Contracts Officer

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

Provide advice, guidance, and analysis to enable the procurement and management of contracts, in accordance with Council governance and regulations, procurement legislation and best practice. The role may also provide internal guidance and advise to other service areas and provide direction to contracted providers where appropriate. 

Main Responsibilities

Contract Management / Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) 

Co-ordinate and monitor contractual / procurement arrangements for a mixed portfolio of contracts to verify that services are delivered in accordance with contractual performance requirements, within regulations, and deliver value for the Council. 

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with providers to ensure consistent and smooth delivery of services.
• Support departments on ways to improve services and advise on what can be achieved within procurement and contractual processes and regulations.
• Establish, maintain and analyse records of contractual arrangements including pre-qualification, tendering or purchasing arrangements and contract monitoring information, to inform a clear auditing process, decisions on contracts, and to enable improvement in processes.  
• Support departments in contract negotiations with both prospective and current providers, to ensure that appropriate expertise informs the agreement of terms.

 Procurement/Contract Administration Management 

 Develop specifications and contracts for services, in line with defined requirements, so that suitable providers can be appointed, in accordance with regulations and procedures. 

• Ensure that procurement processes and evaluation of tenders is conducted appropriately, and procurement risk is managed so providers are selected in full compliance with financial regulations and the authority does not receive legal challenge. 
• Monitor and scrutinise financial information relating to budget estimates and payments for contracts, so that they inform negotiation and preparation of contracts and enable the discharge of appropriate financial procedures such as payment to contractors, or internal budgeting.

The Ideal Candidate

• knowledge of procurement and contracting processes, including those relating to the development of specifications and contract documents, and payments.
• Knowledge of the challenges, context and associated processes of the business areas served.
• Experience of using procurement and contracting procedures (including legal and regulatory requirements and the risks of noncompliance), and of developing standard specifications and contract documentation. 
• Ability to supervise and direct work of others such as providers.
• Ability to communicate effectively

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people.  Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline.  We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services.  By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package for further details see here

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils. 

We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward.  If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.

DBS

BCP Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the community and expects all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment.  Applicants to this post will be required to complete the appropriate level of Disclosure & Barring Service Check. Please refer to the Job Description or Role Profile for more details.