Contracts Manager, Senior Manager in Paisley

The key purpose of this role is to support the Vendor Management Office (VMO) and Contracts Manager in managing Digital Transformation's commercial relationships with IT suppliers, ensuring effective contract governance, cost control, and value delivery.

The role will contribute to both the strategic management of key vendor relationships and the efficient day-to-day administration of contracts, including renewals, performance monitoring, and financial processes. It will play an important part in maintaining visibility of supplier engagement, supporting informed decision-making, and ensuring alignment with Digital Transformation and business objectives.

Specific Responsibilities

• Establish and maintain a consolidated and accurate view of Digital Transformation supplier expenditure, ensuring full transparency of all supplier-related costs (including maintenance & support, project delivery, and business-led spend).
• Support the development and execution of supplier negotiation strategies, contributing to achieving improved commercial terms and overall value.
• Assist in the end-to-end contract lifecycle management process, including planning renewal timelines, coordinating scope and pricing changes, and supporting governance approvals.
• Monitor and report on supplier performance against agreed contractual obligations, highlighting risks and areas for improvement.
• Ensure the timely validation, processing and tracking of supplier invoices, in line with Iberdrola Group standards and controls.
• Act as a key liaison between Digital Transformation and Procurement, supporting compliance with Iberdrola and ScottishPower procurement policies and processes.
• Support the maintenance of accurate contract and supplier records, contributing to effective governance and reporting.

Accountabilities

• Support the development and execution of supplier negotiation strategies, leveraging supplier relationships where appropriate to help deliver optimal commercial outcomes.
• Assist in the review, negotiation, renewal and/or termination of Digital Transformation third-party contracts, ensuring compliance with Iberdrola purchasing, governance and ethical standards.
• Contribute to the delivery of year-on-year value improvements, including cost savings and cost avoidance opportunities across IT supplier contracts.
• Collaborate with VMO and DT colleagues to support the development and ongoing enhancement of VMO tools and systems (e.g. supplier portals), enabling improved visibility and management of supplier relationships.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date supplier and contract data, including spend, contract terms, and forward commitments, to support reporting, governance, and decision-making.
• Support the implementation and operation of supplier performance management frameworks, including tracking KPIs, gathering stakeholder feedback, and identifying areas for improvement.
• Identify and recommend improvements to supplier engagement models, contract terms or service delivery arrangements where opportunities are identified.
• Assist in evaluating new or changing service requirements from Digital Transformation or the business, supporting the alignment of contracts and supplier services to evolving needs.
• Support understanding of the financial and budgetary impact of supplier contracts, ensuring accurate reflection in planning, forecasting, and budgeting processes.
• Produce and maintain supplier spend forecasts, supporting business planning and financial management activities.
• Act as a key point of contact for supplier and contract information, ensuring timely and accurate responses to internal stakeholders.
• Support knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the VMO, contributing positively to team objectives, processes, and capability development.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Degree educated or holding equivalent industry qualification.
• Experience in IT contract management for high value contracts essential.
• Extensive knowledge of negotiation processes and strategies, with significant prior experience in a procurement and/or financial environment.
• Excellent interpersonal skills are essential, including strong influencing skills.
• Team player, with previous experience of working as part of a global team, across multiple cultures, beneficial.
• Excellent analytical skills with a strong focus on detail.
• Capable of performing accurate analysis and drawing conclusions that extract maximum value from the supplier relationships.
• Capable of working under pressure, to tight timescales and challenging budget targets.
• Spanish speaking/writing skills would be advantageous.

Complexity and Creativity

• Identifying all the points of IT supplier contact into ScottishPower and collating all relevant details of the supplier relationship.
• An ability to derive the key drivers and levers for the relationship with each IT supplier, based on disparate information collated from multiple companies across the Iberdrola Group.
• Capable of identifying the optimal strategy for negotiation with each supplier based on the details of the specific global relationships in each case.
• An ability to identify business needs from suppliers and to ensure these are balanced in the final contract strategies agreed.
• Managing conflicting views across the Group both during the determination of the optimal strategy for supplier negotiation and during specific negotiations (e.g. to determine the optimal balance of service level vs. cost).
• Understanding and recommending the necessary contract changes required to meet changing business requirements.
• Managing a high number of contract renewals, often simultaneously, in a fast moving environment.
• Understanding, in detail, the terms and conditions embedded in each IT licence agreement and being able to translate these into clear decisions regarding the ability to deploy products whilst maintaining compliance.
• Interpreting the results of supplier monitoring to identify potential issues with the supplier relationship and define strategies for resolution.

Judgement and Decisions

• Define key supplier information and maintain this in an environment of continual change.
• Define and agree the optimal strategy for each supplier negotiation.
• Identify opportunities for IT contract cost reduction that can be delivered without an unacceptable impact on IT service delivery.
• Recommend optimal IT contract renewal/signature terms for approval by the Digital Transformation Director.
• Implement an appropriate framework for supplier tracking and status reporting (budget, scope, needs, target, etc.).
• Identify sub-optimal supplier performance and mechanisms for resolution.
• Maintain probity and integrity in supplier management at all times, in line with the Iberdrola ethics policy.
• Accurately forecast expenditure for defined suppliers and contracts.

Previous experience of working in an IT Contract Management function - Mandatory.

Previous experience of working as part of a cross-functional team - Mandatory.

Spanish language skills - Desirable.