Strategic Contracts Officer

As a Strategic Contracts Officer, your purpose is to support the management of contracts across the Place category portfolio and collaborate with your Category Lead and the Directorates/Services. To champion a new best practice commercial approach to external spend, in order to deliver value for money outcomes and transform the ways services are managed and delivered. You will support the implementation of contract management strategies for the Place category that optimises performance of contracts in terms of cost, quality, delivery and responsiveness - sharing best practice guidance with the wider council. You will help manage contracts and be responsible for contributions to a category which currently spends £200m - £220m across 400+ suppliers with significant spend in sub-categories of highways, construction, utilities and waste. Where required, you may also support the management of contracts across other key category areas of people and resources., For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Chloe Chatfield (Recruitment Specialist) at . For issues or queries regarding your application please contact . To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check. Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

Do you have excellent stakeholder engagement skills?, You will have experience in contract management demonstrated by monitoring and/or managing contracts effectively to ensure they meet customers' requirements and business need. Experience delivering contract management service on behalf of clients. You will be organised and analytical. Key competency areas include contract mobilisation, risk management, change and stakeholders management, both internally and externally to achieve outcomes within a complex operating environment.

have access to a range of benefits including:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role