Senior Costing Specialist

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

Senior Commercial Specialist

Scottish Water is looking for an enthusiastic, proactive, and highly motivated individual to join the Digital Contract Management Team. The role sits within the Digital Directorate, which is at the heart of transforming our business, and will involve the end-to-end contract management of a large and varied contract portfolio in order to support operational and project activities across the organisation. The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring our Digital Supply Chain is effectively managed to drive best value and operational efficiency for the organisation.

What you will be doing

As a Senior Commercial Specialist, you will join a team who are responsible for managing and overseeing the Digital Directorate’s portfolio of software, SAAS, hardware, consultancy and support contracts, as well as looking after some of our key digital partner relationships. One of your primary areas of focus will be assisting the team in developing processes to better manage and track the performance of our supplier network, thus ensuring contract compliance and best value for Scottish Water. You will lead new contract and renewal negotiations with third-party suppliers and partners ensuring Scottish Water’s interests are protected while optimising contract value. A key aspect of the role will be building and maintaining strong relationships with our many contractors, business managers and IT suppliers. You will also collaborate closely with internal strategic partners and business unit stakeholders to improve contract management, minimize contractual risk, assess current and future Departmental and wider business needs, and monitor and evaluate supplier performance.

Additionally, you will support the team’s invoicing, payments, and budgeting activities as well as acting as a key contact for all contract enquiries, issues, and disputes raised by the wider business. You will be expected to negotiate and administer contract renewals to ensure they align with business needs, provide best value, and comply with governance requirements. You will play an active role in Digital procurement projects when required by ensuring that relevant terms and conditions, KPIs, and SLAs, and supplier performance management in general play a key role in our selection processes.

What you'll bring

To be successful in this role, you should have experience in supplier management and day to day contract oversight, ideally within the digital/IT or software licensing field. You should be proficient in KPI and SLA management and be comfortable managing all aspects of supplier contract performance, both positive and negative. You will have the ability to develop documentation such as policies, processes, presentations, and reports in support of your activities. Identifying and mitigating risks in software contracts will be a key aspect of the role, and strong analytical skills are required to assess data, identify trends, and recommend improvements. Excellent organisation, administration, communication, and stakeholder management skills are essential, along with the ability to work collaboratively as part of a busy and collaborative team.

It would be beneficial to have experience in direct contractual negotiations and the ability to interpret legal terminology and contract terms. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping Scottish Water’s digital future while ensuring strong governance and supplier relationships. If you have the skills and experience required, we would love to hear from you.

Looking out for you  

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance. 

This is a full time (35 hours per week) role, Monday to Friday. But you’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community. 

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible and remote working. 

For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance. 

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping. 

The not-so-small print 

This role will be a Grade 7. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £41,000. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £51,970. 

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be, we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 17th June 2025

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional. We’ll be able to confirm your start date once you pass our Pre-Employment Screening. This is done for us by a third party. We’ll ask for your permission before we initiate the checks.

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted. 

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at [email protected]