Commercial Contract Manager 15 views

Building a strong Commercial Function in Government, and with it the right commercial capability, is at the heart of a far-reaching programme of Civil Service reform.

We are building a cadre of commercial talent in all Government departments; people who can manage our commercial portfolios, who can lead our most complex and novel programmes and projects, people who have the gravitas and depth of experience to work alongside our policy and operational leaders to develop innovative commercial arrangements, whether through joint ventures, outsourcing or best-in-class contracts.

The Government Commercial Organisation is an employer which is truly committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and are able to perform to their potential. We understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and strive for a workplace that reflects the communities which we serve. We especially welcome applications from underrepresented groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, candidates with a disability and candidates with gender-diverse identities. Appointments will be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We have already made significant progress through the establishment of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), our single employer of senior commercial talent across government. This role will sit within the GCO, but based in our FCDO commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

The successful applicant will have a varied portfolio of complex and high value contracts/agreements to oversee and they will be responsible for managing key suppliers which are critical to the delivery of the FCDO’s priorities and objectives. The key focuses in this role will be the delivering of value and the managing of risk in line with best practice throughout the contract lifecycle.

There will be the opportunity to build and maintain relationships with a number of key internal & external stakeholders (including suppliers) which will help ensure successful service delivery throughout the contract lifecycle including re-procurement when necessary.

Ensuring that key day-to-day interfaces and supporting documentation remains current and accurate, and that all elements of the obligations covered by the Terms of Business Arrangement (ToBA) between the FCDO and the supplier are delivered are also key features of the role.

There will be the opportunity to support and coordinate a commercial operating model and to carry out a scope root and branch review. Given the dynamic nature of the supplier management profession, individuals will need excellent communication and relationship management skills, as well as a pro-active and responsive nature in order to meet the demands of this role. These skills will be critical to ensure the individual is able to prioritise numerous and varied tasks and manage their own workload to meet the demands of both the FCDO and its suppliers.

Responsibilities

• • Ensuring effective contract management and performance monitoring, including monitoring supplier performance against KPIs, to deliver successful outcomes (time, cost, performance);

• • Identifying considerations, performance trends, evaluating non-conformance, dispute resolution, and remedies;

• • Ensure that commercial risks are identified, understood, and managed working with key stakeholders. Providing feedback to assist with development of contract sourcing and commercial strategies that reflect the needs of the business;

• • RTSS (in full) commercial management requires ability to manage across Estates, ICT and Corporate Services categories. Resolving issues will require liaison with Heads of Commercial Categories and senior stakeholders in FCDO business units;

• • Ownership of ToBA and potential to refresh – design, changes, interface and engagement between FCDO and FCDO-S. This will include, but is not limited to performance management, auditing service delivery, payment schedules and billing, monitoring contract compliance and ensuring that change requests and pricing assumption changes are effectively discussed, managed, processed and recorded;

• • Management of the day to day supplier relationships, oversight to include;

• – Risks, issues, disputes, escalations and strategic opportunities;

• – Understanding of revenue flows by category, cost base, overheads, profit margins as inputs and outturns;

• – Owning relationships with key gatekeepers and enablers.

• • Identifying and implementing opportunities to maximise value for money and identifying strategic opportunities to reduce cost and improve performance;

• • Building external relationships, including cross government forums, with other donors and partners to include and monitor best practices across the sectors;

• • Supporting senior Commercial leaders with the smooth preparation, coordination, interfaces, running and follow-up/resolution of issues/escalations raised with the FCDO/FCDO-S Partnership Review Groups (PRG);

• • Coordination and management of all aspects of supply partner governance including:

• – Meeting minutes and action monitoring for the Partnership Review Groups (PRG), which operate as the customer board and activity liaison with business units as appropriate;

• – Preparation for the Partnership Board (PB), which operates as the executive owner board, and linkage with Secretariat and key interfaces/dependencies with PRGs.