Location

City of Westminster, London, SW1P 4DR

About the job

Want to join the Commercial Team managing key franchising contracts across the UK?

The Rail Group is responsible for taking Britain’s railway into the future and is part of the Department for Transport. In the Rail Group, we are passionate about delivering a sustainable and customer-focused railway which puts passengers at the heart of the journey and provides a world class service. We are working on a diverse range of exciting projects – including procuring and managing franchise contracts worth billions of pounds, overseeing large scale infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and HS2 – not to mention working in partnership with Ministers and a range of private and public sector stakeholders.

Job description

This role is high profile and pivotal to managing and bringing about improvement to a portfolio of in-life, long term commercial franchising contracts and their delivery, ensuring contractual and performance obligations are met and exceeded. You will work collaboratively with franchise companies and other key stakeholders on continuous improvement projects which may include developing and managing specification changes to deliver tangible improvements in passenger experience for generations to come.

You will be the Rail Group’s key interface at Board Level within specified franchise operators and build and develop these relationships to meet and exceed our objectives. Additionally you will be the liaison for collaboration with other key stakeholders including a wide range of Government Departments, train manufacturers, Network Rail, other franchise operators, internal staff within the Department for Transport/ Rail Group and industry stakeholders. You will provide briefings to Government Ministers and work with Passenger Representative Groups – it’s a challenging and rewarding role!
 

Responsibilities

About You

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about delivering the best transport solutions for passengers, freight operators and taxpayers and who understand that achieving this in the complex Railway Sector requires commitment and tenacity.

Ideally you will have the following:

• Experience of managing, developing and negotiating long term, high value service contracts, with the ability to manage variations appropriately including resolutions of complex financial claims when needed
• Be an articulate and persuasive communicator, able to communicate with individuals at all levels of the organisation and build trust
• Have the ability to manage risk effectively, managing the commercial levers and driving performance management with opportunity fulfilment. You will be resilient, results driven and can deliver under pressure.
• Experienced relationship management skills in complex environments where there are multiple stakeholders – worked at Board Level or equivalent
• Excellent analytical skills using management information to challenge the franchising operator on operational, project and financial performance. Uses facts and data to support decision making and build improvement solutions to deal with complex problems
• An interest in the operation of an improving railway which will benefit passengers into the future

Rail Group is a great place to work and it is a really exciting time to join us in this friendly and supportive team who make a real difference to people’s lives in the UK.

We are also committed to making the Department a great place to work through our culture of equality and inclusivity. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and we actively promote a flexible approach to working.

Details of Contract Management Professional Standards

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• Government Contract Management Professional Standards - Practitioner level

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Things you need to know

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.

How to apply:
Please contact Christina Langley at Langley Search and Selection Ltd.

The sift is due to take place on 21st and 22nd November 2019.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held week commencing 2nd December 2019.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment could include:

• an interview with one or more exercises

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. For further information on Success Profiles please click here

Your interview may consist of a range of question types. These may include questions about:
• what energises and motivates you
• how you would manage situations relevant to the role
• your previous experience
• your professional skills and knowledge

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

Further Information

We have adopted anonymised recruitment. This means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.

We may hold a merit list for up to twelve months. During this time, if a similar role is identified and you have been placed on the merit list you may be considered for the post. Within the merit list period, your application form and selection information may be shared across the department and its agencies.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

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 :   Christina Langley Email :   [email protected]   Recruitment team : Email :   [email protected] Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/) to visit Civil Service Commission