Salary range: £53,109 - £59,220 per annum
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, SW1E 6QP
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Temporary up to 18 months
Closing date: 6 October 2024
Contact details for an informal discussion: Sarah Risby, Head of Commercial - Housing Needs via email at SRISBY@WESTMINSTER.GOV.UK
THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF AWARD-WINNING CARBON SAVINGS ON HIGHWAYS PROJECTS
The Finance Team in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where we go above and beyond for our residents – in all sorts of pioneering ways. By being smart and courageous with the council’s finances we can achieve more for our residents and wider society, especially when working closely with other council departments.
Our approach to responsible procurement and the way we work collaboratively with our suppliers can bring significant benefits, including huge reductions in environmental impact.
Take the award-winning Kings Street footway scheme. This was the first scheme of its kind in the UK to switch all possible high carbon materials and equipment for zero and low carbon alternatives. This included using electric tools and excavators, low carbon foundations, concrete and paving and zero-emission deliveries to site. The result? a 79% carbon saving compared to traditional techniques.
And why does this success matter? Because Kings Street has formed a blueprint for future projects. Its success has been translated to five further paving schemes, which have achieved savings of up to 94% operational carbon against comparable sites. A subsequent resurfacing project in Third Avenue achieved another UK first in its use of 85% recycled material on the roadway. These schemes demonstrate that partnership working with our suppliers can help us meet the councils net zero carbon targets.
Please view the extraordinary story of the King Street footway scheme here.
As a Commercial Manager you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster’s success. Working as a key member of our Procurement Service, but sitting within the Housing Need service, you’ll demonstrate a high degree of commercial awareness and technical expertise as you lead the delivery of high value, complex and innovative tenders. Providing your colleagues with pragmatic and informed advice, and using your expertise to ensure you understand the product or service you’re working with, it’ll be your task to prepare a strategy that describes your procurement findings and recommended approach.
Working collaboratively with legal professionals and other subject matter experts to develop the form of contract, special terms and conditions and KPIs, you’ll secure efficiency and other operational improvements, and understand how sustainability and social value can be achieved through the tender process. You’ll also work to ensure that specifications and desired outcomes are expressed in a meaningful way, and develop evaluation models that achieve the desired outcome and best value for money.
We’ll expect you to assess and manage the risks associated with each activity including the development and assessment of the financial robustness of bidders during and after the tendering process, and keep aware of relevant policy, best practice and changes to legislation. You’ll use our e-procurement tools to manage the tender, and in addition to contributing to their development, you’ll also work on new ways to ensure a competitive environment for the procurements you undertake.
Please refer to the Job Description for more information.
To be a success in this important role you should have experience of working in a procurement and/or commissioning environment, and we’ll expect you to have developed written statements of requirements, specifications or contracts which contain technical or commercial requirements across a range of different services, ideally relating to Housing Need or People based services. Ready to work both independently and alongside your colleagues, and with the ability to operate in a structured or project-based environment, we’ll look for a good understanding of the end-to-end process and inputs needed to deliver a successful tender, including those covered by PCR regulations.
Skilled at developing and maintaining productive relationships with a diverse range of people including partners, key stakeholders and external organisations, you’ll be capable of producing written and verbal summaries, including reports that have a strong and compelling narrative. It’s important that you have proven delivery abilities and experience of working to tight, pressurised deadlines, while your excellent communication skills will allow you to generate insights and added value for our customers, stakeholders and partners.
When it comes to qualifications we’d prefer you to have a degree, its equivalent or appropriate hands-on experience, and have or be working towards CIPS level 5/6. Flexible, creative and self-motivated, you’ll be ready to use your writing skills to produce concise and insightful reports, while your well developed understanding of IT will include good knowledge of MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a global majority background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.
Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster.
Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.
At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties
As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.
The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application , we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.