Contract Manager

Location: National*

Closing Date: 22^nd August

Interviews: w/c 7th September (subject to change)

Grade: SEO

(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)

Salary**:

National: £42,914 - £46,182

London: £49,325 - £53,081

Working pattern: Full-time, part-time, flexible working

Contract Type: Permanent

Number of vacancies: 4

Vacancy number: 20818

*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP

Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.

The Role

We’re recruiting for multiple Contract Managers here at Justice Digital, Data & Science, to be part of our warm and collaborative Contract Management Team part of the wider Delivery Governance Office.

These are exciting times at Justice Digital, Data & Science. We have a clear vision to develop a digitally enabled justice system that works more simply for users, and we’re looking for talented people to help us achieve it.

We are making things better by building adaptable, effective services and making systems that are simple to use for staff and citizens. It can be challenging but it’s also important and rewarding.

The design, delivery, and support of Digital, Data, & Technology services are heavily dependent on collaboration between the MoJ and members of its extensive supplier ecosystem. On behalf of the wider MoJ organisation, Justice Digital, Data & Science invest over £450m per annum in supplier capability and solutions – many of which are critical to the operation of MoJ.

The contract management team exists to ensure that the money spent with suppliers is well managed. The team ensures that all contracts are established based on the best information available and managed for long-term value, while facilitating the development and maintenance of longer-term strategic partnerships.

You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:

• A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
• 25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
• Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
• Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
• A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
• Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!

You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.

Key Responsibilities

The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities, which are dependent on the type of supplier(s) involved:

Leading end to end Contract and Supplier Management activity for the assigned contract(s). Dependant on the supplier / contract classification to include:

• Working with MoJ colleagues from Commercial and across Justice Digital, Data & Science to implement and mobilise new contracts and support transition, business as usual and exit activity.
• Establishing governance to support effective management of the contract and the overall supplier relationship as specified by the Justice Digital, Data and Science Contract Management Framework.
• Implement, support and lead where required key contract and supplier management governance meetings, ensuring their effectiveness to meet the specified, activities and deliver value.
• Implementing and adapting where required stakeholder roles & responsibilities to support effective management of the contract and supplier relationship.
• Supporting and where required leading mobilisation, transition, and exit activities.
• Working with Budget holders & finance Subject Matter Experts to ensure an end-to-end payment assurance process is implemented for each managed contract.
• Working with internal teams to support with the management of the contract pipeline, management of data systems and records, facilitating activities in support of procurement activity.
• Providing a high-level summary of progress, risks & issues, success and escalations of your contracts to the Senior Contract Manager
• Working with the Senior Contract Manager/s to support the achievement of the Contract Management Team’s strategy & objectives.
• Promoting the team’s capability and activities by engaging with a wide group of stakeholders from Justice Digital, Data and Science.
• Where required, act as the line manager for one or more Higher Executive Officers (HEO), providing leadership, coaching, development, workload management and performance management whilst embedding JDDS values and behaviours.

Leading contract and supplier performance management.

• Supporting, assuring & evolving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) & Service Level Agreements (SLAs) specific to the contract and supplier, which align to MoJ strategic objectives.
• Become the Justice Digital, Data and Science contract SME for the assigned contracts.
• Working with the Supplier & internal colleagues to ensure end-to-end management of all contractual obligations.

Ensuring risks and issues are effectively managed.

• Supporting identification and effective management of contract and supplier risk and own mitigating actions using the agreed risk management approach in place for the contract.
• Supporting conflict and issue resolution with suppliers and stakeholders, seeking support from the Senior Contract Manager or relevant Subject Matter Expert where appropriate.
• Ensuring compliance with governance, legislative and policy requirements.

If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!

Person Specification

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of contract and supplier management, supplier relationship management, or working with suppliers to deliver agreed outcomes.
• Experience of driving implementation and change with suppliers and stakeholders to achieve satisfactory outcomes.
• Analysing performance data to identify and drive value optimisation, service improvement and innovation opportunities.
• Experience of assessing risks, issues and contractual information to make informed recommendations and support effective decision-making.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, confident with influencing key stakeholders.
• Commitment to personal professional development.
• Hold or have a willingness to work towards gaining a suitable related qualification such as CIPs, World CC (formerly IACCM) or Contract Management Capability Programme accreditation. Continuous development will be encouraged through continuous investment in learning.

Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for BPSS clearance.

We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.

Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Salary Information**

Base salary for this role is from £42,914 to £46,182 (National) or from £49,325 to £53,081 (London).

• New entrants to the Civil Service joining the MoJ are expected to start at the minimum of the pay band.
• Existing Civil Servants moving on a level transfer will retain their current base salary or move to the minimum of the pay band for the role, whichever is higher.
• Existing Civil Servants who are promoted will either move to the bottom of the new grade’s pay band or receive a 10% uplift, whichever provides the greater increase.

How to Apply

In Justice Digital, Data and Science, we recruit using the Success Profiles Framework. We shall assess a combination of your Experience, Technical skills and Behaviours during the assessment process.

Stage 1 - Application and sift:

To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:

• A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Person Specification of this advert.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 750 words) which should outline your experience and skills, giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following 3 criteria listed below, using a separate paragraph for each.

1. Demonstrable experience of contract and supplier management, supplier relationship management, or working with suppliers to deliver agreed outcomes.
2. Experience of driving implementation and change with suppliers and stakeholders to achieve satisfactory outcomes.
3. Good communication and interpersonal skills, confident with influencing key stakeholders.

A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and Personal Statement to assess the sift criteria specified above. We operate an anonymous shortlisting process. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement do not include your name or any other identifying details.

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on criteria 1 (Demonstrable experience of contract and supplier management, supplier relationship management, or working with suppliers to deliver agreed outcomes) will be conducted before the sift.

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance

Stage 2 - Interviews:

Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a panel interview held via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience and the following Behaviours:

• Changing & Improving
• Communicating & Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Appointments are made strictly in merit order. In the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores, the Managing a Quality Service will be applied as the primary lead criterion to determine the final merit order.

Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Terms & Conditions

Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk