Senior Manager - Contracting and Operations Manager

Senior Manager - Contracting and Operations Manager

Senior Manager - Contracting and Operations Manager

Closing date 26th May 2025

Interviews w/c 2nd June 2025

A bit about the role

The Senior Manager Core Business Contracting leads a team responsible for the end-to-end origination and completion of all contracts with our partners delivering grant-funded Affordable Housing in England.  The team is part of Affordable Housing Grants, who are responsible for delivery of 1,000s of affordable homes every year.  

Reporting to the Head of Provider Services Operations, the post holder will lead the four-strong contracting operations team and will ensure partners including housing associations and house builders enter into the correct form of grant agreement with Homes England.  There is an emphasis on maintaining standardised terms and conditions with all our partners as well as, when appropriate and within risk appetite, agreeing contract variations.  

The job requires often fast-paced, close-working internally with our delivery and legal teams and externally, sometimes with lawyers and our partners.  It’s all about getting our partners into the right form of agreement in a timely way, ensuring they can get on with delivering affordable homes and giving Homes England the appropriate safeguards over its grant funding.  

The post holder must have a strong operational focus as well as the ability to highlight matters that have strategic implications for grant delivery and contracts; and contribute to their solution.  Team-working is vital so that our partners get a true end-to-end service.  The Senior Manager will work with our new business and delivery teams and closely with our onboarding and due diligence colleagues and a small team that leads on future contract development.  

It's all about working in a collaborative/flexible way that values diversity in experience and perspective to foster good decision making and problem solving within their team.  

This is a rare chance to shape the future of Affordable Housing in a national organisation with real social purpose.  

A bit about you

Whilst our day job is to deliver a first-class contracting service to deliver affordable homes, you will be used to “spinning several plates” at once and will always be looking for ways to improve and innovate.

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 in the contracting operations team.  You will enjoy working in an innovative, fun and engaging way and be able to negotiate and persuade.  

You’ll understand how to manage colleagues and be able to demonstrate you can work with others as part of a team in a collaborative, inclusive way.  

Some of the contracting operations team are based in our London office.  So, while the postholder will be based outside London in one of our seven area/region-based offices) it is essential that they must be able to travel into London on a regular basis to ensure those London-based staff are supported.  

A legal qualification is not required but it is essential that the postholder has prior experience of managing high-value and high volume contracting operations (not necessarily in housing) and the maintenance of standard terms and conditions.  

Who are we?

Homes England: The Housing and Regeneration Agency

We believe that affordable, quality homes in well-designed places are key to improving people’s lives. As the government’s housing and regeneration agency, we create thriving new places and transform urban areas, combining the full breadth of our powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to bring investment to communities and get more homes built.

How? We form long-term partnerships that bridge the gap between the public and private sector to meet local needs and aspirations. We use our influence to champion the creation of sustainable homes, communities and places that are brilliantly designed for the people that live there now, and in the future. And we use our funding and support to build a more resilient, diverse and innovative housing sector, helping new entrants in the market, encouraging modern methods of construction and design, and promoting the utmost attention to building safety.

Together with our partners, we’re accelerating the pace of house building, remediation and regeneration across the country, as we seek to deliver ever more affordable homes in places people are proud to call home for generations to come.

What we offer...

As well as a competitive salary and 33 days annual leave, we are committed to hybrid working. We’ll support you, wherever possible, so that you don’t miss out on what matters to you. 

Internal applicants: please note that if you are successful, the salary you are offered will be in accordance with our pay controls and pay policy. You can find these on the recruitment pages of the intranet.

If you ever need a bit of extra help, we have a great employee assistance programme, financial wellbeing support and access to many great discounts with leading high street names. 

Our range of network groups are also there to support you to 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 digital kit, you’ll be good to go. 

We would encourage all applicants to apply as soon as possible as we may close vacancies early should we receive a high number of applications. 

We also encourage you to apply using the full application option as opposed to quick apply, this is especially important if you would like to indicate to us that you would like to be considered under the disability confident scheme. 

If your application is shortlisted to interview, we will require you to provide proof of your right to work in the UK at this stage.