A bit about the role
Homes England enters into contracts (referred to within the agency as Building Leases) with Developers to undertake housing developments (generally on sites we own) across the whole of England. The Building Leases include covenants relating to building certain house-types within agreed timeframes, discharging infrastructure/planning agreements, meeting payment deadlines, providing project information and other matters.
The Building Lease is not a traditional construction contract between the agency and Developer, but instead is a formal legal agreement to provide a completed housing development within certain timeframes and to a pre-agreed high-level specification (incorporating MMC for example). As such, we are recruiting Contract Managers to manage our Building Leases and the covenants within them, rather than undertake contract administration services of a traditional construction contract.
The role of the Contract Management team is to manage all of the Building Leases across the agency in a consistent way, and is integral to the agency's core mission to ensure developer delivery and adherence to their agreed development obligations (e.g. building lease targets, design quality, MMC units/typologies, sub sales to SME's, starts and completions, completion of associated contracts s106/s38/s278 and transfer of legal title) and to ensure no trailing wires remain at completion.
Each Contract Manager is positioned regionally alongside experienced Disposal team colleagues and will play a critical role in helping the agency oversee the delivery of a wide range of fantastic housing projects whilst at the same time building and maintaining excellent relationships with our network of housing development partners.
The accuracy of our information is critical, and at the project handover point the Contract Manager will work with the Project Manager to ensure systems and records are accurate and that all necessary approvals are in place, and once handed-over, we will continue to provide the assurance expected for both accurate data in our systems and robust contract management through to completion.
To assist the management of contracts, we establish and track trigger points relating to contractual obligations, ensure those obligations are discharged, and capture the underlying evidence to provide a robust audit trail.
We deal with all matters arising on live projects, either through the Contract Management team skillset or through collaboration and liaison with the appropriate agency team to ensure best-practice and that matters are addressed using the most robust and secure method. We use and develop existing processes to prepare and maintain the forecasting of overage receipts.
We employ consultants to assist us in the collection and reporting of site matters, but to achieve a high-degree of engagement with the development we encourage you to make site visits, which coupled with your knowledge of the project will enable you to make an assessment on a range of matters and also to see in person and be a part of the exciting projects that we are delivering across the country.
A bit about you
As an experienced Contract Manager, either through direct project management or in a general managerial capacity, you will understand the importance of contractual parameters and be able to make considered decisions ensuring the impact of such decisions are recognised for all contracted parties.
Experienced in the residential property sector, in development and infrastructure across the public and private sector you will have had exposure to legal documentation and be able to clearly interpret contract and lease clauses, be highly organised, methodical, and have the skills to communicate with a wide variety of specialists. RICS / MCIOB certification would be desirable but is not essential requirement for this position.
You do not need to be a housing construction expert, but will be highly motivated with a strong desire to learn, be adaptable, and engage in a range of technical and agency-specific skill development initiatives all of which will equip you with the specific requirements of the role and a clear understanding of the agency.
You will be comfortable with travelling to and being on construction sites in an observational capacity, be able to adhere to site rules and the protocols established by the site manager.
Possessing strong organisational skills, with an attention to detail, you will be a good communicator, and someone who is comfortable working with people at all levels and from different disciplines. As this is a Contract Management role, there is always the potential for dispute, and you will need to be able to engage in such situations in a non-adversarial way in order to maintain good long-term developer relationships that we value very highly.
Being highly numerate with the ability to provide accurate and robust overage forecasting utilizing complex contractual mechanisms aligned to real-time transactional information, you will have experience of budget, financial management and approval processes together with proficiency in the use of appropriate IT Systems, including forecasting systems and Microsoft Word and Excel.
Collaboration is a big part of this role, and you will have the skills and attitude to recognise the bigger picture and be able to work with colleagues and stakeholders in an agile way so as to ensure the best possible outcome.
Delivering on a mission as bold as ours isn't always easy. You will be resilient and comfortable managing stakeholders at a senior level and your discussions will always be shaped by a good understanding of the commercial and operational impact of what we do as a national team. You will enjoy working in an innovative, fun and engaging way and be able to negotiate and persuade.
Who are we?
Homes England, the government's housing and regeneration agency, plays a central role in tackling the housing challenges the country now faces. We have the appetite, influence, expertise and resource to drive positive market change, and our mission is to ensure more homes are built in areas of greatest need, improve affordability and create a sustainable housing market.
Following the publication of the government's Levelling Up White Paper, Homes England has also been tasked with a core role in spearheading regeneration, partnering with places to reduce economic disparity, empower local leaders and create equal opportunities across the country to ensure communities reach their full potential.
What we offer
We understand how important life is outside of work so, as well as competitive salary and 33 days annual leave, we are totally committed to flexible working. We'll support you, wherever possible, so that you don't miss out on what truly matters to you.
If you do ever need a little bit of extra help we have a great employee assistance programme, financial well-being support and access to loads of great discounts with leading high street names.
Our range of network groups are also there to support you to truly be yourself at work and play a key role in helping shape our future.
If you are a member of a professional body we'll pay for your membership and once you get your top of the range digital kit you'll be good to go in one of our great offices (or at home!)