type of organization.

    Raj

    ——————————
    Raj Sharma
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 19:38
    From: Joe Sandor
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    These sort of open-ended questions routinely seem to break down into semantics┬ádebates.┬á Rather ask what are the top 3 critical enablers of outcome excellence – however you want to define it. (please see attached article).

    ——————————
    Joe Sandor
    Retired Professor
    Michigan State University
    Lecanto FL
    (517) 488-8931

    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0
  4. Larry Giunipero from Florida State and I completed a study for CAPS back in 1999 that identified several of these roles, and the skills and knowledge required at each level.  A copy of the CAPS report is attached here.  In general, most of these also apply to public procurement, although with the digital age there are also Centers of Excellence for Analytics starting to form that require specialized statistical and analysis skills.

    ——————————
    Rob Handfield
    Bank of America Distinguished University Professor
    North Carolina State University (Poole College of Management)
    Raleigh NC
    ——————————
    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0

    Attachment  giunipero2004.pdf

  5. It is also of interest that although the CAPS study was completed in 2004 ((giunipero2004) it identified several key roles, and the skills and knowledge required at each level.  In general, most of these also apply to public procurement, although with the digital age there are also Centers of Excellence for Analytics starting to form that require specialized statistical and analysis skills.  Some of the major insights include the following:

    • A shift to more strategic relationships
    • Growth of the internet and e-tools
    • Reduction in purchasing staff
    • A focus on strategic goals, not just cost
    • The evolution to supply chain as a competitive business strategy
    • A movement from tactical procurement to strategic sourcing

    All in all, not much has changed in the past 15 years!┬á We appear to be very much still on this journey, although there are certainly a lot of new buzzwords around such as “cognitive”, “AI”, and “Internet of Things”.┬á ┬áBut the fundamentals of solid procurement remain the same.

    ——————————
    Rob Handfield
    Bank of America Distinguished University Professor
    North Carolina State University (Poole College of Management)
    Raleigh NC
    ——————————
    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-10-2018 08:02
    From: Rob Handfield
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    Larry Giunipero from Florida State and I completed a study for CAPS back in 1999 that identified several of these roles, and the skills and knowledge required at each level.  A copy of the CAPS report is attached here.  In general, most of these also apply to public procurement, although with the digital age there are also Centers of Excellence for Analytics starting to form that require specialized statistical and analysis skills.

    ——————————
    Rob Handfield
    Bank of America Distinguished University Professor
    North Carolina State University (Poole College of Management)
    Raleigh NC
    ——————————

    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0
  6. Thanks for the report Rob.┬á Interestingly, I have also sketched out a role grouping named “CORE PROCUREMENT ANALYSIS MGMT”, inclusive of the skills types you mentioned.┬á So far, I have sketched out 5 distinct “role groupings”.┬á Looking forward to reading the report you sent (and happy to run past you a summary of the role groupings aligned with skills that I am pulling together).┬á Thanks again!

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————
    ——————————————-
    Original Message:
    Sent: 04-10-2018 08:02
    From: Rob Handfield
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    Larry Giunipero from Florida State and I completed a study for CAPS back in 1999 that identified several of these roles, and the skills and knowledge required at each level.  A copy of the CAPS report is attached here.  In general, most of these also apply to public procurement, although with the digital age there are also Centers of Excellence for Analytics starting to form that require specialized statistical and analysis skills.

    ——————————
    Rob Handfield
    Bank of America Distinguished University Professor
    North Carolina State University (Poole College of Management)
    Raleigh NC
    ——————————

    Original Message:
    Sent: 03-22-2018 10:32
    From: Ash Bedi
    Subject: Key Roles in Public Procurement

    What are the key 4-6 roles (e.g. Buyer, Commodity Manager, etc …) common to all public procurement organizations that help you align the “right skills” with the “right roles”, to achieve procurement and mission outcomes?┬á By way of context, everyone on your team need not be experts in everything and so we define roles that emphasize “groups of skills” that team members in their respective roles need to have.

    ——————————
    Ash Bedi
    Managing Director
    Public Spend Forum
    Washington DC
    ——————————

    0
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