Commercial and Partnering Manager

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Job description
Full Time, Permanent

Bristol City Council is recognised as a leading and progressive adopter of digital services. Our Digital Strategy focuses on delivering better, cheaper, and faster services that improve digital equity and are built from a user-centred perspective. We are focused on improving services for our residents and making Bristol truly digital.

We have exciting and challenging work ahead. We are completing an £18m multi-year Digital Transformation Programme in 2024, securing a firm technological foundation on which to develop improved digital services. We have major ambitions to help transform services across the council and to participate in large regional partnerships across sectors. We are recruiting people-focused digital, data, design, and technology professionals to join our team.

We are now recruiting an IT and Digital Commercial and Partnering Manager to lead a small team. The work will include:

• Maintaining great relationships with our commercial partners.
• Overseeing a wide range of contracts.
• Direct management of our bigger contracts.
• Planning and delivering best-practice procurement activities.

You will also play a key role in identifying and carefully prioritising innovation, funding, and partnership opportunities across multiple business sectors. You and your team will be part of a newly established service created to help us achieve our aims with less.

This role sits at the heart of our Digital Transformation Strategy and reports directly to our Head of Digital Strategy and Transformation.

We want to hear from people with skills in:

• Communications, stakeholder management, negotiation, and effective influencing.
• A strong understanding of modern IT and digital technologies.
• Leading a team as an inclusive and values-led manager.
• Procuring and managing services.
• Commercial negotiation, delivering large-scale procurement activity, and high-value contract management.
• Exceptional commercial skills and understanding of intelligent client behaviours and strategies.
• Strategy, development and seeing the big picture.

You Should Be

• Naturally curious - you keep on top of your own learning and development and are up to date with the latest techniques and trends in your field.
• An advocate for user-centred practices, ideally embedded within agile delivery.
• Able to explain complex technical concepts in plain language.
• Committed to improving residents' lives and opportunities.
• Demonstrating respect and fairness.
• Taking ownership
• Working together across the council.

These values are fundamental to us, as is building an environment that promotes knowledge, empathy, equity, and skill sharing.

At Bristol City Council we want our staff to thrive professionally. We are a business that recognises and supports transferable skills and ambition So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you'd be a good fit.

Why Bristol City Council?

At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. For the majority of our roles hybrid working arrangements are available, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice - mixing both home and office working.

Join us and you'll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you'll be working in a supportive environment where you'll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.

How do I apply?

If you share our values and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.

To be shortlisted for interview you'll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.

For further information, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification or alternatively, please contact Sarah Carter [email protected]

We particularly welcome applications from candidates who are Black and racially minoritised , disabled, LGBTQ+, and/or from underrepresented gender identities, including women, trans, or non-binary people. These groups are all currently under-represented to some degree within this Service. As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that disabled applicants meeting the minimum criteria for this position will be interviewed. Appointments will be made on merit.