Apprentice Procurement Support Officer
Southampton City Council
Hampshire (SO14 7LY)
Closes in 13 days (Sunday 12 April 2026)
Posted on 27 March 2026
Contents
Summary
In this position, you will engage in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. Responsibilities include providing essential support for various purchasing activities throughout the council, such as conducting small-scale procurement, issuing Purchase Orders and invoices, and overseeing tracking systems.
- Wage
-
£24,795 a year
Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
At Southampton City Council we are committed to paying Foundation Living Wage as a minimum and we believe apprentices should also be paid fairly. The salary is £24,795.
- Training course
- Procurement and supply assistant (level 3)
- Hours
-
Monday to Friday, shifts to be confirmed.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Monday 1 June 2026
- Duration
-
1 year 7 months
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
- Contribute to the procurement service, by supporting officers working on larger, more complex procurements, through completing administrative, clerical, analytical tasks as required.
- Undertake small procurements to ensure the Council benefits from a robust, timely and competitive procurement process delivering best value for money.
- Undertake compliance checks on Requisition Purchase Orders and ensure corporate and regulatory compliance across procurement processes.
- Produce correspondence, tender documentation, contracts, data processing, retrieving and analysing data, and handling enquiries from a wide range of stakeholders.
- Manage generic Contracting and Procurement inboxes and distribute emails/enquiries to Contract and Procurement Team accordingly.
Where you'll work
Civic Centre
Southampton
Hampshire
SO14 7LY
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
ASPIRE PROCUREMENT TRAINING LTD
Training course
Procurement and supply assistant (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Monitor and order products, stock, equipment and services at appropriate times using the appropriate procurement method.
- Communicate to procurement's internal stakeholders, suppliers and other stakeholders in order to develop effective relationships and networks
- Create, maintain and amend purchase order and contract records.
- Interpret, evaluate and compare procurement information such as historical spend and usage using databases and spreadsheets.
- Present findings and data in all formats e.g. mathematically, written and oral.
- Determine value for money (VFM) and added value through the use of Total Cost of Ownership during the evaluation process, and apply the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) criteria to the evaluation of quotes and tenders to support the recommendation at award. This may include the inclusion of green, low carbon, sustainability, and ethical criteria.
- Utilise relevant Procurement computer systems or internal databases.
- Select the supplier of the most appropriate products and services for purchases within their remit and place purchase order.
- Undertake appraisal of adhoc and low spend suppliers including setting them up on the purchasing system.
- Effectively research and analyse demand, spend, trends, potential suppliers and industries utilising qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Develop specifications of requirements and requests for quotes/tenders in line with organisational requirements.
- Apply considerations of responsible procurement in evaluating potential suppliers, quotes and tenders.
- Investigate and resolve purchase order, delivery and invoice queries.
- Own low risk value projects such as supply contracts for stationery, personal protective equipment (PPE) or other consumables, and contribute to higher risk activities such as contracts for building services or machinery, and track, log, expedite and review outstanding orders and stock availability where applicable.
- Maintain knowledge on all open orders and their status' and provide assistance to all purchasing staff e.g. expediting and feeding information back to the relevant stakeholders.
- Able to consider the impact of the decision making process when interacting with the supply chain.
- Able to support the contract negotiations and mini competitions with suppliers.
- Monitor and order products, stock, equipment and services at appropriate times using the appropriate procurement method.
- Communicate to procurement's internal stakeholders, suppliers and other stakeholders in order to develop effective relationships and networks
- Create, maintain and amend purchase order and contract records.
- Interpret, evaluate and compare procurement information such as historical spend and usage using databases and spreadsheets.
- Present findings and data in all formats e.g. mathematically, written and oral.
- Determine value for money (VFM) and added value through the use of Total Cost of Ownership during the evaluation process, and apply the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) criteria to the evaluation of quotes and tenders to support the recommendation at award. This may include the inclusion of green, low carbon, sustainability, and ethical criteria.
- Utilise relevant Procurement computer systems or internal databases.
- Select the supplier of the most appropriate products and services for purchases within their remit and place purchase order.
- Undertake appraisal of adhoc and low spend suppliers including setting them up on the purchasing system.
- Effectively research and analyse demand, spend, trends, potential suppliers and industries utilising qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Develop specifications of requirements and requests for quotes/tenders in line with organisational requirements.
- Apply considerations of responsible procurement in evaluating potential suppliers, quotes and tenders.
- Investigate and resolve purchase order, delivery and invoice queries.
- Own low risk value projects such as supply contracts for stationery, personal protective equipment (PPE) or other consumables, and contribute to higher risk activities such as contracts for building services or machinery, and track, log, expedite and review outstanding orders and stock availability where applicable.
- Maintain knowledge on all open orders and their status' and provide assistance to all purchasing staff e.g. expediting and feeding information back to the relevant stakeholders.
- Able to consider the impact of the decision making process when interacting with the supply chain.
- Able to support the contract negotiations and mini competitions with suppliers.
Training schedule
- Studying towards the Level 3 Procurement and Supply Assistant apprenticeship.
- Functional Skills, if required.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Team working
- Creative
- Initiative
- Organisational Skills
About this employer
Being part of the Southampton City Council team requires people who are willing to take personal responsibility for delivering excellence, to work with others to achieve the best possible outcomes, to embrace change and new opportunities, to make the most of the resources available to us and to think and act in the best interests of our customers. Southampton City Council are responsible for providing a number of services to the residents of Southampton including waste, housing, benefits, libraries, community support, marriages etc. and our aim is to give our customers the best service possible.
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/ (opens in new tab)
Disability Confident
A fair proportion of interviews for this apprenticeship will be offered to applicants with a disability or long-term health condition. This includes non-visible disabilities and conditions.
You can choose to be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident scheme. You’ll need to meet the essential requirements to be considered for an interview.
After this apprenticeship
Although we can’t guarantee you a permanent job at the end of your apprenticeship, we will support you to apply for suitable roles within the council, and help make sure you are ready for a wider job search.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
Southampton City Council
Lauren Cooper
Lauren.Cooper@southampton.gov.uk
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000023815.
Apply now
Closes in 13 days (Sunday 12 April 2026)
After signing in, you’ll apply for this apprenticeship on the company's website.