Contract Manager (Utilities)

Bluelight Commercial; England; Remote; GBP 51,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading commercial contracting team in the UK is seeking a Contract Manager to lead contract management and strategic supplier relationships within the utilities category. The ideal candidate has a CIPS Level 4 qualification and experience in a related commercial environment. This role offers a competitive salary and an agile working model with opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

12% employer pension contribution

28 days annual leave

Life insurance 4 x salary

Access to free training and e-learning

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in contract management.
• Experience in a commercial environment.
• Willingness to achieve further accreditation.

Responsibilities

• Manage and improve strategic supplier relationships.
• Lead contract management activities.
• Support national project work across key stakeholders.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Negotiation

Analytical skills

Commercial awareness

Leadership

Education

CIPS Level 4 qualification

Job description

Contract Manager

Reporting to: Head of Category

Dept/Pillar: Utilities

Hours: 37 (potentially flexible)

Grade/Salary: From £51,721 (dependent on experience etc)

Contract Type: Permanent

Vetting Level: NPPV 3 & SC

Overview

An integral role within the BlueLight Commercial team, developing strategic supplier relationships and leading contract management activities within the Estates, Energy & Equipment pillar, with a focus on the Utilities category. This is an agile role leading on the management and continuous improvement of key national frameworks within the category. Working closely with the Head of Category to manage and embed effective Strategic Supplier Relationship Management across a national category portfolio, developing sustainable strategies that deliver value for money and meet the demands of modern ‘BlueLight’ customers, such as policing. Leading on key contract and supplier management meetings and supporting identification and effective management of contract and supplier risk. Being responsive to stakeholder needs is key, offering pragmatic solutions, whilst developing and nurturing effective networks to exert a positive influence on behalf of BlueLight Commercial. The role will also support national project work, working with key internal and external stakeholders across the portfolio, to support commercial decision making.

This role is as much about personal qualities as it is about contract management expertise. Calling on influencing and collaboration skills to encourage and effect cultural change. A trusted and dedicated ‘advisor/expert’ who can establish positive working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders.

My Team and the BlueLight Team

You will be an integral part of the wider commercial team, contributing to the BLC high-performing team delivering commercial excellence to make a real difference. Providing effective and consistent services ensuring that products and services purchased from suppliers offer innovative technical solutions, operational business continuity and represent value for money, whilst also offering positive social value and environmental impacts.

Acting as an internal and external professional adviser on contract management matters, supporting effective decision making in relation to the procurement of goods and services from suppliers.

If you’re a dynamic contract management expert with experience in the utilities category and ready for a challenging and rewarding career, we encourage you to apply. We are fully remote and agile and being a team here is exciting and still a bit unique!

Responsibilities and accountabilities

Delivery of Commercial work – including commercial vision, commissioning strategies, sourcing, strategic supplier relationship management and contract management

• Developing and setting the strategy for commissioning and contract management for a specific portfolio of spend which will deliver the best commercial outcomes for policing and partners, requiring a high level of commercial acumen.
• Working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to develop and implement contract management and commissioning strategies that include commercial and demand profiles and embrace market trends and innovations.
• Developing strategic relationships with suppliers to ensure effective delivery of goods and services and to support continuous improvement and innovative contract solutions.
• Working collaboratively with a variety of senior stakeholders to ensure that the users within a portfolio of responsibility are receiving optimum support and view the organisation as a trusted enabling function.
• Leading and supporting contract management activity, across complex national contracts and commercial arrangements, ensuring that savings opportunities are identified, tracked and delivered.
• Contributing to the preparation of strategic plans, making recommendations for action to stakeholders, to ensure adherence to procurement legislative and regulatory requirements.
• Working with financial processes and tools to evaluate options and ensure financial information and data are accurately reflected in commercial plans.
• Working effectively with suppliers and stakeholders to develop positive contract performance measures to drive value and maintain effective service delivery, ensuring that strategic aims are met.
• Providing expert advice on contract risk management and deliver plans/strategies to manage identified risks.
• Promoting and implementing common standards and processes. Proactively driving a consistent approach, enabling process standardisation across police forces, promoting a radical cost-effective commercial offering.
• Ensuring adherence to legal, regulatory and security requirements in service delivery and build diversity, equality and social value considerations into plans.

