GBS Contract Manager

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In we reached 650 million people.

Job Title: GBS Contract Manager

Purpose of job:

Contract Manager will be the custodian of the contract with a dotted line reporting to the global procurement team. The role will be responsible to work with the GBS capabilities office and operations teams to ensure contractual compliances are met and enable necessary procurement actions. The role will require to provide the necessary procurement advise and engage with senior leaders to manage complex issues while managing the contract.

This role will report directly to the GBS Office & Capabilities Head and will be based in India.

Role context

As the Professional Services Transformation progresses, engagement with Managed Service Providers (MSP) has highlighted the need for a distinct central capability in British Council to manage strategic suppliers Global Business Service (GBS), which is an industry practice. The objective of establishing GBS practice is to effectively manage internal stakeholders, whilst efficiently manage supplier relationship and performance. This GBS organisational will be led by Director Global Business Services reporting into the COO.

To meet the urgency of setting up of GBS and onboarding of key resources before the setting up of the contract, it is proposed to fulfil key positions as interim utilising an existing pool of experienced resources from the transformation programme. These positions will later follow the due consultation and appointment process to fill the positions in the long-term.

Being a centrally managed and governed function, GBS will be responsible to manage strategic elements and govern operations for each of the professional services functional area i.e. Finance, HR, D&T and Procurement. The GBS function will be responsible for the following:

• Accountable to Professional Services for operations delivery and performance
• Overall ownership for transition including reporting to governance forums and assurance reviews.
• Operational management of the contract (e.g., SLA/KPIs, delivery performance, governance, and reporting)
• Produce performance reports and initiate proactive actions to tackle underperforming areas.
• Provide necessary support for assessment and reporting of contract performance as per the applicable Public Procurement Regulations
• Establish governance including cross-functional elements such as transition, transformation, continual improvement.
• Escalation management and troubleshooting with the MSP
• Implementation of transformation opportunities
• Implementation of approved change request
• Benefit tracking and reporting

The GBS function will be supported by Professional Services (PS SROs) who will be responsible for the following.

• Accountable to Strategic Business Units and International Operations for workstream service delivery
• Ownership of operating model design and future roadmap
• Own process design, change and approval mechanism.
• Identification, prioritisation, and approval of transformation opportunities

The GBS will also be supported by existing corporate functions such as Procurement for the following:

• Setting of Standards and Processes for Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) / Contract Management
• Commercial and procurement aspects of contract management (e.g., invoicing, service credits, T&C)
• Compliance with contract obligations
• Compliance and reporting as per the Public Procurement Regulatory obligations (supported by GBS and Legal)

Main opportunities/challenges for this role

Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:

The role of Contract Manager will be required to

• Be the custodian of the MSP contract and schedules along with any amendments.
• Provide the necessary support to interpret and advise on contractual clauses etc.
• Draft and present guidelines as necessary and ensure alignment with the global procurement policies and procedures.
• Manage and track obligations and contractual change requests.
• Ensure contractual compliance throughout the lifecycle of the contract.
• Drafting and release of formal communication to the MSP on the contract
• Lead on negotiation/re-negotiation of the MSP contract or components.
• Manage contract drafting and amendments.
• Verify and record invoice details and recommend payments.
• Perform allocation and chargebacks, track service credits etc. against the contract.
• Involve legal team, as appropriate for interpretation, and advise.

Qualifications

• Graduate
• PMP will be advantageous but not mandatory.

Role specific knowledge and experience

• Confidence to advise senior leaders on relevant areas, even in difficult, contentious or

challenging circumstances

• Highly effective influencing and enabling skills.
• Ability to problem-solve and anticipate issues.
• Excellent planning and organising skills.
• The ability to communicate clearly and effectively.

Essential

• Prior procurement experience in a large project of a similar diverse nature
• Ability to interpret and advise on contractual clauses in-line with the British Council policies and procedures.
• Proven experience in managing and influencing senior stakeholders.

Desirable

• Experience of working effectively in complex matrix environments
• Understanding of commercial contracting regulations and principles, subcontracting practices in key geographies (esp. the UK and India)

Further Information

Pay Band 8

Contract Type IDC

Department/Country- Global Business Services/ India – Noida

Closing Date (Time) 8 Dec 23 (IST -23:59)

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion(EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council iscommitted to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Councils Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ASK HR email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.

Apply for this job

To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate in your cover/motivation letter where ) you saw this posting.