Job introduction

There are two vacancies for Contract and Supply Specialists. The Contract and Supply Team are part of the BHCC Corporate Procurement Team and Orbis Partnership.  The vacancies are a result of successful development and career progression in the team.

These roles are based at Hove Town Hall.  At the time of this advert, everyone within our service is working in a hybrid manner between our office base at Hove Town Hall and at home. The Contract and Supply team also work from other council offices within the city, with occasional travel to Orbis partnership locations and can work at supplier office locations or carry out site visits.

Interview dates: Week commencing 19th June 

For an informal discussion, please contact Paul Diplock, Contract & Supply Manager 07557 197564 or via email paul.diplock@brighton-hove.gov.uk to arrange a call.

About the role

Are you enthusiastic about making a positive difference in public services?

Are you hard working and commercially minded?

Looking for the next step in your Contract Management career?

If so, you might be interested in our two vacancies for Contract and Supply Specialists. The Contract and Supply Team are part of the BHCC Corporate Procurement Team and Orbis Partnership

The positions are an exciting opportunity: to lead or support delivery of projects, working across various areas of contracted or third party spend, to help the Council achieve contractual performance, delivery, improved value for money, social value, and sustainability.

The successful candidates will be organised, a good problem solver, ability to analyse and focus on contractual performance, delivery and have excellent communication and networking skills in order to build excellent relationships.

You will also have strong knowledge of contract management (or other transferable skills and experience suited to the role) with the ability to provide and deliver training and mentoring support to our customers.

Our team provides direct localised support to our customers in Brighton and Hove, providing expertise on contract activities, contributing to the delivery of service objectives, savings and other benefits, including social value. We work closely with both the Contract and Commercial Advisory Team and Strategic Procurement Teams in East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council, sharing knowledge, expertise and resource to best service our customers’ needs. You may be requested to support the other partner councils, to work on their projects based on demand.

Working in the Contract and supply Team, as part of Procurement at Brighton brings with it a range of benefits that people in our small team enjoy, including working with a friendly group of colleagues who encourage a flexible workplace and maintaining a work life balance. Our staff work full time, work part time, have kids and don’t have kids and a wide age range. We have keen gardeners, readers, cyclists and musicians.

About the role

Orbis is a shared services partnership between Surrey County Council, East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council. Overall, the councils spend around £1.8bn with external suppliers for everything from software to social care services and from cleaning products to sports equipment, so we have a large Procurement Service which supports customers to deliver better value from our contracts and ensure we source our contracts in an open, fair and transparent way. Whilst you will have access to the expertise and infrastructure offered by the Orbis Partnership, this is a Brighton and Hove sovereign role, meaning you will be employed by Brighton and Hove City Council on Brighton Terms and Conditions and pay structure.

At the time of this advert, everyone within our service is working in a hybrid manner between our office base at Hove Town Hall and at home. The Contract and Supply team also work from other council offices within the city, with occasional travel to Orbis partnership locations and can work at supplier office locations or carry out site visits. You will need to possess the flexibility and skills to support a hybrid induction to the team and to develop effective working relationships with colleagues and clients remotely and in person.

The Contract and Supply Team and Strategic Procurement Teams provide direct localised support to our customers, providing expertise on contractual activity and contributing to the delivery of service objectives, savings and other benefits, including social value.

This is an exciting opportunity to enhance your professional contract management career in a team that provides a great working environment where you are supported and given a platform to develop. The vacancies are a result of successfully developing our people.

We are looking for people who have:

• Experience of leading effective contract management (or other transferable skills and experience), delivering value for money and strong contractual performance outcomes.
• Excellent customer focus and a commitment to delivering first class services. 
• Are proactive and able to offer innovative ideas for improvements or solutions that are contractually compliant. 
• Want to be part of a busy, supportive and friendly team. 
• Want to contribute to providing high-quality public services across the South-East.
• Experience in building strong stakeholder relationships.
• Great communication skills. 

Previous experience in public contract management is not essential and we welcome applications from experienced professionals from other sectors. You are expected to be aware of the implications of working within a public sector environment and how this affects contract strategies and practices.

If you have any questions regarding this position, please email paul.diplock@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Please read our Apply for a job at the council (brighton-hove.gov.uk) pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to upload your CV and answers to some shortlisting questions. Your answers to the shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (CV guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) and Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Work Permits: We may be able to obtain a Work Permit for this post but this is subject to meeting the requirements of the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Points-based Immigration System. Please see Gov.uk for more information on the Skilled Worker Visa.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining.

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us (brighton-hove.gov.uk)

Company information

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).