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Job summary

We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated Contract Manager to manage a portfolio of contracts and service agreements, ensuring delivery against agreed specifications, service standards, health and safety requirements, and environmental obligations. This is a key role within the Business and Finance team, leading delivery of our statutory responsibilities, commercial reporting, and ensuring that all the biodiversity programme operations meet budgets. We're looking for someone who can combine contract management with strong leadership, excellent stakeholder management and the ability to work confidently across a diverse operational landscape.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Work closely with internal stakeholders including land management teams, environment and planning, finance, and commercial services colleagues to ensure contracts meet operational needs.
• Maintain accurate contract documentation, performance records, and management information to support audit, assurance, and reporting requirements.
• Support internal and external audits, inspections, and reviews, providing evidence and assurance on contract compliance and performance.
• Review and validate contractor invoices, applications for payment, or claims to ensure accuracy, eligibility, and value for money.
• Monitor and report contract spend against budgets and forecasts, highlighting variances and supporting financial planning and controls.
• Contribute to commercial reporting and provide management information to senior leaders to support decision-making.
• Promote best practice in contract management across Forestry England, supporting consistent approaches and continuous improvement.
• Identify lessons learned and opportunities to improve contract specifications, performance management approaches, and supplier relationships.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential experience

• Experience of managing contracts, service agreements, or supplier relationships, ideally in a public sector, land management, infrastructure, or asset-based environment.
• Experience of monitoring performance and managing suppliers to deliver agreed outcomes, quality standards, and value for money.
• Confident communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships and challenge constructively where performance or standards fall short.
• Delivers work at pace while maintaining attention to detail and compliance.
• Competent IT user including MS Office

Desirable experience

• Knowledge or understanding of forestry, land management, or environmental services.
• Awareness of Government Commercial Function standards or public sector contract management practices.
• Experience of working with contracts involving health and safety critical activity or environmentally sensitive land.

Qualifications

Essential qualifications

• Full UK driving licence
• Experience working in a contract management role

Desirable qualifications

• A recognised contract management qualification (e.g., CIPS, World CC)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,388, Forestry Commission contributes £11,700 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

How to apply…

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

You will be assessed on a technical skill, behaviours and strength based questions during your interview and complete a presentation task.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

"If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands."

This is a Temporary Appointment, 3 year fixed term appointment, with the possibility of extension or permanency but no guarantee.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

Attachments

Candidate Pack - Contract Manager Opens in new window (pdf, 1225kB)