Soft Facilities Management Contract Delivery Manager

Are you an experienced Soft Facilities Management Contract Manager?

We are seeking a proactive professional with significant experience in managing contracts, exceptional communication and negotiation skills, and a genuine ability to build and nurture strong working relationships.

Facilities Management provide a vital service to maintain and support a diverse range of buildings and services including libraries, fire stations and day centres. The successful candidate will be delivering high profile critical contracts to these front-line services.

Salary: £46,731 to £49,764 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Location: County Hall, West Street, Chichester, PO19 1RQ (Hybrid and Flexible Working)

Interview Date: Week commencing 13 January 2025

To ensure we provide timely updates to all candidates, we may shortlist applications before the stated closing date to accommodate to Christmas period and the high volume of applications received. As a result, there is a possibility that you may receive an update on your application before the closing date.

This role offers hybrid working arrangements and will require you to work from county council office buildings and make regular site visits, as well as the flexibility of home working as appropriate. Final arrangements to be confirmed with successful candidate.

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

The Opportunity

As the Soft Facilities Management (FM) Contracts Manager, you will oversee the delivery and performance management of the Soft FM contracts, ensuring compliance with contract specifications and standards for service delivery.

Our work in Facilities Management and any given day can often feel quite different from the next! There will be some key responsibilities likely to feature in this role, including:

• Build and nurture meaningful stakeholder relationships across all County Council to align contract performance with the genuine needs of the Services. his includes overseeing contracts valued at over £2 million per annum, with a core term value exceeding £15 million.
• Direct responsibility for the line and task management of the Grounds Maintenance Officer and will step in for the Principal FM Contracts Manager during their planned absences.
• Lead contract management and monitoring solutions to passionately meet the unique requirements of individual or grouped contracts, often collaborating closely with Heads of Service and their dedicated representatives.
• Creating tender documents that reflect the necessary terms and conditions for medium to high-value, high-risk tenders, and contracts.
• Develop and oversee the long-term planning of the procurement schedule for contracts within your portfolio, ensuring they are focused to align with the organisations strategic objectives.

Through joining our motivated, public value-focussed, specialist Facilities Management team, you can enjoy a purposeful career and contribute to the delivery of vital services to West Sussex's residents.

What Experience and Skills are we looking for?

We are looking for someone who will be pivotal to ensuring West Sussex County Council provides a safe and fit for purpose-built environment for all staff and members of the public alike.

The ideal candidate will have these essential skills and invaluable experience:

• A minimum of 3 years' experience in Contract Management within Facilities Management industry. Desired experience and expertise in Soft Facilities Management.
• Experience with contract specifications, including tendering processes, and knowledge of public procurement is desirable.
• Valuable experience in delivering strategic and commercially sound advice.
• Excellent negotiation skills and can build strong working relationships
• Ability to influence colleagues, partners, and decision-makers.
• Proven leadership skills
• Strong communication skills
• Pragmatic problem-solving abilities.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

From flexible working (where possible) to access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and are rewarded for the work they do.

A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from 30 days annual leave plus the opportunity to buy additional leave, an excellent local government pension scheme as well as a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers.

A range of discounts give our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is EIE01298.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Rosa Siracusa (Recruitment Specialist) at [email protected] and/or Ryan Kappa (Recruitment Resourcer) at [email protected]

For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected] .

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role.

Please ensure all 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 satisfactory 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.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

RSi