EV Procurement and Contracts Manager - Operations, Maintenance and Assets

ABOUT ZENOBE

Our mission is to make clean power accessible. We are passionate about making a positive impact on communities and the environment where we work. 

We’re designing, financing, building and operating the world’s most sophisticated battery systems to enable the take up of more renewable power, electrifying fleets for cleaner air, and providing clean, portable power including repurposed electric vehicle batteries. Our proprietary software and data analysis optimises operational performance for our customers to reduce emissions and costs. 

Since we began in 2017, we’ve raised over £2.7 billion in debt and equity funding and transformed it into >1.2GW of grid-connected batteries live or under contract and c.3,400 electric vehicles supported. We have operations in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the US and Canada, with a global headquarters in London. 

We’re the leading owner and operator of battery storage in the UK, supporting the National Grid with the uptake of renewable power. We also work with c.90% of the UK's major bus companies, powering 25% of the UK e-bus market. We’re also the number one owner and operator of e-buses in Australia and New Zealand, and are quickly expanding into light commercial vehicles and trucks. Our rapidly growing company is looking for highly talented and motivated people to join us. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Procurement Manager EV operations and maintenance (O&M) is responsible for leading services-led procurement activity across the full end-to-end procurement cycle, from requirements definition, market engagement and sourcing through to contract negotiation, mobilisation, supplier onboarding and ongoing performance management. The role requires strong experience in services procurement and the ability to utilise appropriate services contractual methodology to structure robust, outcome-focused agreements for critical O&M services supporting EV charging and infrastructure assets.

The role partners closely with the global O&M organisation to ensure resilient, cost-optimised, compliant supply chains, high asset availability, rapid response, and lifecycle optimisation of charging assets at scale.

A TASTE OF THE DAY TO DAY

1. Strategic Procurement & Category Leadership

• Own the global procurement strategy for services-led O&M categories, with a clear focus on services procurement and fit-for-purpose contractual methodologies, including:

• EV charger solutions AC and DC

• Field service providers

• LV/HV/MV electrical works and harness suppliers

• Infrastructure maintenance (civils, grid connections, metering, switchgear)

• Develop category plans, supplier segmentation, and multi‑year sourcing roadmaps.

• Drive standardisation of services contracts, SLAs, scopes of work, rate cards, performance regimes, and commercial models across regions.

• Ensure all suppliers align with quality, performance, and sustainability standards.

• Support asset management strategy development and onboarding of critical suppliers

2. Sourcing & Supplier Selection

• Lead end-to-end tender processes (RFI/RFP/RFQ) across UK markets supporting the wider business globally, ensuring standardisation of SLAs, scopes of work, service specifications, and contractual frameworks.

• Conduct market assessments and benchmarking to identify best‑fit suppliers, building up global knowledge of key providers in market and become a subject matter expert

• Manage supplier due diligence, including technical capability, operational readiness, HSSE compliance, cybersecurity (where relevant), and financial robustness.

• Develop and negotiate optimal commercial terms, pricing structures, and long term frameworks

• Manage the full procurement lifecycle from business need, sourcing strategy and supplier selection through to contract award, mobilisation, handover and ongoing supplier performance management.

3. Supplier Onboarding & Contracting

• Own the onboarding lifecycle for all O&M suppliers, ensuring:

• Compliance with procurement policies

• Completion of risk assessments

• Collaboration with Legal on services agreements, NDAs, MSAs, call-off contracts, statements of work, framework agreements, performance schedules, and regional templates.

• Establish measurable KPIs and SLAs for service uptime, repair targets, callout response times, and parts availability.

4. Supplier Relationship & Performance Management

• Act as the primary procurement partner for the global O&M organisation.

• Run regular supplier business reviews to track performance, safety, availability, and cost metrics.

• Resolve escalations related to service quality, supply reliability, or contractual non-compliance.

• Support continuous improvement programmes to drive downtime reduction and asset longevity.

5. Operational Support & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work with O&M, Engineering, and Asset Management to forecast demand for repair, replacement, and upgrade services.

