Trainee Product Manager
| Posting date: | 22 July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 21 August 2025 |
| Location: | Leicester, LE19 1ES |
| Company: | Leicestershire County Council |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 5764 |
Summary
Organisation: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO)
Work Location: Barnsdale Way, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester, LE19 1ES
Salary: £25,998 £33,294 per annum (pro-rata for part-time)
Working Hours: Full-time (flexible/hybrid working)
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: Tuesday 5th August 2025
Interview Date(s): scheduled to take place mid-August (convenient dates and time will be agreed with candidates)
If you’re looking for an exciting opportunity to work within the public sector for an organisation with a commercial edge, then ESPO is the place for you. We are looking for a highly motivated Trainee Product Manager (TPM) to work within our Catalogue team.
ESPO is a publicly owned business offering a professional procurement and supply service to our public sector customers. We make a surplus and return it to our local authority owners to invest in the public services we all rely on. We have ambitious plans for the future and are looking for highly talented people to work on our catalogue team.
About the Role
As a Trainee Product Manager, the successful candidate will work in a busy and progressive, commercially focused team, learning how to create, source, and market product ranges for our public sector customers.
At ESPO, we are committed to learning and development. You will be working in an environment where you will be mentored and supported by experienced colleagues and management. We offer day release for studying the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) professional qualification,n and leave will be provided for pre-examination study and/or the sitting of examinations. Financial assistance will be provided by way of course and examination fees, subject to the Financial Assistance and/or Day Release policy. It is a condition of the post that further study is undertaken to attain the CIPS professional qualification. In addition to this formal study, we also offer ongoing learning through continual professional development.
About You
To apply for this post, you must have:
- A degree (at least 2:2 in preferably in as business-related subject).
And must be able to demonstrate:
- An ability to communicate with customers, suppliers and colleagues verbally and in writing
- Strong analytical and numerical skills and careful attention to detail
- You are able to manage your time effectively to ensure tasks are completed and deadlines are met
- You are competent in the use of Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel and are willing to learn to use any in-house software or systems
- You are ambitious and able to deal with pressure and multiple priorities
- You are able to work as part of a team, working towards common goal,s and have an analytical approach to
- A willingness and ability to work flexibly, including outside of office hours as required
We’d also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview process.
What we offer:
- Flexible/Hybrid working opportunities and access to employee benefits portal with salary sacrifice car scheme.
- 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays (increasing to 32 after 5 years’ service), and a scheme to buy additional leave.
- Local Government Pension Scheme.
- Opportunities for learning development through CPD (Continuing Professional Development)
- Great office location next to Fosse Park, with free on-site parking and easy access to M1 and M69.
Interested in Flexible/Hybrid Working?
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual’s personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of ESPO. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.
For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:
Karrenjit Rai (Category Manager - Catalogue Content)
Email: k.kaurrai@espo.org
How to Apply
ESPO is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our customers. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the customers we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.
You can learn more about working for ESPO by visiting the Careers section of our website
Careers | Jobs and Opportunities | ESPO
To apply for this job, please click ‘Apply Now’. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application, which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. For more information, see the How to Apply section on our career site.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Employee Service Centre: https://emss.org.uk/support
By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme