Group Manager for Highway Contracts and Service Development

Job Title: Group Manager for Highway Contracts and Service Development
Starting Salary: £59,537 progressing to £66,642
Hours: 37.0
Location: Hertfordshire
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Growth & Environment

About the team

The Highways Service has one of the highest profiles in HCC and is very much in the public eye. As soon as people go out their front door to go to the shops, visit a friend, have something delivered or travel to work they all rely on the highway service. As a consequence, our elected members, residents and customers are at the centre of everything we do.

About the role

This role's purpose is to manage the suite of highway contracts and continue to develop and improve the Highways Service in all senses.

The successful candidate will be responsible for leading a team of 11 people who are responsible for a range of services including:

1. Contract Management - Managing the full suite of Highway Contracts acting as both the service manager and contract manager.
2. Procurement - Leading the procurement of the suite of contracts that enable the delivery of the highways service.
3. Performance - Measuring and monitoring the performance of the whole service, including partners engaged in delivering highways and transport services in Hertfordshire.
4. Sustainability and Social Value - Championing sustainability within highways and co-ordinating the services approach to delivering the key goals within the Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy.
5. Service Development - Working across the service identifying opportunities for innovation and continual service evolution.
6. Digital, Data and Technology - Identifying, developing and managing the various systems and processes that underpin service delivery.
7. Value for money and efficiency - ensuring a value for money focus across the highways service.

As a Group Manager, the post holder will be a member of the Integrated Leadership Team, which includes and supports the Senior Management Team who ultimately head up the service.

Required at an exciting time for the service, where we have recently procured our two main highway contracts, the post holder will play a key role in helping shape the future service in Hertfordshire.

The postholder will also find themselves leading on contract procurements, including a series of framework contracts through which the service delivers millions of pounds worth of work each year.

You will also be responsible for identifying and delivering a range of business improvement initiatives, using effective project management to deliver efficiencies and service innovation.

Leading and developing a small team to achieve the above, the postholder will find themselves in an exciting and dynamic environment, where they have an opportunity to make a tangible difference to the future of highways in Hertfordshire.

The role requires an ability to work in a collaborative manner with private sector partners, third parties and internal colleagues.

About you

Qualifications:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or have relevant work experience.

Skills:

• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, evidenced across a range of contexts, including an ability to influence, negotiate and work with Members, stakeholders and other public representatives.
• Leader with ability to engage and motivate staff across a range of services;
• Strong interpersonal skills including active listening, discussion and clear resolution of sensitive issues, giving and receiving feedback;
• Excellent presentation skills, able to confidently engage a wide range of audiences both verbally and written;
• Good financial/budget management skills;

• A leadership/management style which combines a collaborative, problem solving approach with focus and drive according to the needs of the situation;
• Clear ability to work in a collaborative way with internal teams and third party service providers to deliver successful projects and value for money;

Knowledge of:

• Good knowledge of general IT systems and software;
• Local Government democratic processes;
• Excellent understanding of highway services especially those provided by local highway authorities;
• Good knowledge of developing and implementing performance frameworks which drive the right level of performance and deliver value for money;
• An understanding of Highway Management and payment systems;

Experience:

• Working and leading in a political environment including experience of providing advice to senior managers and members, building trusted and respected relationships;
• Leader with ability to engage and motivate staff across a range of highway and support services;
• Significant experience of managing teams and respective workloads;
• Working as a member of a team to agree and achieve objectives which contribute to a strategic goal;
• Management of projects and services;

• Experience leading procurements of works and services.
• Preferably experience of working within the transport/highways industry, and an appreciation for the strategic challenges/opportunities on its horizon;

• Identifying and delivering sustainability improvements;
• You should have demonstrable evidence of typically over 5 years' experience of working in a contract management role managing NEC contracts, ideally with experience in a highway related field, including significant experience of procuring and managing contracts for the delivery of works and services;

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Technical Services, level TEC14 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles: Technical services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact steve.johnson@hertfordshire.gov.uk for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: week commencing TBC

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.