ICT Category and Contract Manager

Joining us, you get to work for not just one high performing London Borough, but two.

Sutton and Kingston councils have a Shared Digital and IT Service serving both authorities. Some teams and some roles are more focussed on one Council than the other, but working in the shared service you get opportunities to learn from a wider pool of activities and two different political bodies. 

There are some really exciting things happening in both Sutton and Kingston. We are developing the London Cancer Hub, a world leading cancer research and treatment hub that will bring together professionals from across different sectors to identify and test new treatments and therapies. We are undertaking the largest housing regeneration programme ever delivered in Kingston, building new energy efficient housing that will transform some of our oldest Council owned housing. Both boroughs have publicly committed to doing what they can to tackle the climate emergency and are investing in new technologies and societal change that will help bring carbon emissions down and improve our climate impact.

Sutton is a well connected attractive part of London that has a reputation for excellent schools, green and leafy open spaces, and a history that drives a thriving heritage and culture offer through our museums and libraries. The Council is controlled by a long established Liberal Democrat Administration and has high ambitions set out in its corporate plan “Ambitious for Sutton”, that will ensure Sutton remains a great place to live, work and raise a family. The Council plays a leading role in a number of local partnerships and places great emphasis on engaging effectively with its residents, listening to local voices and making their message heard across London Government. 

Kingston is a beautiful Royal borough with a historic setting on the banks of the Thames with excellent schools and a bustling retail centre, all surrounded by open green spaces such as RIchmond Park and Bushey Park, former recreation grounds for Tudor kings and queens. The Council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat Administration and has a corporate plan “Making Kingston Better Together” that sets out a vision to be a vibrant, diverse and inclusive borough where residents are active, empowered, engaged and able to remain independent and resilient. The Council engages with residents through a number of forums and events through the year, and like Sutton plays a leading role in developing the South West Region of London.

In this role you will effectively manage Digital & IT Contracts, Suppliers and Procurement to deliver the maximum value to the Councils for its commitment spend.

You will:

• Have a good understanding of the IT Category, specifically Cloud services, Software and complexities when procuring IT services as we move away from our on premise data centers
• Have a clear understanding of the different types of contracts and be able to take the lead to negotiate contract terms improvement and document/manage risk where present
• Have good awareness of IT market drivers, trends and opportunities to take the lead on assigned categories and shape outcomes
• Must be genuinely passionate about technology and change as the Digital & IT service has delivered significant changes over the years and the plan for the next few is even more ambitious
• Manage and develop positive internal/external relationships to influence and drive change

The Category and Contract Managers play a key role to shape outcomes from the outset to exiting a contract. 

For this role you will have the opportunity to define and execute procurement strategies, mobilise new contracts and embed contract/supplier management disciplines and own assigned category spend. Effectively a ‘cradle to grave’ ownership of your assigned category.

You will be the go to person for; contract guidance, best practice and own assigned supplier relationship.

The current team in place consists of 2x Category & Contract Managers and 1x Supplier & Contract lead.

The role reports directly to the Commercial Manager.

Digital and IT is a shared service between Kingston and Sutton councils providing digital and technology services to both councils as well as a number of arm's length companies.  

We are committed to delivering excellent public services to our residents and local businesses, which is why we place the user, and their needs, at the heart of our agile delivery strategy. We are proud of our digital culture, and have a team of excellent professionals working across multi-disciplinary teams to deliver our new digital services.

Both councils are undertaking significant transformation of their services. We are therefore looking to recruit vibrant, talented people who would be excited to help us build user centred, modern digital services across two councils.  

The purpose of the Commercial team is to; deliver the best value across the Digital & IT category spend, support other services in commissioning activities which have IT elements in their requirements, drive consistent improvements and innovation across our contract/supplier base.

To be successful in the role of Category & Contract Manager, you will be able to demonstrate the following key criteria:

• Good broad knowledge of the IT market
• Experience in managing IT contract and suppliers
• Understand the key components of different types of contracts 
• Good presentation, record keeping and reporting writing skills
• Able to work in an agile environment
• Good influencing and negotiation skills
• Broad understanding of Public Sector Procurement 

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to be even more flexible in how we work and manage staff workloads, ensuring they have the correct equipment and resources to be able to maximise their talents and looking after their wellbeing.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, tolerant and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

We are proud to be recognised as a Disability Confident employer, and are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.   

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.