60120 - Senior Area Contract Manager - Probation Reform Programme

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Overview of the job

Accountable to the Deputy Director of Custodial Services Contract Management (DD CSCM), the Senior Area Contract Manager (SACM) is accountable for overseeing delivery and development of Custodial Services within their designated areas of responsibility and is a senior management position within the Custodial Services Contract Management team.

The job includes accountability for contract management, assurance and governance of a minimum of three contracted prisons and oversight of related interfaces with other providers in their designated area (e.g. the contracted provider of the custodial services, Public Sector Prisons, commercial, commissioning and finance colleagues, community stakeholders and Community Resettlement Companies.

Estimated custodial services annual contract values range from around £ 16 million up to £ 150 million.

The post holder is accountable for managing these complex, innovative contracts and for delivery of services that carry high levels of operational and reputational risk. The post holder will be on the operational on-call duties rota for the group and therefore the post attracts Required Hours Allowance.

Summary

The SACM is a key member of the DDs senior management team, accountable for oversight of the private prisons within designated areas of responsibility, including contract management and related interfaces with other providers, stakeholders and related service planning, development and commissioning activity.

The SACM will be allocated strategic / subject matter expert lead responsibility for an aspect of Custodial Services Contract Management business. This may include:

• Leading on liaison with commercial colleagues to manage Notices of Change and Additional Prisoner Places (APPS).
• Leading on a particular suite of Contract Delivery Indicator (CDIs) to drive continuous improvement.
• Operational management and lessons learned.
• Provision of safer custody and implementation of best practice.
• Decency.
• Violence Reduction.
• Provision of secure custody.
• Liaison with Prisoner Escort Custody Services.
• Service integration with Community Resettlement Companies and Through The Gate (TTG) services.
• Leading on a particular segment of the offender population (e.g. women, BAME etc.)
• Leading on liaison with other functions e.g. Public Sector Prisons, PAG, Finance, Commercial, Prison Reform, Commissioning Strategies Group etc.

The SACM will be responsible for evaluating sentence demand and service delivery against local and national priorities and for service planning, development and commissioning activities within their designated area.

The SACM will work collaboratively with colleagues within the Directorate (Deputy Directors, Senior Area Contract Managers, Controllers, Deputy Controllers, Assistant Controllers, Contract Support Officers, National Audit Teams, Contract Support Unit) and other functions across HMPPS/MOJ.

The SACM will lead and promote effective relationship management and build effective working relationships with and between providers (e.g. PSPs, Contractors, Police, HMCTS, PECS, CRCs, NPS, BASS) and with key stakeholders and partners at a regional and national level.

The post holder will have sufficient seniority and authority to represent and deputise for the DD and deal effectively with strategic commissioning partners (e.g. Police and Crime Commissioners) and with providers at Director (contracted services), Deputy Directors (contracted services and HMPPS) and senior managers (contracted services and HMPPS).

At the discretion of the DD and decisions about the most effective deployment and management of the team, the SACM will be accountable for the line management, performance and development of a team of Controllers and Deputy Controllers across the prisons in their designated area of responsibility.

The geographical base for the SACM post can be flexible and will require some work in London and other locations.

Responsibilities, Activities and Duties

The job holder will be required to carry out the following responsibilities, activities and duties:

Specifically, the post holder will be accountable for (the post-holder may be required to carry out other tasks commensurate with the nature of the role and grade of the post):

• Managing designated Custodial Service contracts to deliver service outcomes and value for money.
• Proactive relationship management with private prison providers.
• Ensuring appropriate levels of assurance in relation to designated Custodial Services contracts, including as required, on-site presence within specific private prisons in order to observe and monitor operations, processes and practice.
• Ensuring financial payments are made in line with private prison’s contract performance.
• Identifying service quality, contract compliance and supplier performance issues and priorities and liaison with the Deputy Directors core team in order to inform the programme of assurance activity required to deliver the CDIs.
• Liaising with Commercial Contract Management, Contract Management Support Unit, System Development, and other HMPPS / MoJ functions to ensure that the necessary advice and support is obtained to inform effective management of the designated private prison contracts.
• Leading on management of the contract management governance processes in relation to designated private prisons, including dispute resolution and chairing / attending meetings as required.
• Quality assuring data provided on the Custodial Services disaggregated scorecard and liaising with colleagues to ensure an accurate scorecard is produced within the defined timescales.
• Accountable for overseeing the interfaces between designated private prisons, PSPs, the NPS, CRC(s) and other providers of service to those in custody.
• Maintaining effective stakeholder relationships with providers, particularly between CRC, NPS and PSPs and with wider stakeholders in relation to community and TTG offender services.
• Leading work to critically evaluate local sentence demand, offender needs and priorities in order to inform service planning, development and commissioning activities.
• Strategic or subject matter expert lead for an allocated area of Directorate business which may be at regional or national level.
• Line managing a number of Controllers and Deputy Controllers at the discretion of the DD.
• Considering Adjudication Appeals within designated prisons on behalf of the Deputy Director and communicating common themes to adjudicators.
• Acting as a gatekeeper for all statutory offender reviews, considering the quality, consistency, necessity and defensibility of continued confinement prior to submission to the Deputy Director.
• Providing operational and managerial advice and support to Controllers and their teams.
• Providing a gatekeeper and quality assurance role for all compliance work undertaken by the Controllers teams, considering the qualitative and quantitative elements of this work.
• Acting as a gatekeeper for out of hour’s calls from controllers in private prisons.
• Working collaboratively with SACM colleagues and controllers to prepare supporting documents which inform the Custodial Services Contract Management Board.
• Taking overall responsibility for the preparation of supporting documents which inform the Quarterly Contract Review Meetings (QCRM) for the designated prisons in the area of responsibility and attendance at QCRMs as required by DD.
• Attendance at national HMPPS strategic meetings as required by DD.
• On call duties for the group

The duties/responsibilities listed above describe the post as it is at present and is not intended to be exhaustive. The job holder is expected to accept reasonable alterations and additional tasks of a similar level that may be necessary. Significant adjustments may require re-examination under the Job Evaluation Scheme and shall be discussed in the first instance with the job holder.

An ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence through the medium of English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together

Experience

No specific qualifications are essential but experience and skills relevant to senior management, commissioning and contract management are required.

Specifically:

• Senior management experience in a comparable environment (e.g. within the criminal justice system or involving delivery of offender/public services)
• Experience and skills in relation to contract or performance management, and/or service development and commissioning of Criminal Justice services.
• Highly developed understanding and detailed knowledge of policy and strategic developments in relation to prison management and through the gate offender services and how these apply to operational practice and the contract management process
• Knowledge and appreciation of contract management requirements and highly developed understanding of the challenges involved in managing and assuring delivery of large complicated commercial contracts.
• Experience and skills in leading and managing in a complex change management context.
• Effective programme and project management experience and skills.
• Effective high quality skills to lead and manage staff to achieve demanding objectives.
• Demonstrates sound judgement, and has the ability to build effective working relationships, and to influence and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders at a senior level in a complex and multi-layered delivery landscape.

Ability

• Ability to make decisions about issues of risk arising from security incidents and intelligence, audit and assurance activity and managing these effectively and sensitively across organisational and contractual boundaries and in line with political and economic considerations
• Ability to function effectively and autonomously in a challenging environment with a high level of personal resilience.

Hours of Work (Unsocial Hours) Allowances

37 hour week