Deputy Director of Strategic Partnerships & Contract Management

Salary: This post is at SCS1 level, the salary will be circa £75,000 p.a.

Locations: Birmingham, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, London or Sheffield.

Please note, this is a role with Department for Work and Pensions, not DWP Digital.

About this role.

We want to hire a Deputy Director of Strategic Partnerships & Contract Management.

We think it’s a great job – there aren’t many roles in contracts, supplier and commercial management like this one.

We’re the UK’s biggest government department. We deliver services and support to over 20 million users. We help people find work and get help when they need it.

At its core, your role is all about making sure DWP has people in the right place at the right time to deliver these essential services.

You’ll work with external suppliers, build partnerships and manage contracts that mean we can flex our workforce using outsourced services to meet the changing demands.

Right now we have around 6,000 people working with DWP via outsourced contracts. We expect that number to grow over the next 12 months, up to as much as 11,000 by 2025.

You’re responsible for managing the contracts, relationships and strategic decisions that will make that possible.

This is an amazing opportunity for you to lead a vital part of what makes DWP tick. If you are passionate about making a sustainable and positive impact to people’s lives, we’d love to hear from you.

Tell me more.

We want your application if have experience of commercial partnerships and overseeing contracts, and you know how to build influential relationships that work, with colleagues and suppliers.

You’ll working with our Director for Service Planning & Delivery and lead an experienced team of over 100 colleagues, over multiple sites.

You will lead the Contract Management team, with responsibility for multiple multi-million-pound contracts.

You’ll need the people skills to collaborate with internal teams, including, commercial, finance, digital and wider Service Delivery.

You’ll make sure that services – like telephony, printed customer communications, courier and translation services – are being delivered efficiently and staffed correctly.

You’ll work particularly closely with colleagues who manage resource plans, design change, deliver transformation and those who support the end-to-end customer experience.

You and your team will build strong partnerships with our external suppliers. You’ll get value and results from DWP’s commercial relationships, and make sure that we have the arrangements in place to ensure DWP always has the people it needs to deliver for our customers.

Are there opportunities to start new strategic partnerships through Delivery Model Assessments? You’ll find them.

Are the ways we could work better? You’ll create a culture where we share feedback, celebrate success and learn from mistakes.

And as a member of the DWP’s Operational Contract Management Board you’ll make sure contracts are future proofed against modernisation and transformation objectives, and that DWP complies with Cabinet Office-led work to assure best-in-class delivery.

Essential Criteria

When assessing your application, successful candidates will demonstrate the following:​

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• Experience in leading the management of large, complex, high-value contracts ensuring the supplier performance to and against milestone and contractual obligations
• Strong organisational and planning skills, working within a high-level stakeholder management environment – with particular emphasis on leading negotiation with suppliers and assessing their performance
• You’re a strategic thinker with a confident leadership style who is able to build networks effectively inside and outside of an organisation to translate strategy into action
• Astute business awareness and ability to deliver at pace using data and evidence to influence key stakeholders -you manage risk and reach sound judgements and improved outcomes for the customer
• A commitment to organisational learning, and continuous improvement and optimisation – listening to customers and stakeholders – and empowering colleagues to improve customer service and service excellence
• You can leverage partners’ experience and capabilities to help your organisation innovate and transform services, with experience in leading and driving transformational change
• Passion for building high performing teams by developing capability and creating an inclusive and collaborative learning culture which values diversity and encourages openness, approachability and sensitivity.
• You will also be required to be Operational Contract Management accredited at SRO level, or commit to the necessary training within your first year.

Desirable:

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• Service delivery in a complex or large-scale organisation
• Public sector contract experience

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