Commercial Manager – Contract Management (Ref: 7283)

This is a Nationally based role.

The Ministry of Justice has one of the largest and most complex spending profiles in central government. Each year we spend more than £5 billion with our suppliers and it’s our job to help coordinate the sourcing of what we need. We support the management of our contracts across the department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Commercial is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Commercial is organised into category teams, each with an interesting portfolio of contracts and diverse customers and suppliers to manage. We also have systems, programme management office, supplier relationship and risk management teams who work across all areas.

We are looking for a Commercial Manager, ideally with Facilities Management experience, which we will be looking for at the application and interview stages. This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious commercial management professional to join the Commercial Property Services Portfolio, which is there to support the MoJ and its agencies in providing suitable, safe, secure and sustainable buildings incurring a spend over £250m per annum on outsourced Facilities Management (FM) contracts. Individual contract spend can be over £50m per annum and include a wide range of complex and innovative contractual mechanisms following the NEC suite of contracts to deliver on a range of projects from major refurbishments and security services to sustainable delivery of catering services.

In this role you will be expected to own contract management activity for multiple contracts, ensuring the best outcomes is achieved across the commercial lifecycle. The role includes activity relating to mobilising/de-mobilising contracts, managing the delivery and performance of the contract, carrying out contract changes, managing risk within the contract and managing supplier relationships.

You will work independently and part of a larger team by drawing on your commercial experience to drive performance and achieve value engineering. You will be able to prioritise and manage your own workload to deliver to deadlines, mitigate and escalate any emerging risks and to respond swiftly to changing operational demands.

Key Responsibilities

• Managing one or more contracts, ensuring effective stakeholder management, governance, performance management frameworks, escalation, risk management, issues resolution, financial management, change control and compliance.
• Ensuring the control and delivery of all spend through compliant contracts and publishing details via appropriate media.
• Tracking, owning and mitigating risks relating to specific contracts.
• Reviewing and understanding the terms and conditions of contracts and deliverables and working with the supplier to establish a plan for delivering them.
• Agreeing and clarifying contract management responsibilities with stakeholders and advising them on setting up effective processes.
• Developing opportunities to incentivise contract delivery, continuous performance improvement (where appropriate) and identifying where changes in the contract are required.
• Overseeing measures and records realisation of benefits achieved as a result of the performance management regime (or change controls).
• Actively reconsidering market approach over time, including shifting balance of mixed market towards private sector provision and examining whether re-aggregation will yield scale efficiencies.
• Leading all planning and preparation, goal setting, strategy and tactics for re-procurement and undertaking soft market testing.
• Helping to drive innovation in contracts to demonstrate continuous improvement.
• Continually analysing contracts in order to develop and drive value adding initiatives.
• Tracking operational demand and patterns on an ongoing basis and introducing demand management mechanisms where applicable.
• Utilising financial management and benchmarking.
• Undertaking proactive change controls, such as horizon scanning and evaluating the impact of supplier positioning, such as mergers.
• Managing multiple, more complex requirements and contracts concurrently.
• Managing assurance requirements and conducting peer reviews.
• Negotiating with industry on key issues, such as contract terms, pricing, contract changes, Terms & Conditions and risk and reward.
• Maintaining quality and concurrency of systems, reporting and management information.
• Mentoring and providing guidance to junior members of the team.
• Working within a secure environment on sensitive projects as required.

As part of your own personal career development in the Commercial team, there could be opportunities to move roles at the same grade. In some circumstances, we may need to move you on to business-critical priorities at the same grade to meet business need.

Essential Criteria

• Contract Management: Has experience in conducting contract management for one or more contracts. Has strong understanding of all aspects of contract management and how it fits in the commercial lifecycle.
• Commercial Focus: Has strong commercial knowledge, understands commercial law and can use key commercial tools appropriately.
• Risk and Assurance Management: Demonstrates the ability to manage cyber, personnel and physical risks within an area of responsibility.
• Commercial Ethics: Demonstrates the ability to apply standards to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards.
• Team Focus: Demonstrates the ability to work as part of a team to support their performance, manage setbacks and resolve issues internally.
• Build Relationships: Demonstrates the ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels using different communication styles to articulate the benefits that have been achieved and to establish governance and relationship arrangements.

Desirable Criteria

• Working Knowledge of NEC Term Service Contracts.
• Working knowledge of systems, e.g. Oracle and/or Jaggaer (Bravo).
• Awareness and understanding of public sector commercial principles and legislation.
• Awareness of public sector commercial legislation including EU Rules and UK interpretations.
• Candidates must have one of the following or a willingness to work towards gaining the appropriate qualification in the procurement or commercial management profession - CIPS, World CC or similar.

Application Stage

An Initial Sift Will Be Performed Against The Following Elements And Will Be Assessed Against The Civil Service Success Profiles Framework:

• CV Statement of Suitability (up to 750 words). In the Statement of Suitability, please demonstrate your skills for the role and how you meet the key responsibilities and essential criteria as detailed in the job description.
• Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions (up to 250 words).
• Experience: Please demonstrate your experience and understanding of the use of standard and non-standard form of contracts. (up to 250 words).

If shortlisted, you will be invited to an interview and will be assessed on the selected success profile elements at the interview stage.

Interview stage

There Is One Interview Stage For This Vacancy Which Will Be Held Remotely And As Part Of The Interview Process You Will Be Required To Provide Evidence On The Following, And Will Be Assessed Against The Civil Service Success Profiles Framework:

• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Delivering at Pace.
• Technical: A technical question on the use of standard and non-standard form of contracts, such as NEC suite contracts.

Strengths will be assessed at the interview, and these are not shared in advance.

To learn more about the success profiles framework and how they are assessed, please refer to the relevant resources.

Commercial Roles

New entrants are expected to join on the pay minimum. Higher starting salary and/or Recruitment & Retention Allowance may be available for successful candidates with exceptional skills and experience. We will consider applications from non-qualified candidates, who are willing to develop and work towards a recognised qualification in order to meet the full requirements of the role. The specialist allowance may apply to fully qualified applicants with a commercial professional qualification, for example CIPS, World CC, etc. Further details can be provided during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Please Refer To The Job Description.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Leadership, Delivering at Pace.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: A technical question on the use of standard and non-standard form of contracts, such as NEC suite contracts.

Alongside your salary of £41,463, Ministry of Justice contributes £12,011 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Access to learning and development, a working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work-life balance, a working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity, and a Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.

Annual Leave, Public Holidays, Season Ticket Advance.

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please refer to the Candidate Information Page.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups: UK nationals, nationals of the Republic of Ireland, nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK, nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS), individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020, Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact: SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team Email: Telephone: 0345 241 5359.

Further information: Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.