Operational Contract Support – HM Revenue and Customs

UK Based Applicants Only

Employer: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Job Title: Operational Contract Support
Reference: 472953
Grade: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
Salary: £45,544 – £55,157 per year
Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible Working, Job Share
Business Area: HMRC – CCG – Transformation
Job Function: Project Delivery
Number of Positions: 2
Closing Date: Tuesday, 8 September 2026 at 11:55 PM
Locations: Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester – Three New Bailey, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Telford and Stratford

Important: HMRC has confirmed that this vacancy does not offer Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants requiring visa sponsorship are not eligible for this role.

About HM Revenue and Customs

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority. The organisation collects the money that funds public services and provides targeted financial support to families and individuals.

HMRC is currently undertaking a major Compliance Transformation programme designed to modernise the way compliance outcomes are delivered across the organisation.

The programme includes initiatives covering:

• Digital case management
• Improved risk identification
• Modernised data infrastructure
• New operational capabilities
• Improved customer experience
• Greater operational efficiency
• Improved compliance yield

This role offers an opportunity to contribute to a complex, multi-year transformation portfolio within HMRC.

About the Operational Contract Support Role

The Operational Contract Support role will play an important part in the management, governance and assurance of contracts across HMRC’s Compliance Transformation portfolio.

The successful candidate will provide operational oversight across areas including contract administration, supplier performance, financial management and delivery outcomes.

You will help ensure that contractual arrangements provide value for money and remain aligned with programme objectives.

The role will also involve supporting procurement activity throughout the commercial lifecycle, including commissioning requests, call-off processes and contract mobilisation.

You will work closely with Commercial, Finance, Security, Strategic Business Partners, Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) and programme delivery teams.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Contract Management

Support Business/Programme teams and Commercial colleagues with contract lifecycle management, including:

• New procurements
• Contract renewals
• Contract extensions
• Mobilisation
• Contract exit
• Ongoing contract administration

Supplier and Performance Management

Monitor supplier performance to ensure contractual obligations are met.

You will help manage:

• Contractual KPIs
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• Supplier deliverables
• Performance issues
• Supplier relationships
• Continuous improvement
• Value for money

Where required, you will help hold suppliers accountable for agreed performance standards.

Risk Management

Support the identification, assessment and mitigation of risks associated with contracts and supplier performance.

You will help protect programme outcomes and organisational objectives by identifying issues early and supporting evidence-based solutions.

Stakeholder Management

Build effective working relationships with:

• Internal business teams
• Commercial teams
• Finance
• Security
• Strategic Business Partners
• Senior Responsible Owners
• Programme and delivery teams
• Suppliers
• External stakeholders

You will need to communicate effectively and be confident challenging constructively where necessary.

Financial and Budget Management

Monitor contract budgets and invoices while ensuring compliance with financial controls.

The role will also involve working with Finance colleagues to support reporting of:

• Actual expenditure
• Forecast expenditure
• Programme budgets
• Workstream financial information

Security and Onboarding

Ensure key contractual activities comply with appropriate security and onboarding requirements.

This includes supporting:

• Supplier onboarding
• Offboarding
• Resource tracking
• Contract resource management
• Statements of Work

Continuous Improvement

Identify opportunities to improve team processes and ways of working.

The successful candidate will help reduce unnecessary:

• Cost
• Time
• Administrative effort

You may also be involved in mapping current and future processes as the team develops.

Service Delivery

You will contribute to the delivery of trusted, secure and resilient services, helping ensure predictable outcomes within complex operational environments.

Essential Requirements

Applicants should demonstrate the following experience and skills:

Operational Contract Management

Experience in operational contract management, including:

• Managing contractual risks
• Monitoring contract performance
• Managing supplier relationships
• Working within large and complex organisations
• Delivering agreed outcomes
• Resolving and mitigating contractual issues

Analytical Skills

Strong analytical capability and experience interpreting complex contract and performance information.

You should be able to:

• Identify risks
• Identify opportunities
• Analyse performance information
• Develop evidence-based solutions
• Support continuous improvement
• Improve service effectiveness

Communication and Influencing

Highly developed communication and influencing skills are required.

