Vacancy Location: Remote role (occasional travel around England & Wales as required)

Shifts: Full-time 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday - 9am till 5pm)

Pay Rate: Competitive

Sponsorship: This service does not provide support for visa sponsorship

Who We Are  

We’re here to support people to flourish in a place they call home. We’re one of the largest providers of adult social care with over 4,000 colleagues supporting 1,300 people. Our approach is all about activities and co-production with the people we support. We work with them to design and plan what we do – so we can create the best experiences together.

We're very proud to be recognised as one of the best organisations to work in by ‘The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024’. 

And we’re on a mission to benefit even more people with our uncompromising quality of care and support. It’s the professional expertise and passion of our team that makes us different. We genuinely care and we love supporting people to set and then reach their goals. Because every person deserves the very best experience – every day.

Role Overview 

*   Reporting to the IT and Transformation Director.

*   Responsible for overseeing the creation, negotiation, execution, compliance, and renewal of IT contracts.

*   Responsible for managing and optimising the relationships with IT suppliers.

*   Ensure services are delivered according to agreed terms and meet the requirements of the business.

*   Working closely with internal departments and external suppliers to ensure efficient and cost-effective IT operations.

*   Ensure IT-related agreements align with organizational objectives, provide value, and mitigate risk.

Role Responsibilities

Relationship Management

*   Establish and maintain strong relationships with IT vendors.

*   Serve as the primary contact for vendor contract issues through to resolution

*   Negotiate contracts, service level agreements (SLA’s) to ensure vendors are managed to business expectations

*   Monitor vendor performance against SLAs and key performance indicators (KPIs).

*   Conduct regular performance reviews addressing any issues, ensuring improvement plans are in place as required.

*   Communicate performance to key stakeholders

*   Continuously seek opportunities to improve vendor management processes and practices.

*   Stay updated on industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies, such as AI and digitalisation.

Contract Management

*   Oversee the administration of contracts, ensuring compliance.

*   Maintain all IT contracts, ensuring they are accessible and up to date.

*   Track contract milestones, deliverables, and renewals to ensure timely execution and compliance.

*   Prepare and present regular reports on vendor performance, contract status, and procurement activities.

*   Ensure that contracts comply with legal requirements, company policies, and industry standards.

Cost Management

*   Identify cost saving opportunities

*   Negotiate improved terms with vendors

*   Analyse spending to ensure cost efficiencies

*   Identify opportunities to drive commercial value

*   Invoice approval and payment management

Risk and Compliance

*   Ensure that all IT contracts comply with relevant regulations, standards, and policies.

*   Create and implement a framework for vendor management, including policies and procedures

*   Assess and manage financial, operational, and compliance related vendor risk

*   Ensure risk management and appropriate contingency plans are in place.

Procurement

*   Identify potential vendors and evaluate their capabilities and services.

*   Manage the procurement process for IT products and services, including issuing RFPs/RFQs, evaluating vendor proposals and making purchasing recommendations.

Skills and Experience

Essential

*   Proven experience in vendor management, procurement, or contract management, preferably within the IT sector.

*   Experience in negotiating contracts, service level agreements (SLAs), and managing contract lifecycles.

*   Excellent negotiation and contract management skills.

*   Ability to analyse data and financial information to facilitate decisions

*   Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

*   Ability to drive process improvements

*   Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Desirable

*   Knowledge of IT products, services, and market trends.

*   Relevant certifications (e.g., Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM), Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM), ITIL are advantageous.

*   Understanding of the Health and Social Care sector

If you’re ready for a job that can truly make a difference and you’re up for a challenge, then this is the team for you.

How we will support you 

We go beyond expectations for our colleagues as well as the people we support. Our reward package includes much more than pay, 25 days of annual leave + bank holidays and pension.

Your birthday off with pay after a year of service and there is a £300 refer a friend scheme too!

Industry-leading recognition 

• Colleague Lotto – giving everyone the opportunity to win great cash prizes.

• Prize winning Scratchcards aligned with values in action!

• We recognise our Colleagues who go above and beyond – our ‘Heroes’ are nominated by colleagues for quarterly and annual awards.

• Loyalty Scheme recognising colleagues at work anniversaries.

Social Wellbeing 

• Award-winning App for news and info.

• Internal social media.

• Team communities.

** Financial Wellbeing**

• Discounts include high street, supermarkets, flash sales, gym memberships and more.

• Blue Light discount programme, funded by us.

• Salary Finance scheme for lower cost loans and to save for special occasions or rainy days.

• Government mileage rates if you need to travel.

Emotional Wellbeing 

• Free wellbeing App.

• Practical advice covering things like consumer rights, anxiety, childcare and more.

Training and development to reach your potential

• Learning journey that grows with you to reach care worker standards.

• Specialist skills training including Autism, Dementia and Mental Health.

• Career pathways that include flexible apprenticeships and nationally recognised qualifications.

• Cover the cost of relevant professional memberships.

5 more reasons to work with ivolve 

1. Our people are pretty fabulous. We take pride and pleasure in helping others to flourish.

2. There’s a great energy across the business and a strong sense of teamwork.

3. Very few jobs have such an impact on people’s lives – we bring joy to people every day.

4. We have a proud history, we’re a big organisation of over 4,000 colleagues supporting around 1,300 people.

5. We build and nourish relationships with the people we support.

INDF