Senior Quantity Surveyor

HOUSE OF COMMONS-3

House of Commons

The House of Commons a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK’s thriving democratic system.

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Staff Benefits

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days’ annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year).
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• Access to training and development.
• Flexible working.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

Introduction

The Project Delivery Team, within the In-House Services and Estates Directorate (IHSE) in Parliament takes great pride in looking after and improving the buildings of Parliament itself, as custodians of the Estate. Our aim is to provide the right environments for building users whilst restoring and protecting our heritage buildings.

While we are part of the House of Commons service, we provide services to the House of Lords as well. We operate on a working World Heritage site which attracts visitors from all over the globe, in a challenging stakeholder environment where conservation and the need to innovate and build for the future coincide.

Many of our most recognizable buildings require ever-more significant work to meet our strategic aim of Supporting a Thriving Parliamentary Democracy. You can see some of our work just by looking at the Palace of Westminster. Our team includes a wide range of professions and we support staff in developing their careers, through our careers pathway programme.

The Project Delivery Team is accountable for the delivery of all of the current major projects across the Parliamentary Estate, having recently undergone a reorganisation the team will focus on a portfolio management approach, alongside an enhanced focus on construction quality, cost scrutiny and consistency of approach whilst strengthening opportunities for professional development and career progression across the team.

We currently have approximately 120 projects with an annual spend of £200m, with a portfolio value of £1billion. We have a stated aim to improve the predictability of our projects from both a time and cost perspective whilst not trading on quality or safety.

The Role

The role reports to the Head of Commercial (Projects) and must have recent and relevant commercial management experience, gained from delivering a major capital construction programme and proven knowledge of contract management, with excellent people skills.

The work of Project Delivery is currently divided up into 3 Portfolios. The Senior Quantity Surveyor post will ensure all strands of commercial activity within the allotted Portfolio are planned, resourced, and delivered to established timescales. The post holder will work closely with the Portfolio Director (PM) to deliver projects taking full responsibility for overseeing the commercial and financial aspects of those projects, handling daily commercial issues and be responsible for managing the project opportunities, while adhering to parliamentary control and regulatory guidelines. The role will be assisted by 1 or more Assistant Quantity Surveyors.

The post holder will take responsibility for the commercial activities, including oversight of package procurements, evaluation of change proposals, certification of monthly valuations, cost forecasting and dispute resolution within the assigned project(s). The day-to-day project level quantity surveying activities are in the main outsourced to consultants. Consequently, a major element of this role is the management and scrutiny of the consultant outputs. The post-holder will be playing an important part in managing large capital budgets over multiple financial years and managing significant supplier contracts.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Provide authoritative financial and commercial information and guidance to the wider IHSE team.
• Advise on contractual and commercial issues across assigned projects within the programme.
• Review all commercial and financial processes undertaking a gap analysis to discover any areas that are non-compliant with parliamentary practices and put in place a ratification plan.
• Lead in the production of regular financial reports, monitoring the expenditures and costs against delivered and realised benefits as the Project(s) progresses; ensures that the IHSE team meets the accounting standards of the House of Commons. Such reporting will analyse spend and outputs against agreed budgets, deliverables and forecast commercial outcomes.

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Recent and relevant Commercial Management experience gained from delivering a major capital construction programme, preferably one with a substantial business change workstream. Excellent and proven knowledge of techniques for monitoring and controlling programme budgets.
• Ability to work autonomously and take responsibility for day-to-day matters but also an energetic and committed team player, contributing to the work of a large integrated team of client staff and third-party consultants.
• Ability to identify and engage successfully with a wide variety of stakeholders and to appreciate and absorb expertise from a wide range of disciplines. Builds strong collaborative partnerships to achieve organisational goals within area of responsibility. Promotes and facilitates effective relationships between staff and managers, ensuring that everyone is, at all times, treated with dignity, courtesy and respect. Actively promotes joint working and partnerships with stakeholders and other organisations to meet shared goals. Demonstrable commitment to a work environment of mutual trust and respect, where diversity and inclusion is valued.
• Applies a range of analytical techniques to understand complex issues and make strategic decisions. Evidence of using commercial management techniques. Challenges underlying assumptions to make sure information is accurate. Analyses information to identify possible problems.
• Sound Understanding of Risk Management techniques (including approaches to cost risk) as well as a good working knowledge of budgeting and resource allocation.

Next Steps and Additional Information

• CV & Supporting Application Form your anonymous CV and evidence against criteria 1,4 & 5 in the Job Description

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.