Senior Contract Manager Advisor

The role involves providing expert advice and practical support on medium to high-risk contract management activities across a diverse portfolio, including procurement, concessions, timber sales, energy contracts, grants, leases, and management agreements. You will work closely with contract managers across the organisation, supporting them through the full contract lifecycle - from early scoping and mobilisation to delivery, performance management, risk and change control, and exit planning.

By ensuring compliance with internal and external requirements such as governance, data security, anti-fraud, and sustainability obligations, the post helps protect organisational interests while delivering value for money and effective risk mitigation. Your expertise will help ensure contracts are well-governed, outcomes-focused, and deliver genuine value.

In addition to hands-on contract support, the Senior Advisor plays a key role in mentoring and coaching colleagues, strengthening commercial capability and promoting best practice. The post contributes directly to NRW's strategic aims by improving ways of working, driving consistency and efficiency, and embedding robust governance and commercial standards across the organisation.

This role sits at the heart of how NRW delivers its outcomes. You will have the opportunity to influence how contracts are managed across the organisation, support colleagues to succeed, and ensure that robust governance and commercial best practice underpin our work.

If you are motivated by collaboration, professional excellence, and making a difference through effective contract management, we would love to hear from you.

As an organisation, we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face-to-face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Peter Lees at.

Interviews will take place week commencing 2 March 2026 through Microsoft Teams. Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us: The Contract Management Support Service (CMSS) sits within the Customer, Communication & Commercial Directorate and provides specialist contract management and commercial advisory support across NRW. The team works collaboratively across the organisation and with external partners, influencing internal and external stakeholders and contributing to the development of policy and best practice.

Based in a flexible, primarily office-based working environment, the team supports delivery across NRW sites and partner premises, with activities that may include delivering training, workshops, and presentations. CMSS is an enabling service, focused on improving governance, commercial capability, and consistency of practice.

Team members operate in specialist advisory roles at Grade 6, reporting to the Team Leader, CMSS Team 2, with no direct line management responsibility but acting as mentors to less experienced colleagues and leading non-complex technical programmes through matrix management.

What you will do:

• Support Contract Managers on medium to high-risk contract management activities, advising on contract management process, governance, and outcomes throughout the contract management life cycle.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance in order to manage commercial and sustainability risk, to improve ways of working and drive efficiency, as evidenced by improved value for money.
• Ensure internal and external compliance with requirements e.g. data security, anti-fraud measures and supply chain sustainability, challenging instances of non-compliance.
• Hold accountability under Managing our Money (NRW's financial scheme of delegation), ensuring robust, compliant and value for money outcomes, with the ability to work autonomously and to make decisions without line manager input when needed.
• Build and maintain influential and collaborative relationships with internal customers to ensure awareness of the opportunities, risks, and best practice relevant to contract management, influencing the work of our internal customers to provide positive outcomes.
• Manage the structured transition between contract award and service delivery, communicating with stakeholders.
• Mentor and coach others on commercial procedures, practices and techniques equipping them with the knowledge and skills to deliver their work in an effective and efficient manner.
• Undertake and obtain the CMPC expert qualification within 18 months of appointment if not already qualified to that level.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post.
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills:

In your application and interview, you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method:

• Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) - Level 6 Professional Diploma in Procurement and Supply (Full membership or nearing completion).
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant contract legislation and public sector policy.
• Substantial experience of influencing commercial decisions at a project or contract level.
• Experience of undertaking and leading commercial exercises, demonstrating success with their delivery.
• Transferrable experience of using commercial approaches to deliver business objectives.
• Experience of undertaking high-level and complex negotiations with supply partners.

Welsh Language level requirements:

Essential: Level A1 - Entry level. Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits:

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme).
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days.
• Generous leave entitlements for all your life needs.
• Commitment to professional development.
• Health and wellbeing benefits and support.
• Weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose.

We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to equal opportunities, and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

Unless otherwise stated in the 'Role' section of this advert, Natural Resources Wales is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. Although we hold a Skilled Worker visa sponsorship licence, it applies only to specific roles that meet both the eligibility criteria and salary requirements set out by the UK Government under the Skilled Worker visa route.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on a variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.