Contract Management Capability Lead

House of Commons; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension

30–35 days annual leave

Flexible working options

Job summary

House of Commons seeks an experienced Contract Management Capability Lead to shape and enhance contract management across Parliament. You will lead a team to embed best practice and strengthen commercial expertise, supporting 250 Contract Managers and 100 Senior Contract Owners handling major programmes.

The role combines strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, and capability development. It includes designing training, creating guidance, and enabling knowledge sharing as Parliament

Qualifications

• Membership of CIPS Level 5 or equivalent experience, MCIPS advantageous.
• Strong contract/framework management and supplier relationship knowledge.
• Proven ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships.
• Experience designing and delivering capability strategies and training.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of Parliament's contract management capability strategy.
• Design engaging training programmes and guidance materials.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing across the contract management community.
• Provide expert support for high-profile contracts and programmes.

Skills

Contract management

Stakeholder engagement

Capability development

Training design

Education

CIPS Level 5

MCIPS Level 6 (advantage)

Job description

What You'll Be Doing

We are seeking an experienced Contract Management Capability Lead to join the Parliamentary Commercial Department (PCD). This is a unique opportunity to shape and enhance contract management capability across UK Parliament, supporting a community of more than 250 Contract Managers and 100 Senior Contract Owners responsible for delivering critical services and major programmes. Working within the Contracts and Supplier Management team, you will lead the development and delivery of Parliament's contract management capability strategy, helping to embed best practice, strengthen commercial expertise, and improve contract outcomes across a diverse and complex organisation.

You can find out more about the team here: Parliamentary Commercial Department - UK Parliament

This role combines strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement and capability development. You will design and deliver engaging training programmes, develop guidance and best practice resources, facilitate knowledge-sharing across the contract management community, and provide expert support to colleagues managing high-profile contracts. With Parliament undertaking significant transformation and managing approximately £1bn of annual spend, this is an exciting opportunity to influence how contract management is delivered at the heart of UK democracy.

This role is offered on a hybrid working basis, with an expectation of you spending a minimum of 40% of your time in the office.

Find out more about working at the House of Commons.

Why Join us?

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including but not limited to:

• Generous annual leave starting at 30 days and increasing to 35 after one full working year.
• Enrolment in the excellent Civil Service pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Flexible working options that help you find a balance including enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption leave, caring leave and alternative working patterns.

What We're Looking For

• Qualifications: Candidates for this role must hold membership of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) at Level 5 or be able to demonstrate an equivalent level of expertise gained through relevant work experience, and a willingness to study for a formal qualification if required. It would be an advantage for candidates to be qualified to Level 6 (MCIPS).
• In depth experience and expert knowledge of contract/framework management and supplier relationship best practice including benefits realisation and performance and risks management.
• Proven ability to engage and build trusted relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• Proven experience in building contract management capability, embedding best practice across organisations and designing and delivering capability strategies and contract management training sessions.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to convey complex commercial best practice and contractual information clearly and effectively to a wide range of audiences.
• Ability to work successfully within a team, whilst upholding the values of equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Additional Information

Please ensure that you anonymise your application by removing any identifiable factors from your CV or Supporting Statement.

As part of the selection process, we will be asking candidates to complete an online Numeracy and Business Writing test. Further information about these assessments will be provided after the closing date to those who progress to the next stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.