School Procurement Officer

Job description / Role

The School

Deira International School is an Outstanding BSO and KHDA rated, award winning school located on a beautiful campus in Festival City, Dubai.

With students from ages 3-18, DIS is run as a not-for-profit school and is part of the Al Futtaim Education Foundation. Founded in 2005, the school is renowned for providing an outstanding inclusive and holistic education. In our recent inspection, the report recognised the following:
- Staff are overwhelmingly proud of the school and believe that it is well led and provides a safe and inclusive learning environment.
- The quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school is outstanding.
- Teachers have high expectations of pupils and consistently challenge them in lessons and other activities to do their best.
- Staff enjoy working at the school and believe they are treated fairly, respected and valued.
- At every phase, the curriculum is planned with precision, is well sequenced and systematically builds on pupils' prior learning.
- DIS has a strong focus on academic progress and achievement.

The student body has over 80 different nationalities and this diversity is fundamental to the community nature of the school. Exceptional facilities provide wonderful opportunities for a holistic approach to education; sport, performing arts, academic, technological, leadership and creative pathways are all on offer, ensuring our students enjoy enriching and varied school experiences within our classrooms and beyond.

Although non-selective at admission, our students achieve exceptional exam results which compare to top UK schools. Digital literacy development is emphasised as the school prepares its pupils to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. This success enables our students to move on to the very top universities worldwide.

Our personalised, play-based and continuous provision in the Early Years ensures that students are rigorously assessed against the prime and specific areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. This focuses on developing key learning skills and the foundations for accessing the Primary Curriculum. In primary, students receive an enriching and broad curriculum offer, which includes the delivery of several non-core subjects. Our senior students take the IGCSE examinations in Year 11 and move into the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) or International Baccalaureate Career-Related Programme (IBCP) in Years 12 and 13.

Al Futtaim Education Foundation (AFEF) owns and provides governance to Deira International School. AFEF aims to realise its vision of taking education in the UAE to the next level of future readiness and of preparing students for an increasingly globalised and technologically advanced world. Al Futtaim Education Foundation is an initiative of the Al Futtaim family to support the vision of the Government of Dubai and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) for the creation of a globally competitive economy while maximising its social contribution to the community through this not-for-profit endeavour.

At Al Futtaim Education Foundation, we are committed to fostering a culture of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We believe that every individual has the right to be respected and valued for who they are, and we strive to create a work environment where all members of our community feel safe, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. This includes recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, creating inclusive learning and working environments, and promoting equity in all of our policies and practices. We are dedicated to building a foundation of respect and understanding, and we actively work to eliminate discrimination, bias, and prejudice in all forms.

School Procurement Officer | Al Futtaim Education Schools | Dubai

We are seeking to appoint an experienced Procurement Officer to join our team. The Procurement Officer will work alongside our finance and operations teams and play an integral part in identifying opportunities for cost improvement and efficiency. This will be achieved by overseeing the procurement process, managing vendor relationships, consolidating school spend, and ensuring value-added procurement services to the schools, all while ensuring compliance with organizational policies and procedures.

Key Accountabilities:
- Follow the Al Futtaim Group procurement policy and procedure for all requisitions and be a policy advisor to schools.
- Ensure goods and services are purchased at the lowest Total Acquisition Cost and delivered on time.
- Maintain relationships with key suppliers.
- Agree to terms and conditions, negotiate supply agreements where appropriate within departmental boundaries, including discount structures and rebates.
- Foster close working relationships with associated departments within Al Futtaim Education Foundation and the wider business.
- Ensure all purchased items related to schools are delivered promptly to avoid disruptions within the schools.
- Evaluate and monitor school purchase requests for proper authorization, specification, and legal compliance. Take responsibility for the procurement of requests.
- Assist the schools in raising requisitions and become the center of excellence for schools' procurement.
- Achieve cost savings on non-framework items.

Requirements

Required knowledge and skills:
- Minimum 3 years of experience in procurement, ideally within an educational setting.
- Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and business needs.
- Strong numerical and analytical aptitude.
- Commercial and financial acumen.
- Proven negotiating skills and influencing abilities.
- Experience with business and commercial analysis.
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret commercial business documents and technical procedures.
- Excellent verbal and written command of the English language (Arabic desirable but not mandatory).
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Application Process

If you meet these criteria we would very much welcome your application.

Al Futtaim Education Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all of its students. A UK enhanced DBS or equivalent police check is a pre-requisite for all appointments

About the Company

Established in the 1930's, the Al-Futtaim Group initially operated as a trading enterprise. Rapid development throughout the 1940's and 50's saw it establish itself regionally as an integrated commercial, industrial and services organisation, positioning itself one of the leading business houses in the lower Gulf region. Today, it operates collectively over 40 companies bearing the Al-Futtaim name, dominates many market segments in the UAE, and has expanded its sphere of operation to include Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt.

The Group comprises a diverse range of strategically positioned operating subsidiaries and associate companies, structured to give the Al-Futtaim Group the flexibility and versatility to keep ahead of local competition while keeping pace with the ever-evolving global business scenario. The Groups continued investment in world-class systems technology is clear evidence of its commitment to maintain leading edge performance and service delivery.

The success of the Al-Futtaim Group can be attributed to a business approach that combines the ability to change with the traditional values of integrity, service and social responsibility that define its core business philosophy. This, linked with the Groups belief in decentralisation, gives the heads of the operating companies a high degree of functional autonomy and authority, providing the Group with essential flexibility, and individual employees a clearly defined work culture and sense of responsibility.