By Sarah Crooks, Town of Ajax
This is the day in the life of a public procurement professional as told by Tenderita Biddington. Tenderita has been working in public procurement for the past 20 years for the Municipality of RFx, located in southern Ontario. With March being Procurement Month, a time to recognize and celebrate the important work public procurement professionals do, Tenderita thought it would be good to start documenting what her days really look like.
Dear Diary,
March 1, 2026:
I cannot wait to start chronicling my days in public procurement! For years, I thought it would be a good idea, but never really had the motivation to do it until now. That changes today! Starting next week, I am bringing my journal along to document my day.
Public procurement professionals have a tough job but it is incredibly rewarding. Maybe one day, I will share this diary publicly. Who knows, maybe this will be such a good read that it makes it on the New York Times Best Sellers list? A part-time gig as a novelist? Perhaps…
March 9, 2026:
8:00 a.m.
My day starts with a quick run to the coffee machine. I take one look at it and realize it was procured by my colleague. I chuckle quietly and smile – that’s neat. I’m getting coffee from a machine that went through an entire Request for Proposal (RFP) process. All I can think of while the coffee is brewing is, did we spec it to have a built-in milk frothing station, and when is the contract up on this machine?
8:15 a.m.
I make my way to my desk and open my emails. One subject line immediately jumps out: “URGENT EMERGENCY”. I brace myself before opening it. In procurement, “urgent” can mean anything from the building is on fire to someone forgot to plan.
The email is from Building Maintenance regarding an inspection at the ABC Community Complex. The report shows the roof is near the end of its useful life, with minor leaks during heavy rain but repairs are holding up.
I take a deep breath and ask myself a few key questions. Does this constitute an emergency procurement? Is the building usable? Yes. Is safety compromised? No. Will operation be impacted? No.
I draft a response to the client department explaining that this does not meet the threshold for an emergency procurement and that we can proceed with a competitive process. In doing so, we will likely achieve better pricing and value. They acknowledge the response and agree it can wait. I wipe the sweat from my brow and press my Staples “Easy” button, but it does not make a sound. The batteries must be dead. I should have listened to Proposilita. She told me if I pressed it one too many times it would not work when I really needed it.
9:00 a.m.
I shift gears and begin working on a tender from the Engineering department for a parking lot reconstruction project. As I review the draft documents, I notice the specifications clearly outline the scope of work, but the drawings are missing. Yikes! This tender is supposed to be posted tomorrow (yesterday).
I quickly open my Microsoft Teams and see if the project lead is available. They are green status! I am relieved. I’m told the drawings will be sent over within the next 10-15 minutes and to let them know if anything else is missing.
9:15 a.m.
I need to pause what I am doing. I have a site meeting at the Fire Hall for 10:00 a.m. for the supply and installation of a new HVAC system. Time to switch gears again. I close the parking lot reconstruction tender file and begin printing my meeting notes and bidder sign-in sheet.
9:45 a.m.
I arrive at the Fire Hall and am greeted by the Deputy Fire Chief. We have some time before the site meeting begins and chat about requirements and how Fire can best procure new bunker gear. Our conversation pauses when the bidders start to arrive.
Once the site meeting concludes, I make my way through the Fire Hall and am stopped by several staff members. I’m happy to chat as it is not often that I get to see staff on site. I answer a number of procurement related questions for projects unrelated to the meeting, and I do not mind at all. I am always glad to offer guidance to help client departments feel confident in their procurements.
Just as I’m about to leave, I run into the Fire Chief. He explains they have an urgent request. They have grant funding to purchase a new fire truck, but the funding expires within the next month. After a brief discussion to determine the estimated value, we confirm it exceeds the CETA threshold for goods and services, meaning the tender must be posted for a minimum of 25 calendar days. Thankfully we accept digital bids. We will meet the grant funding deadline!
11:30 a.m.
I return to the office to find a missed call from Legislative Services. They are seeking advice on how to procure an item in their capital budget, specifically, an electronic document records management system. I do some research and find that a Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) offers a solution. I forward the information to the client department.
12:00 p.m.
Time for lunch. As I head down the hall, I run into a representative from the janitorial supplies contract who is dropping off supplies. We exchange a few words, and they mention they have tickets to an upcoming Jays game. I get excited, then quickly remember I cannot accept gifts. Rats, if only I was in the private sector!
1:00 p.m.
I get back from lunch and notice a calendar reminder that the bid for Supply and Delivery of Sodium Chloride has closed. I download the submissions and begin reviewing them for compliance. While I am mid-review, I receive a call from the Manager of Fleet Services. They are shocked, but in a good way. The bid for the half ton pickup truck came in at nearly half the price they expected. They had previously single sourced their last purchase and did not anticipate better pricing through a competitive bid. A great reminder of the value of open competition.
2:00 p.m.
I finish the compliance review and shift my focus to preparing for a consensus meeting that is scheduled for later this week.
3:00 p.m.
Time to check emails again. I see several requests for debriefs related to an RFP awarded about a week ago. I pull the consensus meeting notes and begin preparing for the debrief.
3:45 p.m.
All done prepping for the vendor debrief. Now it would be a good time to schedule that evaluators meeting to ensure they understand the scoring criteria for the Tourism Strategic Plan RFP. It will also be a good time for me to set some dates in the calendar for consensus as things can get pretty busy this time of year. I prep my email and calendar invite and send off.
4:30 p.m.
I switch gears again and begin working on a staff training session. I want to help new and existing staff better understand the difference between Request for Tenders and Request for Proposals. I add a few finishing touches and set a calendar reminder to revisit the material before the end of the week.
4:45 p.m.
My phone rings again today for what feels like the hundredth time today. It is the Deputy CAO, asking me to review a contract. They send it over by email while we are on the phone and I start asking a few probing questions. It becomes clear that procurement has not been involved up until this point.
I politely explain why it’s so important for procurement to be involved at the beginning of the process. We provide valuable insight and strategic planning to help the client departments achieve their goals while mitigating risk, safeguarding public trust and maximizing value for money. Procurement is not an administrative function; it is a strategic one.
5:00 p.m.
Time to call it a day. As I pack up, I’m exhausted, but yet very proud of myself. I put out a number of fires today, but more importantly, I worked collaboratively and strategically with departments across the Municipality of RFx to help them move their projects forward.
I know the work we do matters to the organization and the community at large. I would not change a thing. As a public procurement professional I have the privilege of exercising strategic decision making skills every day, and I get to wear many hats along the way.
When someone talks about the new fire trucks, the new document records management system or how great the new parking lot is at the community centre, I can proudly say I was part of making that happen.
Delivering quality services internally to help departments succeed with carrying out their day to day operations and strategic goals. That’s really what it is all about. It’s meaningful work and it makes a real difference.
And that’s a wrap, diary.
Cheers to all us public procurement professionals!