Contract Manager x 2 (Ref: 80463)

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Title:                  Contract Manager

Job Grade:               SEO

Reporting to:           Senior Contracts Manager

Job Location:          National (click here to find your nearest location)

Contract Type:        Permanent

Business Area:       MOJ – Commercial & Contract Management Department

Type of role:           Commercial and contract management

Working pattern:   Flexible working, Full-time

Number of Posts:  2

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. Responsible for courts, prisons and probation services, we work to ensure sentences are served and offenders are given rehabilitation opportunities to become law-abiding citizens.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has one of the largest and most complex spend profiles in central government. The Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

The MoJ spends £6.7bn a year and manages over 1000 active contracts, all of which are sourced and managed by CCMD. We are running some of the most groundbreaking programmes such as Prison Reform and His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service Reform. The scope of our contracts ranges from building, maintenance and the operation of Prisons, Courts and Young Offender establishments through to food for prison dogs. The directorate also buys and manages contracts for feeding up to 80,000 prisoners, the secure escorting of prisoners from numerous establishments based around the country and translation services.

CCMD 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.

The Digital & Technology and Professional services portfolio has vacancies for 2 Commercial Managers to support Contract Management and Procurement.

SCOPE

Portfolio – Digital & Technology and Professional Services portfolio

The Digital & Technology and Professional Services portfolio within CCMD procures and manages all the Digital and Technology services across the department and its agencies. It manages an annual spend value of ~£500m a year on a diverse set of products and services ranging from IT commodities and software items to complex digital delivery programmes and emerging technologies. 

These roles sit within this portfolio distributed across the following categories:

• Voice, Video and Networks: This category manages all the contracts related to the communications platforms used by the MOJ in the course of its business (Network and Video links, Teams etc)
• Hosting and Applications: This category manages all the contracts related to the operation and management of the justice systems line of business applications and data (eg case management systems, Cloud hosting etc)

This is an exciting time to join the team as a Commercial Manager as successful candidates will have the opportunity to make a real difference to society by providing professional commercial support to the MOJ and the wider Justice system. You will join an empowered, passionate, engaging and friendly team who work in partnership and in a supportive environment to deliver excellent commercial outcomes. Contribution to a strong team ethos as well as commitment to continuous improvement, collaboration and knowledge sharing is essential. Public sector procurement experience or knowledge is not essential, we are seeking individuals who have a passion for delivering good commercial outcomes and achieving value for money for the taxpayer. A preference in which category the successful candidate would like to be placed in will be established at application/interview stage. 

Key Responsibilities

 The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities:

• Contract management
  • Overall contract management of contract obligations;
  • supplier performance management;
  • contract variation and change control;
  • conflict and issue resolution;
  • in-life contract negotiations;
  • Contract exit, mobilisation and transition;
  • employing best practice contract management strategies to enable continuous improvement.
• Supporting the Senior Commercial Manager and leading on activities which support the development of category management procedures, tools and ways of working
• Support in developing and maintaining an active pipeline of contract renewals and replacements and working with category teams and directorate business partners to ensure that these are effectively scheduled and re-procured in a timely manner
• Whilst the role is primarily Contract Management focused the successful candidate will need to support during the end-to-end esourcing activity for example:
  • Supporting requirements definition and validation;
  • Informing strategy development;
  • Participating in market engagement;
  • Developing ITTs (including specification, technical and financial evaluation and contract drafting);
  • Leading on contract implementation and mobilisation.

Person Specification

• Essential Criteria:
  • Excellent people engagement skills across all levels of internal and external stakeholders,
  • Delivery and management of contractual agreements;
  • Relevant commercial & procurement management experience with a strong understanding of the end-to-end procurement process,
  • A collaborative approach to drive decisions and deliver on timely outcomes,
  • Ability to apply sound judgement to make quick and effective decisions,
  • Customer and delivery focus to meet deadlines in a fast paced and ever-changing environment,
  • Ability to manage multiple demands and conflicting priorities,
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in delivering commercial advice to senior leaders,
  • Proficient with Microsoft Office suite of products including Outlook, Word, Teams and Excel,
  • Evidence of strong data analysis skills and presenting data in a clear and user-friendly way,
  • Good understanding and practical knowledge of risk management and appropriate risk mitigation techniques when managing procurements,
• Desirable Criteria:
  • Awareness and understanding of public sector procurement principles and legislation,
  • Experience in a Digital and Technology commercial role including management of Software, Applications, Hosting or network contracts,
  • Working knowledge of procurement systems, e.g. Oracle (ERP) and/or Jaggaer (Bravo),
  • Experience of participating in enterprise Project and programmes,
  • Supplier Relationship Management experience,
  • Category Management experience,

Application stage (Sifting):

An initial sift will be performed against the following elements:

Experience

CV

Statement of Suitability – 500-word limit

Areas of experience that we’ll assess, through the CV and Statement of Suitability, during the selection process may include:

1. Experience of creating and delivering sourcing and procurement exercises. and a solid understanding of procurement processes.
2. Evidence of having worked in a commercial environment in either a category, sourcing, or contract management role.
3. Evidence of excellent stakeholder management experience and supportive people management skills.

Behaviours

Communicating and Influencing – 250-word limit

Delivering at Pace – 250-word limit

Making Effective Decisions – 250-word limit

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview and will be assessed on the selected success profile elements at the interview stage. Please carry a valid proof of Id that has your photo on it (passport, BRP, driving licence etc) at the interview.

Interview stage:

There is one interview stage for this vacancy and as part of the interview process you will be required to provide evidence on the following:

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Experience

As part of the interview, we will test experience specifically in relation to procurement and/or contract management and your application. This will also include those areas as outlined in Essential and Desirable criteria above along with the main activities undertaken in the role.

Strengths

Strengths may also be assessed at interview.

Please also refer to the People Standards for the profession (Commercial Support)– Attributes for Government Commercial Professionals – Contract and Supplier management, Business acumen and Commercial judgement) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/984460/__Government_Commercial_Function__GCF__People_Standards_for_the_Profession_Version_3.0_.pdf    

 Please use STAR approach to structure your examples.

• Situation – Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.
• Task – The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.
• Action – What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions lead to a result.
• Result – Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Further information on the Success profile elements can be found on Success Profiles – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

New entrants are expected to join on the pay minimum. Higher starting salary and / or Recruitment & Retention Allowance (RRA) may be available for successful candidates with exceptional skills and experience.

 ‘’The specialist allowance applies to suitably qualified candidates (CIPS, World CC or any other Commercial Professional Qualification). 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. Further details can be provided during the recruitment process’’

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

• 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
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com