JOB PURPOSE
:
The Education Authority requires x 2 Catering Supplier and Contract Managers to work within our school Catering Service.
These are 2 fantastic new opportunities for the right candidates to join a Catering Service with ambitious plans for the future. Reporting directly to the Head of Service, you will manage contracts in the region of £30m, plus, per annum and a portfolio of up to 35 contracts, including food supply, disposables, and commercial catering equipment.
As a Catering Supplier and Contract Manager within the EA Catering Service, you will play a vital role in ensuring supplier compliance and that spending is effectively monitored, achieving value for money. You will make sure that delivery and product quality are consistent and that all end users’ satisfaction ratings remain high.
You will be responsible for creating and managing an agreed supplier recording and auditing system, which you will administer across the school meals service - at all times, endeavouring to increase efficiencies and improve the service deliverables while reducing costs of the Catering Service. You will regularly present your reports and outcomes to the Head of Service and the Category Council.
In this challenging role, you will work closely with all our stakeholders and be instrumental in delivering a quality service that meets our goals and objectives and exceeds our customers’ expectations.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Contract Administration
1. Responsible for ensuring that all contract management activities are completed on time and to the required level of detail. Contract management delivery will be in accordance with the EAs contract management approach including the Cabinet Office contract management approach for strategic contracts.
2. Develop and manage the contract administration processes to ensure compliance with all contract service level agreements, including variations/change control, financial monitoring, performance monitoring as well as other contract mechanisms.
3. Actively manage the contract management system, ensuring all actions have been identified and recommendations are made to meet compliance and objectives.
4. Maintain intimate knowledge of the contracts and associated terms within the portfolio.
5. Arrange schedules of contracts due in advance, arrange panel members, contract specifications, panel meetings and evaluation panels.
6. Coordinate and agree with catering teams, panels, and HoS on product requirements and specifications.
7. Assess our customer’s supplier requirements and ensure their expectations are met by the Catering Service
8. Act as the interface between external suppliers, internal colleagues and procurement / legal teams concerning contract reviews, changes and retendering.
9. Play a supporting role in the commissioning and procurement of Catering Services across the EA
10. Comply with all Departmental controls relating to commercial practice and otherwise, including strict adherence to their delegated authorities, governance, legislation, and policy as appropriate.
11. Contribute to the review, revision and development of existing and new contracts.
12. Drive service improvement across all contracts for all goods and services for the catering service.
13. Work with suppliers to ensure efficient contract procure to pay process engaging with all relevant stakeholders on such areas.
14. Develop and implement contract management Governance and where appropriate present papers to appropriate committees internal senior management.
Auditing and Reporting
15. Oversee the management of contracts through auditing and reporting.
16. Manage and oversee all catering audits, report writing and action planning within the remit of Contract Management
17. Create, maintain, and operate Management Information Reports that ensure all processes and procedures are in place and working effectively within the Service.
18. Provide timely reports and presentations to the Head of Service on purchasing trends, spending and satisfaction levels with each service provider.
19. Put in place an annual onsite supplier auditing schedule.
20. Set deadlines and ensure timelines are met, often under challenging circumstances and competing priorities.
21. Support the Catering Service in the monitoring and control of contract expenditure in line with agreed budget limits, facilitating action plans to address over and underspend.
22. Provide support and recommendations to the Catering Management Team from the findings identified from audits, reports and end-user complaints.
Continuous Improvement
23. Identify areas for improvement opportunities across EA Catering to enhance our purchasing power.
24. Regularly monitor supplier performance against agreed key performance indicators ensuring achievement and improvement where required.
25. Put in place an effective end-user complaint system embedded at the user level and easily identifies trends and service provider failures.
26. Act as a point of escalation for the Catering Service in the event of poor supplier performance, including providing advice on contract terms and conditions and how and when to enact them.
27. Investigate quality failures and issues, and record and identify trends.
Training & Meetings
28. Attend all meetings, training courses and working groups as required and carry out all tasks as requested to ensure contracts are developed, evaluated, implemented and managed within the agreed procurement requirements, strategy and timeframes.
29. Contribute to developing and delivering catering initiatives and programmes such as workshops, training, and development initiatives to support the Catering Service Team and Senior Managers
30. Arrange and coordinate tender initiation meetings with members of the Catering Service before the tendering for products and services commences ensuring that all contracts deliver the Catering Services requirements.
31. Arrange onsite supplier visits with the Catering Management Team
32. Working with EA commercial procurement service Arrange and coordinate Category Council meetings, providing agendas, information for agenda items, minute taking and following up on actions delegated.
33. Actively participate in service and procurement meetings and consult with internal and external stakeholders as requested.
34. Participate in learning and development activities and professional development, as required with the role.
ICT
35. Prioritise the smooth running of the contract management portal, ensuring deadlines and value for money are met whilst maintaining a high standard of analysis and insight into each contract.
36. Use electronic sourcing and management systems to ensure all commercial decisions are evidenced.
Quality and Procurement
37. Ensure the EA Catering Risk Register (Category Council) is reviewed and assessed regularly, ensuring significant risks are escalated accordingly.
38. Prepare Procurement Needs Requests for the Catering Service
39. Prepare business cases as required for products and new services as the Catering Service evolves.
40. Support and carry out procurement projects when requested by the Head of the Service and or the Service Improvement Team
Leadership and People
41. Promote and support the EA procurement and Catering Service vision and values.
42. Build and maintain effective, professional, and respectful stakeholder relationships.
43. Act as the interface between external suppliers, internal colleagues and procurement / legal teams concerning contract reviews, changes and retendering.
44. Develop and maintain clear lines of communication and effective working partnerships with relevant internal/external stakeholders.
45. Work with the Catering Management and CPS to lead and support procurement and compliance.
Other Responsibilities
46. Comply with the EA’s policy on Data Protection (in particular, the processing of sensitive personal information)
47. Ensure that the EA’s Equal Opportunities Policy, relevant Codes of Employment and Practice and other relevant legislation are adhered to.
48. Respond to Parliamentary Questions, Assembly Questions, Minister’s cases, FOI requests and other correspondence within set deadlines.
49. Deal with whistleblowing complaints in accordance with the EA’s Whistleblowing procedure.
50. Undertake such other relevant duties as may be reasonably expected of the post-holder.
51. The post holder may be required to work outside normal office hours on occasions.