Senior Contract Manager

This contract with our Defence/Nuclear client is for a Senior Contract Manager for 12 months based in Aldermaston - 1 day per week in office.  

Key Accountabilities:  

• Creating a highly motivated, skilled, and professional contract management team that delivers contract performance outcomes, aligned to business and HMG commercial requirements, with the capacity to meet business demand plan.  

• Act as subject matter expert for assigned contracts, providing professional advice to enable business to effectively deliver contract objectives.  

• Ensuring all contracts, they are responsible for, have a robust Contract Management Plan with defined procedure for delivery performance management, invoice applications, risk management and contract reviews.  

• Ensure contracts are delivered in accordance with business management system, priorities and conduct internal audits to ensure compliance with government regulations and legislation.  

• Working collaboratively with the stakeholders and with the SCM sub-unit Leadership Team (specifically the Head of Strategic Sourcing/the Head of Category Management) to understand their detailed business requirements and championing contract best practice. Influence key decision makers to secure best contract solutions to satisfy the Board and HMG requirements.  

• Implement the Supplier Relationship Management framework for assigned key suppliers who have a significant impact on the organisation's business, with the objective of managing risk, managing performance, and extracting more value from the supplier base.  

• Support the development and drive the implementation of Supplier Strategies for assigned suppliers, with the objective of minimizing risk for the organisation and maximizing value.  

• Support procurement activity through providing best practice contact advice to develop contract templates and bespoke terms.  

• Ensuring contracts maximise value for money and have defined performance outcomes. Ensuring all contracts have clear business ownership to track and monitor contract performance against KPIs and cost, quality, and time obligations.  

• Working with the SCM Delivery Unit Sourcing/Category team to lead contract negotiations pre-contract award and apply lessons learned to enhance contracting models and support supplier selection.  

• Leading contract negotiations and apply diplomacy to mitigate contract risks to the organisation's benefit and where necessary develop contract litigation strategies.  

• Implementing the Supplier Relationship Management framework and strategy for defined portfolio of contracts, creating trusted industry alliances to drive business innovation/efficiencies and developing optimum systems of business intelligence and relationships.  

Key Responsibilities:  

• Acting as a role model for health, safety, environmental and quality management. Ensure contracts are aligned to business safety and quality management systems and be an advocate of the organisation's behaviours.  

• Establishing a high level of credibility and manage complex working relationships with internal and external parties including both commercial and government partners.  

• Drive suppliers segmentation (quality, performance, risk) in accordance with the organisation's Supplier Relationship Management Framework and drive SRM implementation, in collaboration with business stakeholders, for assigned suppliers  

• Monitor and mitigate supplier risks (including Quality, Environmental & Health and Safety, supplier fragility as well as dependency on the organisation and their dependency on the supplier), make corrective action plans for the identified risks.  

• Develop and implement Supplier Strategies for assigned key suppliers.  

• Ensure contract control systems are robust and suitable to support all post contract commitments and satisfying the reporting/governance processes.  

• Ensuring legal compliance with contracts by monitoring changes in laws or regulations that may affect the company’s ability to meet its obligations and mitigate any potential conflict of interest or breach of company ethic’s policy.  

• Ensure there is an effective contract reporting and engagement strategy in place to enable all key stakeholders to be aligned to contracts risks and opportunities.  

• Identify and estimate the likelihood and impact of contract-related risk, establish mitigation methods aligned to business needs and track effectiveness of those mitigations.  

• Ensuring a robust SRM delivery plan is in place for all assigned critical suppliers  

Top essential criteria:  

1. Knowledge and application of Public Procurement Policy  

2. Commercial contract drafting  

3. Familiar with T&Cs, drafting, amending  

4. Working with Legal  

Essential  

• Commercial contract drafting  

• Familiar with T&Cs, drafting, amending  

• Knowledge and application of Public Procurement Policy  

• Working with Legal  

• Favourable if experience in complex security environments  

• MCIPs or equivalent  

Desirable  

• Security or defence background  

• Infra and/or NEC experience