You should be able to:

• Build strategic relationships
• Work collaboratively with stakeholders
• Challenge constructively
• Negotiate effectively
• Present complex information clearly
• Communicate with senior stakeholders
• Support informed decision-making

Microsoft Office

Advanced experience using Microsoft Office applications, including:

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Outlook

You should be capable of independently producing high-quality analysis, professional communications and insightful reports.

Desirable Experience

Experience working within a programme or portfolio environment would be advantageous.

Civil Service Behaviour Assessment

The recruitment process will assess candidates against the following behaviour:

Communicating and Influencing

Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate how they have effectively communicated, influenced stakeholders and handled challenging situations in previous roles.

Salary and Pension

The salary range for this position is:

National: £45,544 – £49,523 per year
London: £50,686 – £55,157 per year

HMRC also provides a Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme with an employer contribution of 28.97%.

The advert states that a salary of £45,544 attracts an employer pension contribution of approximately £13,194.

New entrants normally join at the minimum of the relevant pay band.

Part-time salaries will be calculated on a pro-rata basis according to the agreed working hours.

Employee Benefits

Successful candidates can benefit from:

• Civil Service pension
• Employer pension contributions of at least 28.97%
• 25 days’ annual leave initially
• Annual leave increasing by one day per qualifying year
• Up to 30 days’ annual leave
• Flexible working
• Hybrid working arrangements
• Family-friendly policies
• Personal support
• Coaching and development opportunities

Hybrid Working

HMRC is an office-based organisation.

Employees are generally expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office.

Where the role permits and the home environment is suitable, employees may work from home for up to 2 days per week, averaged over a calendar month.

Part-time employees will have the arrangement adjusted proportionately.

Locations

The vacancy is available across several HMRC locations:

• Birmingham
• Liverpool
• Manchester – Three New Bailey
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Nottingham
• Telford
• Stratford

Important Location Information

Applicants should only select a location that they are genuinely willing and able to work from.

HMRC will make only one offer of employment.

Any additional notes entered into the optional Further Location Preferences field will not be considered.

Location preferences cannot be changed after the application has been submitted.

Future Office Changes

Two locations listed in the advert are not intended to remain long-term HMRC sites.

These include:

Benton Park View, Newcastle
This location is expected to move to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle.

Telford Plaza, Telford
This location is expected to move to Parkside Court, Telford.

Further information will be provided at the job offer stage.

Application Process

The vacancy uses the Civil Service Success Profiles recruitment framework.

Candidates will be assessed against:

• Behaviours
• Strengths
• Experience

As part of the application, candidates will be required to submit:

Name-Blind CV

Your CV should contain your employment history while following the name-blind application requirements.

1,000-Word Personal Statement

Candidates must provide a personal statement of up to 1,000 words explaining why their skills and experience are suitable for the role.

The statement should directly address the:

• Essential criteria
• Person specification
• Relevant skills
• Relevant experience

Desirable Criteria Statement

Candidates may also submit a separate statement of up to 250 words addressing the desirable criterion.

This is not essential but may be considered if candidates achieve the same scores during the selection process.

IKM Assessment

Before applications are sifted, candidates will be required to complete an additional IKM assessment.

The assessment is:

• Timed
• Pass/fail
• Completed after the vacancy closes

Only candidates who pass the assessment will proceed to the sift stage.

Sift Stage

If a large number of applications are received, HMRC may conduct an initial sift based on candidates’ CVs.

At the full sift stage, the following will be assessed:

• CV
• Personal Statement

Successful candidates will then be invited to interview.

HMRC may increase the required score at any stage of the recruitment process if a high volume of applications is received.

Interview

Interviews will take place via video link.

During the interview, candidates will be assessed on their experience and will be asked a behaviour-based question relating to:

Communicating and Influencing

Candidates will also be asked strength-based questions focusing on their motivations, preferences and what they enjoy doing.

An example provided by HMRC is:

“It is often said that the customer’s needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”

Candidates are not expected to prepare specific answers for the strength-based questions in advance.

