Commercial Assurance Manager

Base salary: £44380 pa to £52212 pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

As the Commercial Assurance Manager you will provide assurance to HS2 Ltd. and other stakeholders that HS2 Ltd.'s commercial controls, from procurement through management of awarded contracts to contract completion, deliver value for taxpayer's money.

This role is integral to supporting HS2 Ltd.'s delivery against the HMT's "Managing Public Money".

• To lead independent reviews, of procurement and investment decision-making LoD2 commercial assurance activity across the procurement lifecycle and post-contract award, while acting as an advocate and champion for the brand and integrity of assurance
• Lead procurement and contract management assurance activity at key stages of the procurement and investment lifecycle, in line with the applicable assurance framework, and produce assurance reports as required
• Work with teams such as Commercial Compliance/Procurement to ensure that the conclusions from assurance reviews and compliance analyses are understood, prioritised appropriately and fed into improvement plans
• Lead the delivery of specific initiatives to support the Senior Commercial Assurance Manager in the implementation and embedment of the HS2 commercial assurance policy, strategy, procedures and reporting format across the organisation
• Lead the delivery of continuous improvement activities of the commercial assurance and investment decision-making assurance framework
• Establish and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders to facilitate effective and timely assurance reviews and maintain a plan of an accurate pipeline of assurance activity
• Analyse assurance findings to identify and report on opportunities and common insights across the assurance reviews to support HS2's continuous commercial learning and delivering value for taxpayer's money
• Manage any external assurance partner resources to deliver agreed outputs within agreed contract value
• Maintain good working relationships with partners (e.g. Department for Transport, Network Rail, P-Rep, IAP), other assurance providers within and outside HS2 Ltd
• Contribute to the development of assurance engagement and training materials that support delivery of effective assurance throughout the HS2 programme
• Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

• Ability to lead the end to end delivery of assurance reviews to a professional standard and to agreed deadlines, working with assurance providers, both internally and from 3rd parties where required
• Ability to identify and scope the impact of assurance findings, and communicate the implications to a range of audiences
• Ability to engage with and influence senior management and executives
• Experience with cross-functional collaborative working methods
• Excel, MS Project and PowerPoint skills
• Project Management skills, leadership and team-working ability

• Knowledge of applicable EU and UK procurement legislation
• Knowledge off the procurement and contract management lifecycle
• Knowledge of a range of assurance activities, tools and techniques
• Experience of working within a procurement assurance function including the production of supporting policy and processes
• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Awareness of government initiatives and policies
• Professional procurement and/or assurance qualifications (e.g. MCIPS/Audit) or equivalent

• Experience of delivering procurement and contract management assurance across a major programme, or a complex organisation, with multiple stakeholders
• Experience in managing multiple workloads/work strands with varying deadlines
• Assurance, internal control or audit experience within both the private and public sector is preferable

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2…