Senior Procurement Manager

Statement of Duties  

The Senior Procurement Manager leads, advises, and conducts the competitive procurement of supplies, services, materials and equipment for all city departments by soliciting bids, proposals and quotations in compliance with the Massachusetts General Laws and City Ordinances, as well as applicable federal procurement laws. Employee is required to perform all similar or related duties. 

Essential Functions 

The essential functions or duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.  Essential Functions of the Senior Procurement Manager fall under two main categories at the heart of the department: Procurement and Contracting. 

Procurement 

• Learns and understands what goods and services the City of Somerville needs. 
• Works with multiple city departments to write clear and industry-specific scopes of work and requests for bids, quotes and proposals.   
• Manages a wide range of procurement projects for goods and services, including design and construction and real property. 
• Collaborates with department heads and project managers to plan procurement projects with appropriate lead times to ensure fair, equitable and accessible competition. 
• Conducts market research to determine a range of suppliers that offer the goods and services the City of Somerville buys. 
• Assesses opportunities to save money through the procurement process. Works with managers in other departments to analyze spend and develop procurement strategies that save money for the City while ensuring a diverse pool of suppliers can prepare and offer quotes, bids and proposals. 
• Works with City departments and other partners to network with a broad range of suppliers to orient them to opportunities for doing business with the City as a vendor. 
• Interacts with vendors in pre- and post-award phases, and to facilitate compliant procurement practices. 
• Solicits bids, proposals and quotations for various departments to procure supplies and services, including design and construction services. 
• Obtains, reviews and evaluates competitive prices and quotations. 
• Prepares and coordinates bid documents, including public notices to bidders, instructions to bidders, price proposal forms, and criteria for evaluation of proposals. 
• Facilitates interdepartmental communication and collaboration on procurement projects as appropriate and needed. 
• Develops and maintains procurement-related records, such as bid solicitation documents, prospective bidders’ lists, documentation of proposal evaluations, notices of award, and contracts. 
• Participates in other high-priority City-wide efforts and projects as needed. 

Contracting 

• Assists in the negotiation, awarding and drafting of contracts, renewals and amendments of contracts, working with the City Solicitor’s Office, internal customers and vendors. 
• Works with Chief Procurement Officer and City Solicitor’s Office to update contract templates for goods and services, design and construction, and other contract types as needed. 
• Oversees alterations in comparative negotiating ability in any business terms between the City and its suppliers and works with the City Solicitor’s Office to ensure City’s interests are substantially supported.  
• Prepares and conducts routine training for project managers, department heads and clerical administrators in contract management. 

Cross-Cutting Duties 

• Assists in routinely updating purchasing policies and procedures. 
• Leads in the development and implementation of policies and procedures in close coordination with Chief Procurement Officer in the priority areas of supplier diversity, equitable procurement, and sustainable purchasing.   
• Prepares informational and training materials for key procurement and contracting policies and procedures. 
• Provides support with City-wide training efforts, including the development and roll-out of procurement resources and materials. 
• Identifies opportunities for operational improvements as part of continuous improvement. 

Minimum Qualifications 

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree and at least seven (7) years of experience; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential functions of the job. Master’s Degree strongly preferred. 

Special Requirements 

MCPPO (Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official) certification within six (6) months of appointment.  Must maintain MCPPO certification throughout tenure in this role. 

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills 

Knowledge: Knowledge and experience with public purchasing, procurement and contracting; knowledge of MS Office and Google suite, including advanced knowledge of Excel (pivot tables, Vlookup and other programming); knowledge and experience with MUNIS or similar financial databases. SmartSheet experience a plus. 

Abilities: Problem solving ability; excellent writing ability including the ability to develop performance standards and measures.  Demonstrated ability to train colleagues in various procurement and contracting functions. 

Skill: Administrative skills including ability to organize large amounts of paperwork and data. Outstanding interpersonal skills. 

Work Environment  

The work environment involves everyday discomforts typical of offices, with occasional exposure to outside elements.  Noise or physical surroundings may be distracting, but conditions are generally not unpleasant.  Employee may be required to work beyond normal business hours in response to attend evening meetings or complete work assignments.  During the COVID-19 related shutdown of City buildings, employees may be expected to work remotely or in the office. Must comply with applicable state and local safety precautions while performing work duties, including wearing personal protective equipment and practicing appropriate social distancing. 

Physical and Mental Requirements  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions. 

Physical Skills  

Few physical demands are required to perform the work. Work effort principally involves sitting to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of stooping, walking, and standing.  May also be some occasional lifting of objects such as office equipment and computer paper (up to 30 lbs.) 

Motor Skills 

Duties are largely mental rather than physical, but the job may occasionally require minimal motor skills for activities such as moving objects, operating a telephone, personal computer and/or most other office equipment including word processing, filing and sorting of papers.  

Visual Skills 

Visual demands require constantly reading documents for general understanding and analytical purposes. 

Hours: Full-Time 
Salary: $90,000 annually, plus benefits
Union: Non-Union
FLSA: Exempt
Date Posted: September 4th, 2025

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The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request. Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures in order to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Pre-Employment Requirements for All Employees:

• MA Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) clearance
• Completion of Conflict-of-Interest Law Education training for municipal employees

Overview of Total Rewards:

• 4 weeks annual vacation for non-union positions. Union positions vary by contract. Please note, police officers are members of the SPEA union.
• Medical insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) - 80% of premium costs paid by City
• Dental coverage low and high plans through Cigna
• Vision care through Vision Service Plan (VSP)
• Long term disability through Sun Life
• Group and voluntary life insurance through Boston Mutual
• Health Care and Dependent Care flexible spending through Benefit Strategies
• Deferred compensation plans through a choice of three vendors
• Free, confidential services through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provided by E4Health
• Annual cancer screening & wellness release
• Somerville Retirement Pension System
• Tuition reimbursement
• MBTA pass program
• FREE Blue Bikes membership
• Eligible employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

Benefits listed are for benefits-eligible positions and the above information is meant to be a general overview of the benefit programs offered by the City of Somerville and not a binding contract.