Visa Sponsorship

No Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship

This vacancy does not offer Skilled Worker visa sponsorship.

HMRC states that the role has been assessed against Home Office and HMRC criteria and cannot be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route.

Therefore, applicants who require visa sponsorship should not apply for this vacancy.

Applicants must independently meet the relevant UK right-to-work and Civil Service eligibility requirements.

Nationality Requirements

The role is broadly open to:

• UK nationals
• Republic of Ireland nationals
• Commonwealth nationals with the right to work in the UK
• Eligible EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic and Liechtenstein nationals
• Eligible family members covered by the EU Settlement Scheme
• Certain individuals with limited or indefinite leave to remain
• Certain Turkish nationals and eligible family members who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Applicants should review the official nationality and eligibility requirements before applying.

Security Checks

Successful candidates will be required to complete appropriate pre-employment checks.

These may include:

• Standard or equivalent criminal record checks
• Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks
• Internal Fraud Database checks

Candidates working with government assets must meet the relevant security requirements.

Criminal Record

Applications from candidates with criminal records will be considered fairly in accordance with the relevant DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy.

Reserve List

HMRC may operate a reserve list for up to 12 months.

Candidates placed on the reserve list may be considered for the same or similar positions during that period.

Merit List

Following interviews, a single merit list will be created.

Candidates will only be considered for locations they selected as preferences.

Appointments will be made in strict merit order according to the number of available positions at each location.

Reasonable Adjustments

HMRC aims to ensure that candidates are not disadvantaged during the recruitment process.

Reasonable adjustments may be available for applicants who require additional support.

Candidates requiring adjustments should contact the UBS Recruitment team as soon as possible before the closing date.

The application form also contains an Assistance Required section where applicants can explain any support they may require.

For questions relating specifically to the IKM assessment or assessment adjustments, candidates can contact the HMRC Talent Acquisition Team.

Artificial Intelligence and Applications

HMRC allows applicants to use artificial intelligence tools to support their applications, but candidates must ensure that all information and examples are:

• Truthful
• Factually accurate
• Based on their own experience

Applicants must not present other people’s experiences or AI-generated experiences as their own.

Plagiarism or misrepresentation may result in an application being withdrawn.

Important Application Information

Applicants should carefully complete the eligibility sections of the application form.

If an eligibility mistake is discovered, HMRC may not be able to reopen the application if contacted less than two working days before the vacancy closes.

If you need your application reopened or reinstated while the campaign remains open, contact the recruitment team using the details provided below.

HMRC App

The HMRC app can help applicants retrieve their employment history and make completing the application easier.

The app can provide access to your previous five years of employment history.

Successful applicants will also need their National Insurance number during the onboarding process.

Important Information for Existing HMRC Contractual Homeworkers

The role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers.

However, occasional office attendance may be required where there is a business need.

Applicants should therefore select only locations they can realistically travel to.

Contact Information

Job Contact

Name: Justine Lawley
Email: justine.lawley@hmrc.gov.uk

Recruitment Team

Email: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Application Issues

If you need to request that an application be reopened, include the vacancy reference 472953 and closing date in your email subject.

How to Apply

To apply for this Operational Contract Support position, candidates should submit their application through the official Civil Service Jobs vacancy.

Vacancy Reference: 472953

Closing Date: Tuesday, 8 September 2026 at 11:55 PM

Final Reminder

Before applying, make sure you:

• Meet the essential criteria
• Have the required contract management experience
• Can demonstrate strong analytical skills
• Have advanced Microsoft Office experience
• Can demonstrate strong communication and influencing skills
• Select a location you can work from
• Meet the relevant Civil Service eligibility requirements
• Do not require Skilled Worker visa sponsorship
• Are prepared to complete the IKM assessment
• Can provide a name-blind CV
• Can prepare a 1,000-word personal statement
• Submit your application before 11:55 PM on 8 September 2026

Reference: 472953
Employer: HM Revenue and Customs
Grade: Senior Executive Officer
Salary: £45,544 – £55,157
Contract: Permanent
Positions: 2
Sponsorship: Not available