Assistant Quantity Surveyor - Cost Audit

We are expanding our commercial management team to support National Highways' annual £1bn investment programme to maintain the Strategic Road Network. As part of this, we have exciting opportunities for Assistant Quantity Surveyors with an interest in defined cost auditing to join our centralised audit team, which is responsible for agreeing people and equipment rates. In this role, you will primarily focus on agreeing people and equipment rates through a programme of defined cost audit activities (approximately 80% of the role) within the centralised audit team. You will support the agreement of the rates in line with the schedule of cost components with the 65 suppliers on our two operations delivery NEC based contracts. From initial supplier contact, through checking submissions and evidence of actual people cost build ups from first principles, the output will provide the regional commercial teams information to support their assessments. In addition to your audit responsibilities, you may also get the opportunity to contribute to the day-to-day commercial management of schemes within the regional office's local renewals capital programme. This is a national role that can be based at Birmingham, Bristol, Basingstoke, Maidstone, Nottingham, Preston, Warrington, Wakefield. The position also requires monthly travel to Birmingham for team days and to contractor offices for cost audits. We offer a flexible hybrid working approach, combining local office work with agile home working.

• Supporting and, where appropriate, leading on defined cost audits to agree and reconcile annual people and equipment audits, and, when required, in depth contract audits against specific NH NEC4 based operations delivery contract requirements.
• Maintaining collaborative working relationships with supply chain contractors. This will include scheduling meetings, issuing and recording the receipt of detailed audit information (including financial templates and supporting information).
• Contributing to the audit team reporting process including the review of submitted information.
• Liaising with other departments and regional commercial teams to ensure that trackers are up-to-date, data is accurate and reconciled against other sources.
• Assisting, when required, in the management of operations contracts including early warnings, compensation events, assessments and close out.
  
  You must have one of the following:
+ To have either achieved or be working towards a degree/HND in Quantity Surveying or other relevant technical qualification and/or completion of a formally recognised graduate programme, apprenticeship or similar. + Working towards a Chartered qualification within a relevant professional organisation, such as RICS, ICES, or equivalent.
• Basic experience in NEC4 forms of contract (including awareness of building up rates under the NEC Schedule of Cost Components option C/E) together with an awareness of people and equipment defined cost audits.
• Intermediate level MS Excel (basic formula, pivot tables, formatting).
• Good written and verbal communication skills to engage effectively with a variety of stakeholders.
• Good commercial awareness and understanding of commercial management
  
  Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England's motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.
Operations is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads. We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage. All to make sure National Highways customers have safer, smoother, and more reliable journeys.