Overview
Do you have NEC contract management experience? Can you work in partnership with a variety of stakeholders? If so, read on…
Salary: £55,057 to £58,829 per annum
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: Full time – 37 hours per week but flexibility so potential for part time hours too
Location: Based at Drayton Depot with hybrid working.
There is potential for flexibility in working hours and should you wish to be considered for part time hours, please indicate this within your cover letter and the hours you could work.
Do you have experience of NEC Contract Management and the Procurement process?
Can you present complex data to a range of audiences in an accessible way?
Are you good with stakeholders at all levels?
If so, then you might be the person we are looking for to join us as a Highway Contracts Support Manager in our Highways, Transport and Planning Directorate.
The successful candidate will be part of the management team for the Local Highways Operations Service. The Service is responsible for ensuring that 4000km of highway, 4000km of public rights of way, and Countryside sites are maintained in a safe condition for use and to ensure statutory compliance with the management of our assets.
Responsibilities
* Provide expert NEC contract advice, guidance and support across the service to ensure effective delivery of contracts, robust compliance and strong commercial governance.
* Help embed consistent contract management practices across teams, ensure clarity in contractual communications and identify risks to strengthen service performance.
* Act as the corporate lead for the contract communication system, ensuring it is used effectively and enabling accurate and timely reports to stakeholders to support decision making.
* Support resilience across all contracts and lead commercial and contractual audits, fostering continuous improvement.
About the Opportunity
In this role, you will provide specialist NEC contract advice, guidance and interpretation to staff across the organisation. You will support consistent and compliant contract management practices across Local Highway Operations. You will also ensure contractual processes, notifications and communications are delivered in accordance with NEC requirements.
The role will require you to support early recognition and escalation of risks, ensuring clear contractual communication and promoting consistent governance. You will also need to demonstrate an ability to procure and manage successful contracts, with a high value and be able to influence and negotiate partner relationships at management level.
You will have excellent communication skills to liaise with multiple stakeholders to persuade and negotiate when required. You will be able to demonstrate that you can challenge existing practices and identify innovative solutions.
Qualifications and Skills
* Extensive experience of NEC contract management and the procurement processes and regulations that go alongside this.
* Understanding and experience of potential commercial issues and NEC payment options and the implications that are linked to this.
* Strong IT skills to enable you to obtain, research, analyse and then present complex data via various outputs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
* Working in partnership and lead in coordinating contract monitoring work so that negotiation can take place in a collaborative way.
* Highly effective communication skills and experience to enable you to provide advice and persuade, influence and negotiate on challenging topics to a wide range of colleagues, stakeholders and partners.
* Experience of making sound decisions and problem solving whilst ensuring awareness of the wider service impact; ability to use initiative and discretion to anticipate and overcome issues independently.
* Ability to challenge existing practices and develop innovative solutions to improve the service.
About us
Local Highway Operations sits within the Highways, Transport and Planning directorate at West Sussex County Council. The team is central to delivering services and protecting its people and assets.
We do all we can to ensure that residents and those using our services are able to do so as efficiently and safely as possible. Our teams work closely with residents, other departments, external partners, stakeholders, regional/national government, and our elected representatives to deliver the key outcomes required in the corporate West Sussex Plan and the West Sussex Transport Plan.
Additional information
We reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. We encourage you to submit your application at your earliest convenience.
The reference number for this role is EIE01538.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Michele Hulme (Head of Local Highways Operations) at michele.hulme@westsussex.gov.uk
For issues or queries regarding your application, please contact Ryan.Kappa@westsussex.gov.uk
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter which should be no more than 2 sides of A4. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the key skills and experience you can bring to the role; ensure you refer to the key skills and cover any gaps in employment.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
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