Highways Service Manager

What will you be doing?

As the Highways Service Manager you will be accountable for the day to day commercial management of the Highways Contract and developing a positive and collaborative working relationship with the contractor to resolve issues as they arise in the interests of the residents and communities of North Northamptonshire. 

You will: 

• Lead on discharging the Council’s statutory duties for maintaining the highway. 

• Provide advice and information to elected members, to Executive, to Scrutiny Committees, and the Corporate Leadership Team of the Council in order to ensure that informed decisions are made which enable the Council to achieve its strategic priorities and objectives whilst complying with its statutory obligation, and relevant decision makers are aware of the performance of the Contract. 
• Monitor and manage the budgets, performance and risks related to the service, including accurate estimating, forecasting and out-turns against agreed budgets.
• Mitigate overspends to remain within allocated budgets and seek best value in accordance with the Council’s financial regulations. 

• Manage the staff responsible for assessing and valuing applications for payment, assessing pricing for works under the contract, contract inspection and monitoring and the management of other contracts relating directly to Highways provision.
• Managing work carried out through the contract for other Clients within the Council 

About you

You will be educated to degree-level or equivalent by experience e.g. civil engineering with excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to apply effective influencing/negotiation techniques to achieve a positive outcome.

You will have a sound understanding of English local authorities’ statutory Highways Duties and a good understanding of the performance and commercial considerations in larger service contracts.

With excellent knowledge of current and emerging highways maintenance practices and an understanding of Social Value and Climate Change and Environment expectations

You’ll need to bring experience of working in an NEC4 Term Services Contract environment with a sound understanding of English local authorities’ statutory Highways Duties

If you are looking to further your career in a large complex organisation that can provide you with a range or career experience, then we'd love to welcome you to our friendly team.

We currently work in a hybrid way, so there are opportunities to balance great face to face service, with the flexibility to work remotely.

For an informal discussion about the role or to find out more information, please contact Philip Beecroft, Head of Highways Delivery. Email: Philip.beecroft@northnorthants.gov.uk  

Our benefits

We offer:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

About us

We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary councils in the country. Our vision for North Northants is to be 'A place where everyone has the best opportunities and quality of life'.

Our priorities are:

• helping people live active fulfilled lives
• caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
• enabling a thriving and successful economy
• leading on a green and sustainable environment
• ensuring our communities are connected so they can shape their lives and where they live
• providing modern public services

Our values, as chosen by our staff, are - Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive and Trustworthy.

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