Operational Contract Support - Birmingham
2 days ago
Birmingham
Operational Contract Support - Birmingham About the job \n Job summary \n \nDiscover what it‘s like to work in a compliance role that makes an impact. Could you help us shape a stronger, fairer future? Your next career move starts here.\n \nAt HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.\n \nWe want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us, and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.\n \nDiverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success, and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.\n \nHMRC is the UK‘s tax, payments, and customs authority, and we have a vital purpose: we collect the money that pays for public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.\n \nJoin us at the forefront of HMRC‘s compliance transformation, where we are delivering a bold and complex portfolio of change designed to reshape how compliance outcomes are achieved across the organisation. The Compliance Transformation Portfolio is strategically aligned to HMRC‘s wider objectives and encompasses a diverse range of initiatives-from digitising case management and enhancing risk identification to modernising data infrastructure and onboarding new capabilities. With a roadmap that spans five years, the portfolio is focused on delivering tangible benefits, including improved yield, operational efficiency, and customer experience.\n Job description \n \nAs Operational Contract Manager, you will play a key role in the effective management, governance, and assurance of contracts across the Compliance Transformation portfolio. The role provides end-to-end operational oversight of contract administration, supplier performance, financial management, and delivery outcomes, ensuring all arrangements achieve value for money and align with programme objectives.\n \nYou will actively support procurement activity across the commercial lifecycle, including contributing to commissioning requests, call-off processes, and contract mobilisation. This includes ensuring compliance with internal governance, supporting the development of specifications and commercial documentation working closely with Commercial and the Business/Programmes to enable timely and compliant procurement outcomes.\n \nYou will support the ongoing management of contracts, including supplier relationship management, performance monitoring, risk and issue management, financial tracking, and driving continuous improvement. The role also requires robust assurance of supplier delivery, ensuring that contractual obligations are met and that suppliers are held to account where required.\n \nWorking collaboratively with stakeholders across Commercial, Finance, Security, Strategic Business Partners, SROs, and delivery teams, you will provide coordinated oversight and insight to optimise contract performance, mitigate risk, and support successful programme delivery.\n \nThe role requires occasional travel/overnight stays for whole team and function specific away days held across HMRC‘s regional offices. These will be planned in advance, with notice provided.\n Person specification \n \nKey Responsibilities will be:\n \n\n • Operational Contract Management: Support the Business/Programmes and Commercial with all aspects of contract lifecycle management, including new procurements, renewal, extension, mobilisation, and contract exit.\n, • Risk Analysis: Support the identification and mitigation of risks associated with contractual arrangements/supplier performance to protect outcomes and organisational objectives.\n, • Stakeholder Collaboration: Build strong relationships with internal teams, suppliers, and external stakeholders to ensure that contracts align with project needs and deliverables.\n, • Performance Monitoring: Manage the process to monitor performance of contracts/suppliers to ensure they deliver VFM and drive efficiencies by continuously holding suppliers to account for their performance through agreed contractual KPIs, SLAs and deliverables.\n, • Budget Management/Financial Tracking: Monitor contract budgets and invoicing ensuring adherence to financial controls as well as liaising with Finance colleagues to support reporting of actuals/forecasts by Programme/work stream.\n, • Security and onboarding: Ensure adherence of all key activities relating to security, onboarding/offboarding procedures, and tracking of resources against contracts and Statements of Work.\n, • Drive continuous improvements within the ways of working within the team to reduce cost, time, and effort where possible, including process mapping current and future ways of working as the team matures.\n, • Experience delivering trusted, secure, and resilient services, ensuring predictable outcomes in complex operational environments.\n\n Essential Criteria \n \n\n • Experience in Operational Contract Management, demonstrating management of risk, contract performance, and supplier relationships within large, complex organisations, with accountability for delivering outcomes and mitigating issues.\n, • Strong analytical capability, with experience of interpreting complex contract and performance data, identifying risks and opportunities, and leading the development of evidence-based solutions that drive continuous improvement and service effectiveness.\n, • Highly developed communication and influencing skills, with proven ability to build and sustain strategic, collaborative relationships, with the confidence to challenge constructively, negotiate effectively, and present complex information clearly to senior stakeholders, ensuring informed decision-making.\n, • Advanced experience in Microsoft Office applications (including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook), with the ability to independently produce high-quality analysis, insightful reporting, and professional communications to support operational and strategic objectives.