AGENCY PROCUREMENT OFFICER

Essential Functions

• Serves as the Agency Procurement Officer (APO) for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC), acting authoritatively as policy formulating administrator of the Department's Procurement Office in planning, directing, implementing, and administering all Department-specific procurement functions which consist of an annual procurable spend portfolio.
• Serves as the official IDEC liaison, on behalf of the CFO, to all internal and external entities including the Chief Procurement Office-General Services (CPO-GS), the Office of Management and Budget (GOMB), Procurement Policy Board (PPB), Commission on the Equity and Inclusion (CEI), Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR), Illinois State Board of Elections (BOE), vendors, contractors, public, private, state, and federal officials on IDEC-specific procurement issues, independently possessing authority to negotiate and bind IDEC to contractual agreements and operational agreements for specific contractual procurements deferring to the CFO on issues of potentially substantial impact.
• Independently oversees evaluation of proposals received from vendors, negotiating with vendors, and is ultimately responsible for vendor selection.
• Develops strategic sourcing strategies for IDEC-specific procurements.
• Serves as full line supervisor.
• Drafts and submits annual and semi-annual reports to CPO on IDEC-specific spend status and projections.
• Performs other duties for the Secretary as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.

Minimum Qualifications

• Requires knowledge, skill, and mental development equivalent to completion of four (4) years of college, preferably with coursework in business management or a related field.
• Requires four (4) years of progressively responsible administrative experience in a public or private organization, preferably with experience in government purchasing, business management, and managing cross-functioning organizational entities and a thorough knowledge of procurement supply markets and trends.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prefers four (4) years of experience in government sector procurement and/or purchasing.
• Prefers four (4) years of experience in estimating and budgeting for current and future needs and cost of personnel, space, equipment, supplies, and services.
• Prefers possession of certification from the National Institute of Government Purchasing (NIGP) preferred.

Conditions of Employment

• Requires the ability to pass a background check.
• Requires the ability to travel in the performance of duties, with overnight stays as appropriate.
• Overtime is a condition of employment, and you may be requested or required/mandated to work overtime including scheduled, unscheduled, or last-minute overtime. This requires the ability to work evenings and weekends.
• Requires the ability to utilize and maintain state issued equipment such as a cell phone, laptop, etc.

*The conditions of employment listed here are incorporated and related to any of the job duties as listed in the job description.

About the Agency:

The Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC) was signed into law in June of 2024 with the focus of making early childhood education and care services simpler, better and fairer for families with young children across the state. During fiscal years FY25 and FY26, IDEC will be working through transitioning data, programs and services from three state agencies – the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), – to IDEC in order to be fully operational by July 2026.    

Illinois strives to be the best state in the nation to raise a family with young children and IDEC is committed to continue putting children and families center while reducing complexities and finding efficiencies in the system and advancing equity.