Meet Mark Osafo – Procurement Policies Expert

How did you end up here? What is your professional background? 

I completed my master’s in public policy and management at the University of Melbourne and mid-way through my master program began working as a policy analyst for the Industry Capability Network (ICN) specialising in local industry participation policy, working in their policy implementation team. Whilst there, I was introduced to social procurement and ArcBlue as a leading procurement consulting organisation and became interested in the work ArcBlue was doing in the Social and Sustainable space. I connected with ArcBlue’s Associate Director for Social and Sustainable Procurement at that time, as part of an SPN (Social Procurement Network) event, and shortly after made the transition over to ArcBlue.

How do you spend most of your days?

Most of my time at work is spent on a variety of different projects. One thing I do enjoy about my role is that no one day is the same. Some days I will be working on a social procurement strategy, other days I may be providing local content support for new energy project or doing research on procurement policy and regulatory environments, or the preparing a report on the role of social procurement in achieving social licence.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am working on a few very interesting projects. The Conduent Victoria Ticketing System (CVTS) project which ArcBlue is supporting the social and sustainable procurement outcomes to be achieved across the project. The Gippsland Procurement Power Initiative – mapping entry level roles project where ArcBlue is supporting the mapping of employment pathways for local Gippslanders into roles across the growing pipeline of new energy projects coming to Gippsland in the next few years. The HumeLink Social Impact Mobilisation project where ArcBlue have been engaged to help deliver a coordinated set of activities to support social licence across the HumeLink project.

What trends do you see in your work?

Since I work in the Social and Sustainable Procurement Team, we get engaged to develop strategies for social and sustainable procurement and local industry participation outcomes. A trend we can see is that organisations need support to deliver social and local procurement outcomes but need a medium; usually a strategy, to support them in coordinating and delivering these outcomes.

What do you enjoy about working in consulting? 

I am learning a lot of different skills, because of the dynamic nature of the work. Each project brings with it a new skill or set of skills that can be leveraged across other projects when needed. I also enjoy being able to help clients solve their challenges; diagnosing an issue they’re facing and then developing a solution for them to be able to implement. There is something exciting and rewarding about the process.

What do you love best about procurement?

I would say what I appreciate the most about working in the procurement sector is the power that procurement has to deliver social value. It is about finding those opportunities to create social impact where you can through your purchasing decisions.

What is the one thing you wish everyone would understand about procurement?

It can actually be quite interesting and dynamic depending on what area of procurement you work in.

What are you currently trying to upskill in?

One thing I am actively trying to improve in is my project management skills.

How long have you been at ArcBlue? What made you join us?  

I have been here for 10 months. I am motivated by social change, and I really enjoy working for an organisation like ArcBlue that is also passionate about social impact and finding avenues to maximise and deliver social impact where it can.

What project has been the most fun / the meatiest to work on at ArcBlue?

I really enjoyed working on the Marinus Link Project with Petra. It is probably one of the bigger projects I have been involved with at ArcBlue. It was very engaging in that it involved a lot of different components; policy research, stakeholder engagement, industry analysis and developing of several reports and spanned across Gippsland Victoria and Northwest Tasmania.

What’s the reason you love to work at ArcBlue?  

The work is dynamic and I am constantly learning which I enjoy. I also really enjoy the team I work in, of whom all are supportive.

What’s something not many people know about you?

I am a triplet.