Contracts Manager (PFI)
-
School:
The Education Village Academy Trust -
Location:
Darlington -
Salary:
£41,511 - £44,711 per annum -
Hours:
37 per week -
Contractual Status:
Permanent -
Closing Date:
15th Jun 2025
Contract Manager (PFI)
The Education Village Academy Trust
Full-Time: 37 hours per week
Salary: £41,511 – £44,711 per annum
Annual Leave: 32 days plus bank holidays
Pension Scheme: LGPS
The Education Village Academy Trust (EVAT) is looking for a Contract Manager to join our Estates & Facilities Team. Our PFI (Private Finance Initiative) building is managed through a long-term contract where private partners handle construction and ongoing facilities services. You will play a key role in achieving the operational success of our PFI contract and ensuring that we provide a high-quality learning environment for our students.
This is a newly created permanent role within the team and offers a great opportunity for an experienced contract professional to act as our subject matter expert on contract delivery and compliance. Knowledge or experience of PFI contracts would be helpful but is not essential, what is more important is that you have a strong contract management background and share our passion for making a difference to the lives of children and young people.
To find out more about the role please see the job description and person specification. You can also find out more about EVAT including our values and ethos on our website www.educationvillage.org.uk
Closing Date: Sunday 15th June 2025
Interview Dates: Monday 30th June or Friday 4th July
Application forms and further information regarding the post are available on our website www.educationvillage.org.uk. Application forms are to be submitted to the People Team at PeopleTeam@educationvillage.org.uk
Job Purpose
This pivotal role ensures the operational success of our PFI contract, directly supporting high-quality learning environments for our students. You will be the Trust’s subject matter expert on contract delivery and compliance and you will lead on optimising the performance of the PFI site via robust contract management.
The post holder will have the opportunity to support and influence outcomes for estates performance, safeguarding and financial viability across a large educational estate and work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders.
The Trust’s PFI (Private Finance Initiative) building is managed through a long-term contract where private partners handle construction and ongoing facilities services. The Trust ensures the contracts delivers value, compliance, and quality and provides an aspirational learning environment.
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
| 1. | Provide professional support to the Trust’s estates and facilities team, contributing to the strategic oversight and delivery of the PFI contract | |
| 2. | Conduct daily reviews of contractor performance, log issues in the helpdesk system, track task progress to completion, and report on underperformance or data inaccuracies | |
| 3. | Support the development and implementation of a robust contract management framework for the management and reporting of contract performance | |
| 4. | Monitor the performance of the contract on site through:
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| 5. | Analyse contract information to monitor contractor performance, identify trends in data and determine any deductions for underperformance | |
| 6. | Complete daily, weekly and monthly onsite and system checks, working collaboratively with the contractor to ensure the Trust and Darlington Borough Council receive an accurate monthly performance report | |
| 7. | Support the evaluation and negotiation of contract variations and lifecycle changes, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and contract terms | |
| 8. | Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures related to service delivery across the PFI portfolio | |
| 9. | Promote environmental sustainability within PFI service delivery, identifying opportunities for energy efficiency and compliance with net zero objectives | |
| 10. | Work closely with the contractor’s onsite team to agree actions and to address or remediate underperformance to ensure clean, safe and aspirational spaces | |
| 11. | Escalate formal disputes through reporting lines providing advice, and support to ensure speedy resolution | |
| 12. | Develop strategies to mitigate risks in partnership with the contractor and ensure risks are managed and communicated to stakeholders via a robust risk register | |
| 13. | Provide reports and recommendations to executives, Trustees and local authority representatives on contracting arrangements, performance, effectiveness and value for money. | |
This Job Description is not definitive and outlines key accountabilities – colleagues are expected to be flexible regarding their accountabilities and will from time to time be asked to carry out other duties to ensure achievement of organisational goals.
Person Specification
| Qualifications | Essential or Desirable |
| Degree in facilities, construction, contract management, or demonstrable equivalent experience. | E |
| Membership of respective professional recognised body | D |
| Project management or post graduate management qualification | D |
| Skills | Essential or Desirable |
| Computer literate with excellent understanding of Microsoft Office suite of programmes | E |
| Able to plan and organise self to ensure tight deadlines for reporting purposes and operational requirements are met | E |
| Ability to collate, manage and analyse data to provide insight through trends, themes and translate into effective action plans | E |
| Ability to be able to present information in a logical and systematic manner and to interpret data with skill and understanding to inform strategic decision-making at school and Trust level | E |
| Knowledge / Experience | Essential or Desirable |
| Ability to build effective working relationships with colleagues and external partners at all levels | E |
| Previous experience of complex contract management across large sites | E |
| Experience and knowledge of PFI contracts/services provision | D |
| Operational experience including compliance both contractual and at a service delivery level | E |
| Completion of quantitative and qualitative contract reviews and analysis of technical data to present findings in a concise and cogent form | E |
| Ability to provide and receive complex information/ data and be able to communicate the information onwards to allow understanding across all stakeholders | E |
| Awareness of child protection / safeguarding issues | E |
To apply for this role, please complete the below application form and email it to peopleteam@educationvillage.org.uk
Supporting documents
Application FormOther Supporting Documents:
Contracts Manager (PFI) advert Contracts Manager (PFI) JD & PSThe Education Village Academy Trust
Established in 2006, we are a mixed Multi Academy Trust (MAT), bringing together mainstream and special schools and academies serving the borough of Darlington and neighbouring areas.
We are a village, and by building on our individual strengths, sharing our skills, and weaving each other’s ideas and perspectives into our practice, we are able to offer unique and enriched learning experiences.
We are proud to be part of a truly inclusive Trust. We firmly believe that fairness in opportunity and acceptance of individuality enhances understanding of the world, prepares pupils for the future, and creates young adults who value, appreciate and are able to make an active contribution to their communities.
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