About Network Rail
Join Network Rail – Where People and Connections Matter When you join us, you are not just part of a team – you are part of something that matters to millions. We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do, and every role plays a vital part in building a better, more connected railway.
We’re committed to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. To discover more about our ED&I commitments
Who We Are
About Network Rail…
Join Network Rail – Where People and Connections Matter When you join us, you are not just part of a team – you are part of something that matters to millions. We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do, and every role plays a vital part in building a better, more connected railway.
We’re committed to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. To discover more about our ED&I commitments. We value flexibility and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. As a Disability Confident Leader, we will do everything we can to accommodate any needs throughout the recruitment process. You can visit Evenbreaks Career Hive for advice on accessibility support.
If you’re ready to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you!
Some Of Our Great Benefits
We offer generous maternity, paternity, and adoption leave to support our employees during significant life moments
- Flexible/hybrid working arrangements considered
- Generous annual leave up to 28 days plus statutory days (role dependant), with the option to buy/sell days
- Discounts at selected stations with your Network Rail pass
- Defined benefit pension scheme
- 75% off leisure train tickets for you and your dependents (subject to T&Cs)
- Interest‑free travel loan for train and car park season tickets
- Volunteer leave to make a positive impact
Plus more….
Vacancy Details
Duration: Permanent
Location: This role is based in Manchester Square One with potential to be based in Birmingham New Street or The Quadrant Milton Keynes. This role is a full‑time opportunity, flexible working patterns will be considered. For Quadrant: Milton Keynes, you must live within 90 minutes.
Band & Salary: Band 3C £55,596 – £67,813 depending on skills and experience.
About The Role
Ready to take on bigger, more complex procurement challenges?
We’re looking for an experienced Sourcing Manager who wants to make a real impact, leading high‑value, complex sourcing activity and helping shape how procurement delivers for the organisation.
You’ll work across a diverse portfolio of challenging projects where strong commercial thinking, stakeholder influence and sound judgement really matter. This isn’t simply about running procurement processes. You’ll help shape sourcing strategies, challenge thinking, navigate complex requirements and ensure our procurement activity delivers the right commercial outcomes.
We’re looking for someone with substantial procurement experience and a proven track record of delivering complex, high‑value sourcing projects. You’ll be comfortable operating in demanding environments, engaging with senior stakeholders and balancing commercial opportunity with governance and risk. Experience of public sector or regulated procurement would be a strong advantage.
You’ll also have the opportunity to lead, coach and develop procurement professionals, helping them tackle complex sourcing challenges while raising capability and standards across the wider team. Previous people management experience would be highly valued.
If you’re an experienced procurement professional looking for a role with scale, complexity, visibility and the opportunity to influence, we’d love to hear from you.
What does the average day look like?
As a Sourcing Manager at Network Rail, no two days are the same. You’ll lead complex, high‑value sourcing projects – particularly across indirect procurement – from shaping business requirements through to contract signature, ensuring we deliver meaningful commercial outcomes. Working closely with stakeholders across functions and regions, you’ll implement category strategies, negotiate contracts, and drive innovation to solve business challenges through the supply market. You’ll also manage risk and governance in a regulated environment, support the smooth handover to supplier management teams, and contribute to continuous improvement across the sourcing function. With a strong focus on collaboration, inclusion, and delivering value beyond expectation, your work will help us unlock savings and build a more efficient, effective railway for everyone.
About The Team
We are looking for dynamic procurement professionals to join our team, leading high value and complex sourcing projects.
If you love to engage with your customers, thrive on using your own initiative, have great people skills and are passionate about making a difference, please read on.
We are committed to working with our customers and the supply chain to procure and manage great commercial solutions that deliver value for passengers.
Our team leads exciting infrastructure related sourcing projects including building and civils, structural design and engineering projects, professional consultancy, lifts & escalators, property, decarbonisation, property development schemes, personal protective equipment, ecological services, drones, helicopters, waste management, security services and specialist rail plant. All of which supports our vision to Putting Passengers First by keeping our rail infrastructure operational.
Our team is one of 6 sourcing teams as part of the Route Services Commercial and Procurement team. We are a team of 20, with a great team ethos of supporting and developing each other. We enjoy regular team events together combining an element of learning as well as enjoying each other’s company.
You’ll work closely with your customers and our business experts to undertake pre‑market engagement with the supply chain, draft sourcing strategies and tender documentation. You’ll be the expert leading the sourcing project, undertake complex commercial evaluations, including using your professional knowledge to lead negotiations with suppliers. You will have excellent communications skills, both written and verbal, be proactive, have in depth experience of the end-to-end procurement process, be happy to challenge and be challenged and be prepared to go above and beyond to support our customers.
Understanding Your Customer’s Needs Will Put You In The Best Place To Identify The Optimum Strategic Direction And Put In Place Contracting Strategies That Embrace Change, Innovation And Creative Thinking. We Want You To Bring Us New Ideas To Help Us
- Improve safety – everyone home safe every day;
- Be more sustainable.
- Be more efficient – financially and programme management.
- Introduce innovation from our supply chain; and
- Provide creative contracting strategies.
And hear what some of our brilliant team members think about Network Rail in this video
Your Experience And Skills
We are looking for a commercially astute and driven Sourcing Manager to join our Procurement team at Network Rail. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in strategic sourcing and supplier management, with a proven ability to deliver value and ensure compliance across complex procurement projects. Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement skills are essential, along with a good understanding of public sector procurement regulations.
Who are we looking for?
Essential Criteria
- Deep level of Sourcing experience, with a demonstrable track record of savings delivery
- Demonstrable level of negotiation and dispute resolution skill set
- Demonstrable experience of contract law and financial management
- Demonstrable experience of driving value from complex sourcing opportunities
- Experienced with agile cross‑functional collaborative working methods
- Politically savvy, with the proven ability to use direct and indirect influencing strategies
- Demonstrable level of problem‑solving experience of complex sourcing specific challenges
- Completer finisher mindset
Please See Attached Job Description For Full Details.
Desirable Criteria
- Has an understanding of public sector procurement legislation.
- Experience in delivering multi‑million pound procurement projects (over £10m).
- Line management experience.
- Is a member of the chartered institute of Purchasing & Supply.
Additional Information
Closing date: Friday 30th October. On occasions, we may need to close the advert early based upon application volumes. Late applications may not be accepted.
Next Steps
If shortlisted, an initial 20-minute introductory call to discuss your CV, experience, and suitability for the role. A competency-based interview, including a case study assessment relevant to the position. A final conversation with a member of the leadership team.
Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our Safety Vision
All offers of employment are conditional upon satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks.
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