Operational Contract Officer

In this essential role, you will be supporting the Operational Contract Management Team in the Estates Function. You will be a critical player in ensuring that Facilities Management (FM) contracts deliver outstanding value for money across our extensive estate.

As an Operational Contract Officer, you'll work in partnership closely with the Business and Performance Team and local FM teams to ensure contractual compliance, manage escalations when suppliers don't meet obligations, and provide expert support on contract-related queries. Together, you'll foster a culture of continuous improvement, helping to drive and optimise contract performance.

Your responsibilities will also include supporting commercial requirements across local FM and Estates teams, collaborating with Commercial colleagues on contract variations, and assisting in both the mobilisation and demobilisation of current and future contracts.

This is an exciting opportunity to directly contribute to HMRC's goal of delivering efficient, customer-focused services and transforming government property management.

Key Responsibilities

• Support in the Operational Contract Management of suppliers.
• Communicate with a wide range of people such as people in HMRC, OGDs, external organisations and suppliers.
• Contributing to meetings and engagement with suppliers taking minutes and recording and triaging action points.
• Working closely with the Business and Performance Delivery manager to achieve outcomes.
• Supporting to identifying and monitoring contract and service risks, ensuring mitigations are in place for each risk and reviewing these regularly.
• Prioritising workloads, providing advice and recommendations on areas of operational work.
• Supporting with assurances on Hard/Soft FM contact performance and supplier compliance.
• Leading on the role out of initiatives.
• Supporting with the operational key deliverable and targets from fall out of the business plan.

Person specification

The ideal candidate is a proactive, detail-oriented professional with Facilities Management experience and a background in contract management. We are looking for someone with a passion for delivering exceptional service and a focus on continuous improvement, who is ready to make a meaningful impact within a high-profile government property portfolio.

Essential Criteria:

• Knowledge of the Facilities Management industry
• Able to deliver results and meet targets
• Ability to analyse and interpret information, engaging stakeholders to make informed decisions and deliver business focused solutions
• Evidence of working with a range of people and demonstrating negotiation skills
• Excellent relationship builder, experienced working across all levels in an organisation
• Able to prioritise work within team
• Passion for the industry, working alongside professionals
• Evidence of a passion for delivering exceptional customer service

Desirable Criteria:

• If not already held, you must be willing to obtain Contract Management - Foundation within eighteen months.
• If not already held, you must be willing to obtain IWFM Level 3 within two years

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £29,475, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £8,538 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service .

Things you need to know

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

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A CV including your job history and previous experiences. Your CV will not be scored.
• A 500-word Personal Statement

In your Personal Statement, please detail how your experience matches the roles and responsibilities outlined in the job description and how you meet any of the essential criteria mentioned, providing evidence where possible.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Sift

A sift will be carried out on your Personal Statement, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

Interview

During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of, and you will be asked strength-based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.

This is an example of a strengths-based question:

"It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?"

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Interviews will take place via video call.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application - [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]'

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 6 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via ubsrecruitmentexcellence@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.

Terms and Conditions

Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a Civil Servant on or beyond the start date for the post. If their contract ends (for example due to the end of Fixed Term Appointment contract or resignation) at any point during the application process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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.

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 the Civil 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.

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 : Nicola Slater
• Email : nicola.slater1@hmrc.gov.uk
• Telephone : 07399524871

Recruitment team

• Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles.

In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.

Attachments
Combined TC and OGD Pay - English - July 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 129kB) Combined TC and OGD Pay - Welsh - July 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 117kB)