Stakeholders & Relationships

• Creating effective relationships with key stakeholders and partners (internally and externally) to ensure that the activities and initiatives of BlueLight Commercial are valued, understood, and embraced.
• Supporting team members and stakeholders to develop capability and capacity across the contract management and commissioning activity, including where necessary developing and delivering training packages.
• Managing relationships with professionalism to influence and facilitate commercial cultural change across a diverse landscape of stakeholders, to deliver value for money and sustainable outcomes.
• Mentoring and coaching teams and colleagues, contributing to a high performing culture and an environment of continuous improvement.
• Undertaking any other work as directed by your line manager in connection with your job as may be requested.

Qualifications & Accreditations

• CIPS qualified to Level 4 and/or a minimum of 3 years’ experience within a commercial environment i.e. commissioning, procurement, contract management.
• Willing to work towards achieving Government Commercial Function (GCF) accreditation to Commercial Lead level

Experience & Knowledge

• Substantial experience in a senior commercial or relevant technical role in either the public or private sector.
• Experience of successfully managing strategic commercial relationships with key suppliers and major contractors.
• Excellent knowledge of strategic procurement processes and contract management.
• Demonstrable experience of budget and resource management and contributing to financially related decisions on high level spending with excellent end-to-end project management skills.
• Demonstrable commercial awareness and acumen, including an understanding of supply market dynamics and the influence of procurement and service delivery models on those markets relating to their portfolio of spend categories.
• Experience in sourcing, implementing and managing new contracts and ways of working, including change management models.
• Proven success in leading effective contract management processes in an operational setting.
• Successful leadership and team management experience.

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal & communication skills (including building and managing credible and positive working relationships with colleagues, stakeholders and partners).
• Negotiating and influencing in a positive manner to achieve positive outcomes.
• Leading and promoting innovation, new ways of working and collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders and teams.
• Numerate and analytical, able to assimilate and apply new techniques and knowledge quickly to deliver insights and solve problems
• Able to identify risks and understand risk management, anticipate issues and create innovative, commercially astute solutions and to resolve problems in relation to project or service delivery.

Personal Qualities

• Resilience, viewing challenges as opportunities to learn and being aware of self and others.
• Natural leader – innate capacity to lead and manage people to achieve collective goals
• Role models a positive, can-do attitude with a continuous improvement mindset. Performance oriented.
• Commercially and financially astute in business.
• Committed to professional development and willing to complete supported training.
• Agile and flexible.

Our Values

• Be the best
• Be responsible
• Be a team
• Be open
• Be the difference

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We foster a work environment that is inclusive as well as diverse, where our people can be themselves. We value every idea and perspective towards helping us to evolve and innovate.

What We Offer - Total Rewards Package

• Starting salary £51,721 p.a. (DOE – dependent on experience)
• Quality equipment for successful remote working, laptop, mobile phone, monitor, chair & desk and a Welcome kit box
• 12% employer pension contribution
• Support for your development for your Role and future career development (a framework to achieve this)
• Pension salary sacrifice scheme
• Life insurance 4 x salary
• 28 days annual leave (rising with service)
• Birthday Leave (1 extra day per year to be used in your birthday month)
• Paid bank holiday leave
• Occupational sick pay
• Wellness – free vouchers for eye test and flu jab
• Employee Assistance Programme for health and wellbeing
• 1 x annual professional subscription
• Learning Management System – access to free training & e-learning (more than 80,000 learning resources)

CLOSING DATE: Thursday 16 October 2025

POTENTIAL INTERVIEWS: 28, 29 or 31 October 2025

Note: Please let us know confidentially if you require any adjustments in order to participate fully in our recruitment experience, this can be prior to applying or when you apply.

"The legal bit"

The successful applicant will be subject to pre-employment checks including medical screening and vetting (carried out externally) to NPPV3, due to the nature of our business this is important. As standard you will need to satisfy:

• Employment eligibility check (right to work in the UK)

• Residency qualification (five year checkable history in the UK, ideally resident in England or Wales for the last five years)

• Employment references (last 3 years or educational/personal reference where applicable)

NPPV3 vetting grants unsupervised, unrestricted access to police premises and systems and could include areas where police roles are designated posts. NPPV3 allows access to classified police material or information up to SECRET and occasional access to TOP SECRET. Clearance at SC level sits alongside NPPV3 to allow access to a higher level of secure information and systems.