UK Contracts Manager

Working with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives. Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. We work in partnership with the very poorest people in these countries, directly enabling them to improve their lives, as well as using our knowledge and experience to influencedecisions made at a local, national and international level that can significantly reduce extreme poverty.

Job Title: / Contracts Manager
Reports to: / Head of International Support
Direct reports: / n/a
Job Location: / This role will be based in London
Contract Details: / Initial two year contract with likely extension for at least a further three years.
Pay Band: / 7b, £48,102
Job Purpose: / A Concern-led consortium has been awarded a significant 5 year commercial contract by the UK Government in Pakistan. The Contracts Manager will be the focal person for issues related to the contract. Firstly, this position will work closely with Concern’s Commercial Contracts Accountant, Dublin’s Programme Department and Concern in Pakistan to develop, implement and manage systems that will ensure efficient and effective oversight of the commercial contract.
Additionally,Concern Worldwiderecognises that institutional donors are increasingly seeking to achieve their aims by letting fee-based service delivery contracts. The second purpose of this role is to build the organisation’s capacity to win new business and to manage to the highest standards the contracts that it takes on, either as a lead agency or as a sub-contractor.
It is essential that the applicant will have experience of working on commercial and/or performance based contracts, preferably with DFID.
While this position is based in London, it will involve travel to overseas fields (potentially 20-30%).
Main duties &
Responsibilities: / The duties and responsibilities outlined below will apply equally to situations where Concern is leading a bid/contract, and where it is a sub-contractor in a bid/contracted by another organisation.
Oversight of the Building Disaster Resilience in Pakistan(BDRP)contract
Initially, , the post-holder will be directly responsible for work on this specific contract aiming to:
  • Provide support to the Pakistan field office in relation to DFID’s requirements, including reporting standards, during programme implementation
  • Provide support to manage the successful implementation of contractual requirements and reporting, ensuring compliance, accurate information and good quality narrative reports on programme outputs
  • Maintain good and professional working relationships with DFID in the UK, and support the team in Pakistan to do so locally.
  • Monitor the project to ensure progress against objectives and compliance with donor guidelines, including:
  • Monitoring cash flow and risks on contracts, and advising field where required
  • Reviewing procurement decisions against contractual requirements.
  • Prepare reports for Head Office steering group,SMT and Board
  • Provide best practice advice related to UK grant and contract management
  • Review and input to relevant legal agreements
  • Assist in developing training materials and as required carry out training of Pakistan field staffon DFIDcontractual terms and conditions
  • Assist in the development and maintenance of work-processes and checklists for contract implementation and report review
  • RepresentConcernUK as appropriate at project meetings
  • Assist in advocating with DFID for manageable and reasonable rules and regulations.
The UK International Support team, within which this role sits, will be expanding as Concern’s portfolio of UK funding continues to grow. The Contracts Manager will build capacity to take on the contracting element of this work.
DEVELOPING CONTRACTING CAPACITY
Donor and Partner Relationships
  • Work with the implementing managers on identifying consortium partners for specific opportunities and manage the on-going relationships with peer personnel in the chosen organisations.
  • Support Concern UK Executive Director & Head of International Support in developing strategic partnerships with NGOs, private sector and academic institutions
  • Develop professional relationships with key individuals within UK donors, primarily DFID, from contract negotiation to reporting
  • Act as primary focal point for bids with the donor’s procurement department and/or, when Concern is going in as a sub-contractor, with the contract manager in the agency that will lead the bid.
  • Attend NGO & private sector networks as required, with a view to raising Concern’s profile and engagement externally
Bid Development
Reporting to a senior management steering group or the equivalent for each bid:
  • Develop internal decision-making processes, ensuring that senior managers have the right information to be able to take good decisions
  • Identify and develop tender submissions for country programmes as team lead or within a bid team
  • Project manage bid development, guide and coordinate inputs from country and technical teams, ensuring a coherent and well written bid package. For some tenders, this will involve travel to support teams in country offices
  • Manage any budget allocated for developing the bid, covering travel, workshops, any consultancy fees, etc
  • As each bid develops, take lead responsibility for:
  • compliance with donor requirements
  • ensuring competitiveness
  • designing in value for money
  • ensuring that risks have been clearly understood and priced, and can be managed at an organisationally acceptable level
  • Maintain key documents including risk log and bid development timeline
  • Where Concern is chosen as preferred bidder, lead contract negotiations on the organisation’s behalf, or lead in briefing and supporting whoever else is to play that role
Organisational Capacity Building
  • Work with the Head of International Support and other relevant functions to develop and implement organisational systems and protocols to ensure: that the right bid opportunities are efficiently identified; that, where a bid isnot going to proceed, the decision is taken as early as possible; and that, when we do proceed, high quality bids are submitted, with key stakeholders maintaining the necessary controls at each key stage.
  • Support International Programme Division’s (IPD) field offices and regional desks to improve review and understanding of bids and related reports
  • Design and deliver trainings for relevant parts of IPD, and where required the wider organisation
  • To ensure through training, briefings etc. that there is a broad understanding of issues in relation to contracting among the relevant/designated personnel in London and Dublin offices
  • Support the development and management of a roster of external consultants
Other
  • To establish working relationships with relevant/designated personnel in London and Dublin office
  • Attend relevant client meetings where required.
  • Update Concern’s Senior Management Team as required to aid understanding of issues and progress.
  • Document and develop lessons learned for organisational growth and understanding.

Person specification: / Essential:
  • 2 -3 years’ experience in contract management.
  • Fluent English Speaker with excellent communication and presentation skills.
  • Excellent organisational, analytical and coordination skills.
  • Proven experience of developing and facilitating training workshops for finance and non-finance managers.
  • Proven record of meeting demanding deadlines.
  • Strong IT knowledge (proficient in Microsoft Office packages)
  • Experience in commercial contract management
  • Proven track record of delivering medium to large scale projects (> £5 million)
  • Track record of both with the pressure of high client expectations whilst working with the business needs in mind.
  • Managing complex contracts, tendering procedures and associated legislation
Desirable:
  • Previous experience working with an international humanitarian organisation.
  • Previous experience working with government (or equivalent), contracts.
  • Previous experience of financial management in a consortium arrangement.
  • Experience of implementing and managing a Payment by Results output model.
  • Internal or External Audit experience.
  • Experience in project start up and/or close out.

To apply: / All applications including CVs and covering letter should be emailed to quoting Ref: xxxxxxxxx
Candidates must be legally entitled to work in the UK at the time of application.
Concern has a Programme Participant Protection Policy and an organisational Code of Conduct which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from exploitation, and to clarify the responsibilities of Concern staff, consultants, visitors to the programme and partner organisation, and the standards of behaviour expected of them. In this context, staff have a responsibility to the organisation to strive for, and maintain, the highest standards in the day-to-day conduct in their workplace in accordance with Concern’s core values and mission. Any candidate offered a job with Concern Worldwide will be expected to sign the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Staff Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment. By signing the Programme Participant Protection Policy and the Concern Code of Conduct, candidates acknowledge that they have understood the contents of both the Concern Code of Conduct and the Programme Participant Protection Policy and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these two documents.
Concern receives a substantial amount of funding from external donors each year. Increasingly donors are introducing requirements whereby future funding is conditional on Concern ensuring that the names of any new employee or volunteer do not appear on terrorism lists generated by the European Union (List of person, groups and entities to which Regulation (EC No. 2580/2001 applies), the US Government (Office of Foreign Assets Control list of specially designated Nationals and Blocked Persons) and the United Nations (Consolidated List).
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Concern Worldwide is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.