Episode show notes
“If you are purely doing procurement and commercial on paper, the paper doesn’t stand the litmus test,”
Victoria Cope’s career roles are supremely varied and her credentials numerous, so she serves as a perfect example of how wide ranging experiences can aid procurement leaders in succeeding at the highest level.
With an Aeronautical Engineering background, over 20 years in the Defence & Security sector, and several awards for her contributions to the industry, she’s now the Commercial & Category Director for the UK Health Security Agency.
Such an array of knowledge inevitably led to a fascinating discussion on Talent Talks this week, covering the delicate balance between public service and commerciality, necessary steps to boost diversity, why strong relationships beat procurement on paper, and so much more.
This episode of Talent Talks covers:
- Victoria’s route into procurement, being a chartered Aeronautical Engineer by background
- Procurement’s biggest relationship lessons learned from the pandemic
- The successful evolution and further advancements needed within diversity and inclusion
- Balancing the health of the nation with maintaining her function’s commerciality
- The growth of social value and ESG
Episode Highlights
“From my perspective, having a diversity of experience across different sectors is really, really valuable. It provides a different lens and critical experiences to your career, and to what you can deliver to organisations as you go forward. As a leader, you collect a toolbox of skills and experiences that can be valuable in any setting.” – 3:05 – Victoria Cope
“Social value is hugely important, and I think it’s an aspect that, as our profession grows and the industry grows, will continue to grow with it and grow in importance, not only for the delivery of the organisation, but also in our employee value proposition as well.” – 6:55 – Victoria Cope
“In a wider lens, we’re the only mandated function in government, so we are obligated to deliver our duties under our public contract regulations. But for us, it’s not just being a governance organisation, it’s actually leading and guiding the thinking in the organisation.” – 13:05 – Victoria Cope
“Having a cross functional background, I’d probably say that procurement is actually one of the most diverse and inclusive functions I’ve had the benefit of working within, but there’s always more to do.” – 19:05 – Victoria Cope
“One of the key things coming back from maternity leave is that actually you learn to work smarter. I learned, partly from being a parent and partly from the pandemic, about mono-tasking and focus.” – 26:35 – Victoria Cope
“I wholly believe that bringing different organisations together provides the synergies that we need, whether it’s organisations or sectors, to grow and develop to the challenges we have on the table. So I think for me doing that, and having that focus on innovation and relationships is definitely where the profession needs to go.” – 36:00 – Victoria Cope
“If you are purely doing procurement and commercial on paper, the paper doesn’t stand the litmus test when you need to come and enact the contracts. It’s all well and good trying to enact force majeure, but actually you need to have a pragmatic conversation about what we can do to solve the problem, not what the contract says.” – 37:55 – Victoria Cope
Links & References
• Victoria Cope, Commercial & Category Director at UK Health Security Agency
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-cope-mba-fraes-fcips-0b497b16/
• UK Health Security Agency
https://www.linkedin.com/company/uk-health-security-agency/
• Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsmith2009/
