Public Procurement and Property
Scottish Careers Week: career journey blog 1
November 11, 2025 by Scottish Procurement 2 Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement
It’s Scot Careers Week! We’re shining a light on our colleagues career journeys in procurement and their experiences at Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate (SPPD) so far.
Louis Bruce – Procurement Assistant
How did you start your career in procurement?
While I was busy building up my voluntary experience, I worked with Skills Development Scotland to access my longer-term career plans. They directed me towards the care leaver scheme as I expressed an interest in government and public service. The scheme is run by the department for Education and allocates care leavers to posts across government. I am very fortunate that I landed in Procurement!
Before I joined I didn’t know too much about Procurement specifically, but I did really enjoy studying Business Management at school and keeping up with business/supply chain news, my inexperience within Procurement meant a lot of hands-on experience early on and the opportunity to provide an outsiders perspective which has come in handy.
Procurement is a critical element of government as we work on acquiring anything the government requires in it’s day to day operations! As a Capability Assistant, I have been involved in ensuring the purchase and running of training sessions for those within procurement whilst working towards becoming a qualified CIPS member.
What’s your best experience been so far?
Being involved in the Scottish Government’s Commercial Week for the last three years has been a delightful experience which I hope to continue! Commercial Week is an annual event that involves commercial learning to ensure that the Scottish Government is commercially aware and striving for value for money.
Personally, providing support and organising the running of Commercial Week has boosted my communication skills, my confidence and presentation skills – which assisted me at this years Scottish Government National Procurement Conference as I was a member for our Procurement People of Tomorrow panel.
During my career as a care leaver intern, I have been leveraging my background as a lever to boost social mobility and other Diversity and Inclusion objectives within the Scottish Government. This includes running Diversity and Inclusion sessions within my directorate on a variety of topics by sharing best practice. This has led to me becoming a mentor for another care leaver intern which has been very fulfilling and an excellent learning experience.
Brendan O’Dowd – Administrative Assistant
Tell us about your career journey so far…
I heard about Modern Apprenticeships through family members, who mentioned that the Scottish Government were offering opportunities. From what they told me and from my own perspective, it stood out as a great way to start building a career, especially after a bit of research. Over 90% of apprentices move into full-time employment afterwards, so far it’s really felt like a ‘right place, right time’ sort of deal.
Truth be told, I didn’t even know that the apprenticeship I applied for was a route into procurement! Beforehand I had a vague idea that procurement was broad, busy, and opened doors to a lot of different career paths, but that was about it. Coming in with little previous experience actually turned out to be a strength. It meant I could ask the “why do we do it this way?” questions and bring a fresh perspective to the team. That helped me carve out my own contributions early on and made the learning curve feel more like an opportunity than a barrier.
I definitely would recommend procurement as a career! It’s far more varied than people expect. It’s a massively multifaceted profession and after three years of this, I can confirm so far that no two days are the same. You have the chance to work with a huge range of people and organisations. The skills you pick up transfer across sectors too, which makes it a really adaptable career path.
I work in the Best Practice team, where we look after the Procurement Journey and Supplier Journey guidance. That means lots of cross-team working, stakeholder engagement, and plenty of problem-solving. It’s the kind of environment where you’re always learning, sometimes without realising it, simply by being involved.
Overall, it’s a career that mixes structure with creativity, gives you room to grow, and keeps you on your toes in the best possible way.
How has your experience been so far?
My experience so far has been extremely rewarding. I’ve had the chance to work on a huge mix of projects, from developing the Procurement and Supplier Journey websites (which I take a keen interest in anyway!), helping shape training material and user support, develop and improve programmes which span the entirety of the public sector, the list goes on.
One of the real highlights has been getting involved in events like Meet the Buyer, where you see firsthand how the work we do behind the scenes actually helps suppliers and organisations. It’s been a humbling experience to see that what you do in the workplace isn’t just going in and completing tasks, but something that has a real impact on people’s businesses and livelihoods.
Day to day, the role has given me plenty of opportunities to work with different teams, whether that’s Best Practice, Policy, or colleagues across the wider organisation. That has been one of the most valuable parts of the job for me – you learn a lot simply by working alongside others, who are experts in their own areas. A lot of my knowledge has come from absorbing things through conversations, meetings, and cross-team projects.
It’s also a surprisingly creative role! Whether it’s improving guidance, building accessible content, or helping design clearer processes and tools, there’s always space to bring your own ideas to the table, my colleagues have definitely helped and supported me through that process! I’ve definitely grown in confidence, both in understanding procurement and in taking ownership of pieces of work.
Overall, it’s been a really positive experience, full of learning, collaboration, and those little moments where everything ‘clicks’ and you realise you’re part of a wider entity.
For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement
Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot
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Tags: Procurement People of Tomorrow, ScottishCareerWeek
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Thanks to both of you for sharing such fresh perspectives on SG and Procurement !
‘great perspectives on SG and Procurement from both of you – thanks for sharing this!