REGIONAL PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR -

EAST REGION

Tennessee Department of Department of Correction, Fiscal Services Division

Knoxville, TN

Executive Service, Salary Grade N, Salary Range $5,508 to $8,783 per month.

The State of Tennessee offers a comprehensive benefits program to include health, dental, life, vision, and disability insurance programs, paid state holidays, and generous leave benefits. In addition, State of Tennessee employees are eligible for participation in the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS).

Closing Date: 05/17/2023

Who we are and what we do:

The mission of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is to operate safe and secure prisons and provide effective community supervision to enhance public safety. The department manages and operates or oversees 14 state prisons housing approximately 21,000 offenders. In addition, the department supervises some 79,000 offenders on probation, parole, or community correction and operates eight Day Reporting/Community Resource Centers across the state. The department is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association (ACA).

How you make a difference in this role:

The Regional Procurement Director will be responsible for overseeing the procurement activities within the TDOC facilities across a specific geographic region. This individual will be responsible for managing the procurement process to ensure timely, cost-effective, and quality purchases of goods and services. They will work closely with internal stakeholders such as the facility procurement officers, fiscal directors, and staff, as well as external vendors and suppliers.

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyze Spend Data for Facilities and propose cost saving proposals to Director of Procurement
• Track cost saving metrics for region
• Track and Research supplier issues reported by regional sites and submit vendor complaints with documentation
• Review Specifications for regional institutional contracts
• Develop, Supervise, Coach, and train regional procurement staff
• Educate and train institutional staff on State of TN procurement policy and procedures.
• Assist Director of Procurement in developing training material for procurement staff

• Review Regional Purchases to ensure proper use of contracts and standardized products as applicable.
• Assist in the coordination of bulk buying initiatives
• Collect Regional supplier feedback and attend Annual Business Reviews of key suppliers
• Review and Approve Site Purchase orders ensuring standardized items are ordered
• Travel to regional sites to confer with Institutional staff about areas of improvements and contractual needs.
• Reviews departmental requests and selects the appropriate procurement method.
• Assists central office by providing market information needed for tactical and strategic planning.
• Assists assigned facilities and procurement staff with CPO process compliance
• Meets regularly with suppliers to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
• Identify opportunities for implementation of cost savings and process improvements.
• Innovate within the procurement space, improving tools or processes to better support the Procurement Lifecycle
• Plans, administers, and executes the procurement process to include developing specifications/scope of work, developing pricing matrix, coordinating with appropriate departments, finalizing solicitation documents, tabulating bids/proposals, facilitating evaluation and selection process
• Provide support throughout the contracting process, as well as management of contracts post-execution.
• Collaborate with other regional procurement directors and department heads to share best practices and optimize procurement processes across the organization.
• Audit and motivate regional procurement staff to complete annual training requirements.
• Manage the new supplier qualification and onboarding process.
• Support suppliers with issue resolution across the Edison registration process.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams to take stocking positions and make purchasing decisions.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Overview:

Under the general supervision of the Director of Procurement, the Regional Director of Procurement - East Region will serve as a subject matter expert for all goods and non-professional services procurements for the department. This position will directly supervise facility procurement staff in the region it is assigned. While the position is listed in Knox County, this position is remote and will travel to assigned sites monthly, or as needed based off business needs. The candidate does not need to be based in the assigned county to be considered for this position.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with three (3) years of experience in public sector procurement OR 5 years of increasingly responsible professional procurement experience with the State of Tennessee.
• Comprehensive knowledge of State of Tennessee procurement policy and procedures
• Strong written and oral communication skills and excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to proactively build positive relationships with stakeholders at all levels, both internal and external

Pursuant to the State of Tennessee’s Workplace Discrimination and Harassment policy, the State is firmly committed to the principle of fair and equal employment opportunities for its citizens and strives to protect the rights and opportunities of all people to seek, obtain, and hold employment without being subjected to illegal discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is the State’s policy to provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment of an individual because of that person’s race, color, national origin, age (40 and over), sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, or any other category protected by state and/or federal civil rights laws.