Job Title:		Contract Support Manager			Contract Type:		Permanent
Grade:	HEO		Salary range (depending on location):			National - £34,140 to £37,105 London - £38,661 to £42,019 Please note that unless you are currently employed by the Civil Service and are earning more than the minimum above, if successful you will be offered the minimum for the grade depending on your location.
Location:			National
Directorate:			Contract Management & Assurance	Team:		Direct Services
Working Pattern:			The post is supported by the MOJ flexible working policy and includes colleagues who work flexibly, remotely, part time or as part of a job share etc. If you are applying for a part time role, please note that in order to meet business demands we need cover for a minimum of 30 hours and to cover 4 days of the week To meet legal requirements, if you are between the ages 16-18 and you are a successful candidate, you will be required to complete an apprenticeship after your initial on the job training
Reporting to:			Civil Legal Advice Operator Service (CLAOS) Contract Manager
Closing date for applications			4^th August 2025

The Legal Aid Agency

We are an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). We provide civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales to help people deal with their legal problems.

Our people are at the heart of achieving excellence. Employing around 1,200 colleagues across England and Wales, we feel proud to have some of the best People Survey results in the Civil Service.

Our LAA commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain, and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

As a Disability Confident organisation, we will offer a guaranteed interview to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for this role. Under the Equality Act 2010 a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months.

If you are responding to a role within the Legal Aid Agency and would like to be considered under the guaranteed interview, please indicate this in your application and let us know of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the sift or later selection processes.

The LAA’s goal is to build an organisation that is open and inclusive and truly values and celebrates the diversity of its workforce. One that reflects and understands the needs of the diverse society we serve. This is regardless of social background, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, beliefs, disabilities or long-term illness or caring responsibilities.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long-term condition (for example dyslexia, anxiety, autism, a mobility condition or hearing loss) and need us to make any reasonable adjustments to support you through the recruitment process, please let us know by adding the information to the applications system or emailing LAARecruitment@justice.gov.uk after you have applied so that we can discuss options with you.

Contract Management and Assurance

Contract Management and Assurance (CMA) work closely with our provider base to ensure the smooth running of our contracts and assure the delivery of legal aid.

Contract Management

Contract Management work collaboratively with other LAA departments to interpret and apply the Contract to the providers which we manage. We ensure that Providers deliver quality legal aid services in accordance with contractual requirements and relevant legislation. We interpret and analyse data to effectively manage risk and to influence providers to improve performance and effectively deliver change. We also engage with the wider Justice System to promote partnership working and influence provider behaviour.

The Direct Services team sits within Contract Management and is responsible for key LAA advice services. We manage the following portfolio of contracts:

• Civil Legal Advice

• The Duty Solicitor Call Centre

• Criminal Defence Direct

• Police Station Immigration Advice

We manage these bespoke commercial provider contracts in line with LAA / department priorities and to comply with the individual contractual requirements and performance measures. A wide range of quality assurance work is undertaken designed around the individual services which along with analysis of data and management information enables risk to be effectively managed. We work collaboratively with other LAA departments including Service Development, Commissioning and Digital, to ensure ongoing development of the services; for example, to design the specification for future tenders/contracts and to manage the implementation and set up of new providers’ as and when contracts are awarded.

Job Summary

This role requires the successful candidate to support the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service (CLAOS) Contract Manager to manage the performance and relationship of the CLAOS provider. This is a high profile, commercially tendered contract. Working with CLA colleagues they will use management information and other intelligence to ensure the effective delivery of CLAOS with a clear focus on quality and assurance. Using quality assurance activities to identify and address any areas impacting service delivery to improve provider performance. The role holder will understand the service and use knowledge and experience to identify and escalate risk as appropriate. They will have responsibility for CLAOS escalated Client Complaints ensuring all complaint responses are handled within published timelines.

Key Responsibilities:

Daily monitoring of provider performance through analysis of Management Information (MI). Timely escalation of any risks identified to the Contract Manager.
Responsibility for monitoring the quality of service delivery through various exercises including call listening, Customer Satisfaction Surveys and analysis of MI.
Implementing service improvements with the external contract holder through direct communication with external front line staff.
Using evidence-based decisions and knowledge of wider strategic implications to swiftly and appropriately adapt focus on priority risk areas.
Monitoring and management of Complaint responses from a variety of sources in accordance with the DSCC and LAA Complaints Policies.

Responding to all queries from various source relating to the CLAOS including ad hoc MI requests. Engagement with the external provider to ensure provision of accurate information to enable timely responses to all queries.

Supporting the CLAOS Contract Manager in creation of monthly MI packs to provide vital performance updates to the Head of Contract Management.

Supporting implementation of change by the provision of accurate service MI.
Building and maintaining strong relationships with internal stakeholders, such as Service Development, MOJ Policy, Crown Commercial and LAA Digital to ensure change is delivered effectively.
Working across the wider Direct Services team to ensure effective delivery of CLA services with a clear focus on quality and assurance.

Essential Knowledge, Experience and skills

None

Desirable Knowledge, Experience and skills

Knowledge of Office 365 applications

Person Specification

You are a highly organised self-starter, able to motivate yourself and work independently to achieve specified outcomes
You are driven, embrace change and remain effective when faced with conflicting deadlines
You are able to analyse information to inform your decisions to identify and prioritise key tasks
You enjoy the analysis of data and are able to identify trends and make recommendations for improvement.
You communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
You strive to consider the impact on the end user in all aspects of your work
You enjoy working with a range of key stakeholders and build effective working relationships both inside and outside of the organisation.

Assessment approach

Application Process

You will be asked to demonstrate the following Behaviours during the assessment process:

Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Working Together
Communicating and Influencing

If a large number of applications are received the initial sift will be based on the Lead Behaviour - Delivering at Pace

Interview / assessment Process

If you are successful through the application stage, you will be invited to an interview, likely to be conducted by MS Teams, and you will be assessed as follows:

Against Strengths relevant to the role

Against the following behaviours

Delivering at Pace
Managing a Quality Service
Working Together
Communicating and Influencing

Your Experience of implementing, promoting, or understanding diversity and inclusion policy - Diversity is the presence of difference, this can include one or more of the protected characteristics (Gender, Age, Race, Disability etc.) or it can be about working patterns, whether we like to jump into a task or reflect on it before acting. Inclusion is how we welcome, value, and celebrate diversity, giving everyone a voice, tapping into ideas, and enabling everyone to be themselves at work and achieve their potential.

Shortlisting is planned for week commencing 4^th August 2025

Interviews are planned for week commencing 25 August 2025

If you would like more information on this opportunity, please contact - Will Hayden: william.hayden@justice.gov.uk

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaints about this recruitment activity, please share your concerns by emailing LAAPeopleTeam@justice.gov.uk initially. We aim to respond to any complaint within 10 working days.