Public procurement is increasingly recognised as a strategic instrument for achieving government policy goals aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), including promoting a circular and green economy, stimulating innovation, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and promoting ethical behaviour and responsible business conduct. Indeed, public procurement can be linked to over 80% of the total SDG indicator matrix. Public procurement was at the forefront of delivering essential public services during the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis by ensuring the functioning of key supply chains, and will play a key role during the post COVID-19 recovery phase.

These dynamic global trends make public procurement a more complex function than ever, requiring a more complex skillset for public procurement officials that implement public procurement procedures. The capacity of the public procurement workforce is a crucial element of a sound procurement system that delivers efficiency and value for money in the use of public funds. Therefore, professionalising the public procurement workforce has become a priority in countries’ public procurement reforms. While major improvements have been witnessed in recent years, further actions are required. This policy paper seeks to help procurement policymakers professionalise the public procurement workforce by providing good practices from OECD countries.

The paper discusses the three main stages of professionalisation initiatives: i) assessing the current level of professionalisation, (ii) developing a professionalisation strategy, and (iii) implementing a professionalisation strategy. Implementing a professionalisation strategy can include various actions, such as developing a competency model and a certification framework, developing capacity-building systems, setting up incentive mechanisms, and/or promoting collaborative approaches with knowledge centres