• Partner with Finance on budgeting, cost modelling, and savings reporting.

• Align with Product and Engineering teams to understand new hardware rollouts and technical updates impacting O&M services.

• Support operational rollout teams during station deployment and commissioning.

6. Risk, Compliance & Sustainability

• Identify and mitigate supply, safety, and operational risks across the O&M value chain.

• Ensure all sourcing aligns with regulatory requirements (electrical, environmental, labour, and regional standards).

• Support ESG goals, including supplier carbon reporting, end‑of‑life management, and circularity of components.

• Maintain transparent documentation and audit ready processes.‑ready processes.

Health and Safety

• Actively contribute to Zenobe's commitment to health and safety, wellbeing and sustainability by; integrating these principles into daily responsibilities, ensuring a safe and supportive work environment, promoting both the physical and mental health of self and colleagues, and adopting sustainable and energy-efficient practices to minimize environmental impact. By doing so, each employee at Zenobe plays a vital role in fostering a culture that prioritises overall safety, holistic wellbeing, environmental sustainability in our business operations.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We realise that certain groups of people are less likely to apply for a role if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. To be absolutely clear: if you like the look of this job and think you could do it well, we encourage you to apply with a CV that highlights your transferable skills and experience. Above all, Zenobē is looking for collaborative, flexible, empathetic people who are interested in creating and promoting practical routes to a zero carbon world.

Experience & Background

• 5+ years in procurement with a strong preference for services procurement experience, ideally within Energy, EV, Utilities, Transportation, infrastructure, facilities, engineering services, or field operations environments.

• Proven experience managing services procurement categories, particularly technical O&M, field services, maintenance, engineering support, infrastructure services, or asset lifecycle services.

• Strong understanding of services contractual methodology, including scopes of work, service specifications, SLAs/KPIs, milestone-based deliverables, rate-card models, call-off mechanisms, framework agreements, performance credits, and service governance structures.

• Demonstrated ability to manage the end-to-end procurement cycle, from category strategy, stakeholder requirements and sourcing execution through to negotiation, contract award, supplier mobilisation and performance management.

• Comfortable operating in a fast growth, multicounty environment

• Demonstrated negotiation experience with service providers and hardware suppliers, with particular strength in structuring services agreements that balance cost, performance, risk and operational flexibility.

Technical Knowledge

• Ideally previous experience operating in an EV business, or a strong background in services-led O&M procurement.

• Familiarity with EV chargers, asset maintenance lifecycles, or distributed infrastructure.

• Knowledge of procurement best practices, services contracting models, supplier risk management, performance management, and governance of outsourced service providers.

Soft Skills

• Strong stakeholder leadership and communication across technical/non‑technical teams.

• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and suppliers globally.

• Analytical mindset with strong commercial acumen.

• Organized, proactive, and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

WORKING AT ZENOBE

We’re passionate about sustainability and are proud to offer Team Zenobē a pioneering and collaborative working environment. We encourage our people to take ownership of their career progression and celebrate those that can think outside the box.

If you’d like to join our community of likeminded people hit the apply button now, we’d love to hear from you!

WHAT WE OFFER

Charge your career at Zenobē and receive

• Up to 33% annual bonus for being awesome

• 25 days holiday, increasing with length of service up to 30 days, plus bank holidays

• Private Medical Insurance

• £1,500 training budget per year, to ensure you grow as we do

• EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme

• Pension scheme, up to 8% matched contributions

• Enhanced parental leave

• Cash back health plan

• Plus more

Lots of our people work flexibly in many different ways, including part-time, flexitime and hybrid working. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but please talk to us about the flexibility you need and let’s see how we can make it work.

OUR APPROACH TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our people are our strongest asset and the key determinant of our success, and we value a range of skillsets and perspectives. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. We work to provide equal opportunities and an inclusive work environment, where everyone is fairly treated in the application process and through their career at Zenobē. If there are any adjustments that would help improve your experience with Zenobē, please let us know when you apply.