Senior Contract Officer

The Growth Company's Business Growth Hub team are looking for a Senior Contract Officer who will develop and maintain robust claims and compliance systems and processes (including oversight and processing of delivery partner claims, where applicable). Also, will enable the efficient and effective delivery of programmes and ensure accurate allocation of costs, taking account of complex cross-project relationships; robust verification of output and results evidence; accurate and timely submission of funder claims, thus ensuring effective recovery of expenditure and a high degree of compliance with funders' contractual requirements., Oversee and drive forward the responsibilities and services provided by Contracts Officers, ensuring systems and procedures remain fit for purpose, ensuring a high standard of accuracy and efficiency, and ensuring continuous service improvement.
To be the lead contact for cross-project queries and developments relating to the Contracts Officer role and responsibilities.
Ensure consistency across all projects in the systems, procedures, and data management tools used by Contracts Officers to manage the claims and compliance process.
Identify, verify, and apportion eligible defrayed expenditure, across a broad range of financial transactions to accurately allocate project costs and produce robust and compliant claims across several funding streams and with a fully compliant audit trail.
Gather, verify, and report output, results, and impact data ensuring a robust, fully compliant audit trail is in place for all items claimed and providing feedback and guidance to project delivery teams, as required, to ensure a high standard of documentary evidence.
Provide analysis and information to the Business Unit management teams to enable contractual agreements to be managed effectively and to enable accurate and timely reporting.
Play a key part in the preparation and delivery of funder audits, ensuring audit trails are comprehensive, fully compliant, and well-presented.
Support the process of maintaining and managing project documentation and processes, ensuring best practices and any changes to guidance are incorporated into standard forms and reflected in procedures and guidance documents.
Ensure that any UK Subsidy/State Aid obligations relating to funded activity are fulfilled and that any required processes are effectively executed and tracked.
Ensure data management tools are maintained to a high level of efficiency and accuracy in order that analysis and performance reporting is timely and relevant.

Demonstrable experience in managing publicly funded contracts.
Compiling or contributing to the process of compiling funded claims.
A track record of delivering a high standard of accuracy and contractual compliance in a highly regulated environment.
Experience in identifying and implementing improvements to working practices.
Numerically literate with a high level of attention to detail.
Use of Excel Spreadsheets to an intermediate/advanced level.
Confidence and ability to deal effectively with financial/accounting information, audit processes, and associated systems.
Ability to communicate confidently at all levels, articulating complex issues effectively and thus building strong, positive relationships across project teams and with senior management.
Line management responsibilities of a small team.
About you:

Relevant degree/or administrative or / professional qualification or equivalent business experience.
A working knowledge of project claims processing and contract management systems/processes.
Knowledge of public funding contracts, audit, and compliance requirements.
A self-starter with the confidence to influence others and facilitate change.
Very strong interpersonal and communication skills, both verbally and in writing
Able to manage time and priorities effectively to enable objectives to be consistently met.
Ability to understand, demonstrate, and apply GC values: Make a positive difference, stronger together, empower people, do the right thing, and build on success.

GM Business Growth Hub is a community of specialists with a passion to help businesses across Greater Manchester to realise their ambitions. Since 2011, the Hub has supported more than 15,000 businesses including start-ups, scale-ups and established businesses, providing finance guidance, creating international links, and paving the way for innovation and people development across the region. We work with the best of public and private partners, offering expert one-to-one and peer-to-peer business support, events, specialist programmes, funding and much more.