Operational Contract Management Lead (Synergy Programme)
Department for Work and Pensions
Europe, United Kingdom, Birmingham
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Salary
$100,844 Per Year
Rank
Senior Manager
Responsibility
Design/Transform
Scope
Regional
Workplace
100% in office
Functions
Finance
Procurement
Reports to
Level
N-2
Travel Max:
0%
Posting Date
10-01-2025
Description
Do you want to be part of an energetic, innovative team and bring your skills to one of the biggest changes to the administration of the Civil Service in decades?
We’re looking for people who are flexible, intuitive and are comfortable taking high levels of volume, speed and complexity in their stride.
An exciting new role is available in the Synergy Programme, a cross-departmental group formed in response to Government Business Service’s request for individual departments to group together in ‘clusters’ to drive efficiencies, increase buying power and improve the quality of shared service to our end users – our people.
The Synergy Programme is the largest of five departmental clusters, comprising the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office. The Department for Work and Pensions hosts the Synergy Programme. Your work will impact Shared Services arrangements and support almost a quarter of a million officials and public servants across the four departments and arm’s length bodies who deliver some of the most vital public services in our country.
The success of the program is crucial, as Civil Servants rely on shared services to provide business critical tools in human resources, finance, payroll and procurement. It affects everything we do, from joining a department as a new starter, the way we claim for expenses, how we buy goods and services such as our laptops and canteen provisions, to the way we receive our pensions when we retire.
Most importantly, we’re looking for applications from people who can also demonstrate a passion for our core ambition – delivering a once in a generation, transformed service that Civil Servants will use as a result of the Synergy Programme.
Key Responsibilities
Whilst no 2 days will be the same, your duties will include:
- Leading and owning the contractual relationship between Synergy and Suppliers focusing on Business Process Services
- Leading by example in managing and maintaining excellent relationships with suppliers and stakeholders
- Providing expert advice and guidance on contractual and performance matters
- Leading, motivating and directing a professional team to ensure engagement with suppliers and other stakeholders leads to effective management of contracts.
- Working with commercial colleagues to ensure innovation on the contracts and ensuring value for money.
- Retaining overall responsibility for financial management of contracts, working with the Programmes Finance Business Partner to ensure accurate and robust forecasts.
- As and when required, leading and managing specific high risk and value projects, such as major contract changes or contract extensions.
- Be an effective communicator who effectively manages risks and change.
- Provide leadership and representation at key governance forums, including monthly service reviews, quarterly commercial boards, and biannual exit readiness reviews. Oversee the maintenance of contract documentation and performance evidence in a structured SharePoint repository to ensure audit readiness.
- Work closely with commercial, Supplier Relationship Management, Finance, PMO, and Legal functions to ensure end-to-end contract delivery, assurance, and value for money.
Qualification & Requirements
Essential Criteria
- Leadership in Gold-Level contract Management (Lead Criteria) – Experience in Gold Level Contract Management, with experience of delivering ongoing contract management and a successful track record of managing teams to deliver this.
- Management of Complex Multi-Supplier Portfolios – Demonstrable experience leading complex multi-supplier contract portfolios (>£100m) in a public sector or regulated environment.
- Senior Stakeholder and Supplier Engagement – Outstanding and proven senior stakeholder, supplier management and engagement experience. Evidence of managing complex and challenging relationships with suppliers, stakeholders and external partners.
- Strategic Communication and Influence – Demonstrable strong communications skills, to effectively challenge assumptions and influence direction in a complex environment, with the ability to build consensus across a large and diverse group of stakeholders.
- Commercial Negotiation and Influence – Demonstrable track record in influencing and negotiating in a commercial setting, with the ability to influence at all levels across the business, other Civil Service bodies and major suppliers.
- Expertise in Procurement and Contract Governance – Strong understanding of public procurement frameworks (e.g. G-Cloud, CCS), contract law, and commercial lifecycle governance.
- Strategic Alignment and Value Delivery – Proven ability to drive strategic alignment between contract delivery, programme objectives, and value-for-money outcomes.
- Contract Assurance and Digital Evidence Management – Experience overseeing contract assurance, audit readiness, and digital evidence management systems (e.g. SharePoint, Power BI).
- Leadership Through Ambiguity and Workload Management – Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and work on own initiative to manage a diverse workload, dealing effectively with a range of concurrent priorities.
- Commercial Acumen and Strategic Direction – Good commercial acumen with previous experience in a multi layered contact management role and experience of providing strategic direction and leadership.
- Professional Qualifications in Commercial Practice – Possession of, or working towards a relevant commercial, procurement, or contract management qualification. Examples include; Government Commercial College Training, World CC certification, CIPS certification or similar.
Behaviors
We’ll assess you against these behaviors during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Changing and Improving
- Working Together
Technical Skills
We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Leadership in Gold-Level Contract Management
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £75,026, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £21,735 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
- Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
- Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
- Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
- Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Program for specialist advice and counseling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class program of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
- Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
- Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognized qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programs.
- An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.
Company Profile
Department for Work and Pensions
Industry
Government Administration
Revenue
$9.6B
Employees
96,011
Fortune 500 Rank
NA
Global 500 Rank
NA
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