\n\n Desirable Criteria \n \n\n • Experience working in a Programme or Portfolio environment.\n\n Further Location Information \n \nPlease ensure that you only apply for a location that you are willing and able to work from, as we will only make one offer of employment. Any additional notes included in a ‘Further Location Preferences (optional)‘ field within the application form, will not be considered. Please be aware that you cannot change your location preference after submitting your application.\n Office closures \n \nFor more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.\n \nIf your location preference is for one of the following sites, it‘s important to note that these are not long-term sites for HMRC and we will require you to move to a new building in the future, subject to our location strategy and the applicable employee policies at that time.\n \nThese sites are:\n \n\n • Benton Park View, Newcastle - moving to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle\n, • Telford Plaza, Telford - moving to Parkside Court, Telford\n\n \nYou will be given more information about what this means at the job offer stage. \n Behaviours \n \nWe‘ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:\n \n\n • Communicating and Influencing\n\n Benefits \n \nAlongside your salary of 45,544, HM Revenue and Customs contributes 13,194 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).\n \nHMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.\n \nWe offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.\n \n\n • Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues‘ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.\n, • Family friendly policies.\n, • Personal support.\n, • Coaching and development.\n\n \nTo find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it‘s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.\n Things you need to know \n Artificial intelligence \n \nArtificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.\n Selection process details \n \nThis vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.\n How to Apply \n \nAs part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:\n \n\n • A name-blind CV including your job history.\n, • A 1000-word Personal Statement. Your Personal Statement should be used to describe how your skills and experience would be suitable for the advertised role, making reference to the Essential Criteria and Person Specification outlined in the advert.\n\n \nPlease complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at interview.\n \nFurther details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.\n \nPrior to applications being sifted candidates will be asked to complete an additional IKM assessment. Candidates will be sent details of the assessment once the advert has closed. This assessment is a pass or fail and only those who pass will be considered at the sift stage.\n Sift \n \nIn the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on your CV.\n \nAt full sift your CV and your Personal Statement will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.\n \nWe may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.\n Interview \n \nDuring the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked a behaviour-based question on Communicating and Influencing to explore in detail what you are capable of. You will also be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.\n \nThis is an example of a strengths-based question:\n \n‘It is often said that the customer‘s needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?‘\n \nThere is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.\n \nInterviews will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.\n Eligibility \n \nPlease take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. Mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we may not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, or have withdrawn yourself in error and need your application reinstated whilst the campaign is still live, please contact us via: - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - ‘Please re-open my application - (insert vacancy ref) & vacancy closing date (insert date)‘. \n \nTo check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.\n \nExceptionally, candidates who are not successful at this grade may be considered for appointment to similar roles at a lower grade where the eligibility criteria are met. If this applies, we will contact you directly.\n Sponsorship \n \nWe have assessed this role against both Home Office and HMRC criteria and we are unable to offer sponsorship for a Skilled Worker Visa. This means the vacancy is not open to applicants who require visa sponsorship.\n The HMRC app can help you with your application \n \nThe HMRC app can provide you with your past 5 years‘ employment history, making the process of filling in your application quicker and easier.\n \nIf successful in your application, you will need your National Insurance number for the onboarding process.\n \nDownload the HMRC app now and save your National Insurance number to your digital phone wallet.\n How to download the HMRC app and sign up for an account \n \nDownload the free HMRC app from the App Store or Google Play store. \n \nIf you have an HMRC online account already, sign straight in using your ID and password. If not, you can prove your identity by answering some questions or providing your photo ID.\n \nYou‘ll then be able to access the app quickly and easily by signing in using a 6-digit PIN, your fingerprint, or facial recognition.\n \nYou can find guidance for technical issues on GOV.UK: Technical support with HMRC online services.\n Reserve List \n \nA reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we‘ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.\n Merit List \n \nAfter interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.\n Criminal Record Check \n \nApplications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders