JOB DESCRIPTION

Operations Manager
Contract type: Part Time 12 Month FTC salary c£42,000 pro-rated at c£25,000 based on 21 hours per week plus civil service employer pension contribution of 28%. Higher ranges may be available for exceptional candidates.
Location: Newcastle
Hours: Due to the nature of the role attendance at site is expected 3 days a week.
Closing date for applications is 23:59pm on Tuesday 24th June 2025
About the NAO
The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s main public sector audit body. Independent of government, we have responsibility for auditing the accounts of various public sector bodies, examining the propriety of government spending, assessing risks to financial control and accountability, and reviewing the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, projects, and activities. We report directly to Parliament, through the Committee of Public Accounts of the House of Commons which uses our reports as the basis of its own investigations. We employ some 1,000 staff, most of whom are qualified accountants, trainees, or technicians. They work in one of two main areas, financial audit, or value for money (VFM) audit.
The NAO welcomes applications from everyone. We value diversity in all its forms and the difference it makes to our organisation. By removing barriers and creating an inclusive culture where all our people can develop and maximise their full potential.
About the job
The post-holder is responsible for leading and co-ordinating Digital Services (DS) operations activities within the NAO’s Newcastle office. They will report to the DS Business & Commercial Manager, with the role including elements of wider asset, license, contract and supplier management as appropriate within the team.
The post includes responsibility for:

Project Management

• [within the NAO Newcastle office] ensuring sufficient IT assets and consumables are available to NAO Newcastle staff, either within local storage or via transport from the NAO London office or direct from suppliers. ON going maintenance of the above during the project for tracking and reporting purposes.
• [within the NAO Newcastle office] ensuring that equipment and devices being despatched to and from the Newcastle office to various destinations, including the NAO London office. Engaging with business and technical architects, designers and analysts to ensure projects adhere to standards.
• [within the NAO Newcastle office] managing all wider local Digital Services service provision, including meeting room operations, computer room operations, engineer & supplier liaison, and local contract management
• Working closely with the DS Service Management, XMA and wider NAO DS Operations teams as the primary Newcastle office point of contact for all relevant Newcastle incidents, events and developments which have some form of associated DS service provision

There will be no formal line management responsibilities but there will be from time to time, management or oversight of engineers, contractors or suppliers delivering a DS service.
The post-holder will report to the Digital Services Business & Commercial Manager.

Internal/External relationships:

• DS management, all within DS, Engagement & Change, Business Analysts, Test Leads and other Delivery Managers
• Programme / Project Boards, Programme / Project delivery team members
• Internal relationships with staff at all levels. Direct contact at user level to ensure that technology systems and services are developed to meet user and wider business needs;
• Stakeholder management across the NAO audit and core strategic service teams to ensure they are fully engaged and informed about the projects;
• Service owner management to ensure that they are fully engaged and informed about prioritisation of work and the effect of strategic priorities on resourcing their requests. Also to keep up to date with their concerns or consideration regarding supporting the services.
• External relationships with suppliers

Resources managed:

• Staff: No line management responsibilities, staff allocation management will depend on the size of projects. Projects can comprise cross-functional teams at a range of seniorities.
• External resources: Management of external consultants and specialists as required
• Budget: Some aspect of project finances will be managed.

Responsibilities
The post-holder will be responsible for overseeing DS operations activities within the Newcastle office and will ideally be attending the office during normal working hours. The role will consist of:

DS Operations (30%)

• Local IT asset management and IT asset allocation, stock levels, replenishment, audits etc. ensuring the accuracy of the ServiceNow configuration management database for Newcastle based assets.
• Managing the purchase of home working equipment requested by staff via ServiceNow and liaising with internal finance team to ensure prompt supplier payment
• Coordination of local joiners, leavers, movers where a DS service or asset is involved
• Performing local digital activities requiring low level technical competence
• Overseeing and coordinating the activities of more technical engineers, either from NAO Digital Services, XMA or other suppliers
• Local event management in the context of DS service provision (eg. meeting rooms etc.)
• Knowledge transfer to other staff to ensure the practice continues and runs through all that we do.
• Apply continuous improvement to all local processes and activities considering where things can be optimised, or made more efficient or have innovative approaches applied.

Wider Commercial Activities (50%)

• Contract Management for a subset of Digital Services contracts, including supplier review meetings, performance management and contract renewals
• Support of the wider asset management function, including software license management
• Wider supplier, contract, financial management
• Wider DS Service Management activities, as and when required
• Support and cover for the Digital Services Business and Commercial Manager as well as the wider team
• Leading the Carbon NetZero activities for the Digital Services Team
• Maintaining internal financial database and taking ownership to ensure it is kept up to date and communicate with wider Commercial team to continue best practise
• Continually seek opportunities to broaden Contract Management knowledge through CPD- included but not limited by courses ran by the Government Commercial College

Deputising for the Newcastle Office Manager (20%)

• Activities which mirror existing office manager role which includes:

o Cover for the Newcastle Office Manager, deliveries, contractors, visitor passes, reception duties
o Room setup and equipment testing for large/important meeting
Skills required
The successful candidate will be a well organised and can manage multiple priorities and/or activities by using appropriate approaches , techniques and tools whilst being able to work calmy under pressure. Be a structured thinker who is a good communicator and comfortable in a customer facing role. They must also be able to present themselves well, deliver key messages and guidance in layman’s terms.
The successful candidate must be confident enough to influence team representatives to ensure that consistency is maintained in folder structure across the office whilst still taking any specific team needs into consideration. Be a problem solver with the ability to encourage others in collaborative problem solving. Acting as both a broker and consultant regarding resources and engaging others in incident management and service delivery.

Behavioural skills and personal qualities:

• Strong service management, service delivery and customer service skills;
• “Can do” attitude, with strong delivery focus;
• Self-aware with excellent interpersonal skills;
• Clear and confident communicator with good influencing skills;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with customers, key stakeholders and technical staff at all levels, including presentation skills.
• Ability to clearly articulate and communicate operational concepts and issues to non technical staff.
• Good level of IT technical competence.
• Ability to effectively prioritise and execute tasks in a complex and changing environment.

Equal opportunities and diversity
Disability and Reasonable Adjustments
Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HRservicedesk@nao.org.uk).
Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor.
We are open to considering candidates who wish to fill posts on a part-time basis or as a job share. Part-time candidates should indicate their proposed availability, and any flexibility they would either want to have or be able to offer.
Responsibilities