Senior Contracts Manager

We¿re Avanti West Coast and we¿re busy making rail the greener, cleaner, and comfier way to go. A joint venture between First Group and Trenitalia, we¿re going all out to transform train travel on the West Coast Main Line and we¿re looking forward to whooshing more people to their destinations in industry-leading comfort. Every one of our colleagues are encouraged to make a difference today to look after tomorrow. We¿re passionate about people sharing their spark and get a buzz seeing our teams take pride. With employees based right across the country, we love to win together and drive a culture which stands for progress ¿ ready to raise the bar at every opportunity. We have an exciting opportunity to join our Procurement team as a Senior Contracts Manager! The Procurement Team are responsible for the procurement of goods and services to deliver best value for Avanti whilst ensuring compliance with all necessary policies. The team also support operational teams in their local purchasing activity as required in line with financial delegated authorities. You will be the capability owner within the business and drive improvement in how contract management is done in Avanti West Coast. Responsible for supporting the Head of Procurement, you will develop a business wide best practice approach to Contract Management and seek to embed this via key stakeholders across the business. As a Senior Contracts Manager, you will: ¿ Have overall accountability for the creation and deployment of contract management capability. ¿ Baseline current approach to contract management within Avanti West Coast and complete gap analysis working with stakeholder groups. ¿ Design market leading capability for contract management within and across the business ¿ policy, processes, tools, templates and people. ¿ Deliver presentations and engagement campaigns across the business and become the subject matter expert (SME) delivering best practice workshops. ¿ Align contract management capability to the development of supplier relationship management approach within Avanti West Coast ¿ Manage selected suppliers and contracts as per agreed supplier relationship management segmentation to ensure they deliver throughout the life of the contract and in line with the as designed contract management capability ¿ measure & monitor, review, change management, performance reporting.

You will be able to demonstrate: ¿ Educated to degree standard in Business Management/Commercial related subject or relevant industry experience. ¿ MCIPS Qualification ¿ Level 6 or Equivalent Contract/Commercial Management Qualification ¿ Effective Contract Management of complex commercial arrangements in the delivery of business performance ¿ Commercial acumen, with knowledge of contracts formats, supplier performance management, and Supplier Relationship Management approaches ¿ Experience of managing a Programme of work within a large organisation with multiple stakeholders resulting in successful outcome. ¿ Extensive experience in Change Management - embedding new processes and ways of working into an organisation into successful Business as Usual ¿ Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) with a strong analytical approach and proven management experience, leading by example and championing teamwork in others. Benefits include:

• Final salary pension
• Free travel on Avanti West Coast for you/spouse/partner/dependents
• Privilege Travel card (75% off other train operators fares for leisure travel)
• 30 days holiday rising by 1 for every completed year of service to a maximum of 37 days (inclusive of bank holidays)
• 10 free journeys on other First Group Train Operators

*Interviews for this role will take place on either 13 (London) or 18 April (Birmingham)* **Please upload a CV with your application** At Avanti West Coast, we value the differences that make each of us outstanding! Avanti West Coast recognises the benefits of building a diverse workforce and employing people from diverse backgrounds, which includes their race, religion, age, gender, gender identity, disability and sexual orientation. Everyone who joins Avanti West Coast becomes part of our close-knit team. We're committed to ensuring that Avanti West Coast is inclusive, a place where people are encouraged to be themselves, and not an edited version to fit in. A place where differences are encouraged, recognised, accepted and put to good use!