Subcontract Manager

Hitachi; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Hitachi Rail GTS UK Limited in London is seeking a Subcontract Manager to develop and strengthen relationships with key suppliers and external clients. The role emphasizes trust-based partnerships, negotiating balanced outcomes, and driving continuous improvement across performance, capability, and delivery.

You will be the primary interface between the organization and its suppliers, engage with external clients, and travel to supplier premises or project sites as needed.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience managing key or strategic supplier relationships.
• Experience working directly with external suppliers and, ideally, clients.
• Track record of resolving complex or sensitive issues through negotiation and influence.
• Experience in a procurement, supply chain, operations or project-based environment.
• Working knowledge of contracts and commercial frameworks.
• MCIPS qualification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary relationship owner for allocated key and strategic suppliers.
• Build and maintain long-term, trust-based relationships that support organisational, supplier and client objectives.
• Develop and maintain Supplier Relationship Plans including engagement cadence, joint objectives, and improvement initiatives.
• Facilitate regular supplier reviews and ensure 360° feedback is completed to support reporting cycles.
• Support engagement with external clients to align suppliers and delivery teams.
• Assist in joint meetings with suppliers and clients as a professional point of contact.
• Contribute to client discussions on supplier capability, performance, risk and improvement plans.
• Work with Project Procurement Managers to negotiate with suppliers focusing on collaboration and value rather than pure leverage.
• Influence supplier behaviours through effective communication, credibility and relationship management.
• Proactively manage issues and resolve conflicts at the lowest level possible.
• Monitor supplier performance using agreed metrics and drive continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with suppliers and QA to determine root causes of underperformance and agree corrective actions.
• Encourage innovation and best-practice sharing across the supplier base.
• Act as a key interface between suppliers and internal stakeholders (projects, engineering, quality, operations, commercial).
• Manage competing priorities and expectations through clear communication and alignment.
• Provide insight to internal teams and leadership on supplier capability, risks and dependencies.
• Proactively identify risks within the supplier base and support mitigation planning.
• Promote ethical and transparent conduct in all supplier and client interactions.
• Ensure activity aligns with governance requirements.

Skills

Supplier relationship management

Stakeholder engagement

Negotiation

Influence & conflict management

Travel flexibility

Commercial awareness

Education

MCIPS qualification

Job description

Location:

London, London, United Kingdom

Job ID:

R0147697

Date Posted:

2026-10-22

Company Name:

Hitachi Rail GTS UK Limited

Profession (Job Category):

Customer Service & Contact Center Operations

Job Schedule:

Full time

Work Arrangement:

Hybrid

About Us

A career at Hitachi Rail will help create a legacy. With operations in every corner of the world, our work goes to the cutting-edge of digital transformation and technology. From the multi-cultural strength of our global organisation to the sustainable and innovative ways we work to bring people together, there’s something for everyone to get stuck into. And that’s where you come in.

Job Description

Your new role

The Subcontract Manager is responsible for developing, managing and strengthening effective, collaborative relationships with key strategic suppliers and selected external clients. The role focuses on building trust-based partnerships, influencing supplier behaviours, negotiating balanced outcomes and driving continuous improvement across performance, capability and delivery.

This role places a strong emphasis on interpersonal skills, stakeholder engagement, and relationship ownership. The role holder acts as the primary interface between the organisation, its suppliers, and, where appropriate, external clients, ensuring expectations are aligned and issues are managed constructively.

The role requires regular external engagement and the flexibility to travel to supplier premises, client locations and operational or project sites on an ad-hoc basis. This is a hybrid working role with 2 days in the office.

Key Responsibilities

Supplier Relationship Management

• Act as the primary relationship owner for allocated key and strategic suppliers.
• Build and maintain long-term, trust-based relationships that support organisational, supplier and client objectives.
• Develop and maintain Supplier Relationship Plans where appropriate, including engagement cadence, joint objectives, and improvement initiatives.
• Facilitate regular supplier reviews, including senior-level and executive engagement where required, and ensure monthly or quarterly supplier 360° scoring and feedback is completed to support reporting cycles.

External Client Engagement

• Support engagement with external clients to help align suppliers, delivery teams, and client expectations.
• Assist in joint meetings with suppliers and clients as a professional point of contact.
• Contribute to client discussions on supplier capability, performance, risk, and improvement plans.

Negotiation, Influence & Issue Resolution

• Work with Project Procurement Managers to negotiate with suppliers, focusing on collaboration, value creation, and sustainable outcomes rather than purely contractual leverage.
• Influence supplier behaviours through effective communication, credibility and relationship management.
• Proactively manage emerging issues, resolving conflict at the lowest possible level and avoiding formal escalation wherever possible.

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor supplier performance using agreed metrics, with a strong focus on continuous improvement rather than punitive enforcement.
• Collaborate with suppliers and the quality assurance team to determine the root causes of underperformance, and agree on corrective or improvement actions.
• Encourage innovation, efficiency improvements and best-practice sharing across the supplier base.

Internal Stakeholder Management

• Act as a key interface between suppliers and internal stakeholders (projects, engineering, quality, operations, commercial).
• Manage competing priorities and expectations through clear communication, influence and stakeholder alignment.
• Provide insight to internal teams and leadership on supplier capability, risks, constraints and behavioural dynamics.

Risk, Ethics & Governance

• Proactively identify relationship, capability and dependency risks within the supplier base and support mitigation planning.
• Promote ethical, transparent and professional conduct in all supplier and client interactions.
• Ensure activity is aligned with organisational policies and governance requirements, applying judgment rather than rigid process adherence.

About you

Relevant Skills

• Strong relationship management and stakeholder engagement capability
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written and interpersonal)
• Proven ability to influence, negotiate and manage conflict constructively
• High levels of emotional intelligence and cultural awareness
• Ability to build credibility and trust with suppliers, clients and internal stakeholders
• Problem-solving mindset with a collaborative, solutions-focused approach
• Comfortable operating in complex, matrix and sometimes ambiguous environments
• Willingness and flexibility to work externally and travel as required

Essential Criteria

(professional accreditations / qualifications)

• Demonstrable experience managing key or strategic supplier relationships
• Experience working directly with external suppliers and, ideally, clients
• Track record of resolving complex or sensitive issues through negotiation and influence
• Experience in a procurement, supply chain, operations or project-based environment
• Working knowledge of contracts and commercial frameworks
• MCIPS qualification preferred

Desirable Experience

• Experience supporting supplier development or continuous improvement initiatives
• Exposure to rail, infrastructure, engineering or regulated environments
• Experience working with senior stakeholders or supplier leadership teams

Travel Requirement

• The role requires ad hoc travel to supplier premises, client locations and operational or project sites to support effective relationship management, engagement and issue resolution.

Closing date for applications is 8th November 2026.

At Hitachi Rail, there is a place for everyone.

We welcome and value differences in background, age, gender, sexuality, family status, disability, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and world view.

It is our commitment to create an inclusive environment - we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.