Utilities Liaison Officer (Contract)

Job Title - Utilities Liaison Office

Location: Birmingham

Pay Rate: paying maximum £230 per day

JOB PURPOSE

The Utilities Liaison Officer supports the Utilities Programme Manager and will work closely with the Senior Stakeholder Managers (Technical) to ensure delivery of the utilities design activities required to meet the clients programme and manage / coordinate the utilities design across area teams. The Utilities Liaison Officer supports negotiation, reporting and contract processes with utility companies, local authorities and other relevant project partners, and will challenge submissions to assure a best practice and cost effective proposal, for successful delivery of future works post submission; including design integration, petition reduction and management and the development of commercial arrangements to facilitate planning and development of utility designs and programme activities.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

Manage and coordinate the delivery of all utilities related works across the area teams, ensuring that their inter dependencies are incorporated.

Support negotiation, reporting and contract processes with utility companies, local authorities and other relevant project partners through working in close conjunction with the Engagement Teams (Technical).

Identify and escalate risks, issues and concerns of delays promptly and effectively.

Provide progress reports as required.

Facilitating and supporting key meetings (internal and external) with recording, writing and

communicating actions and key points.

Assist and guide the area teams, drawing on expertise to inform and support the delivering consistency of design in relation to utilities.

Act as the interface between Technical Directorate and the area teams ensuring design development and issues are consistently addressed.

Explore technical opportunities for developing innovation and value engineering across the network.

Work with the central utilities, finance and planning teams to coordinate existing budget controls and future budget requirements for utility works

Work with the client's commercial agreements, land and property, procurement and legal teams alongside the central and area teams in developing and coordinating the utility strategy; including identification and incorporation of lessons learned through discussion with the stakeholders and teams.

Work with the powers and protective provisions agreements teams to ensure a coordinated approach to delivery of the project and post submission requirements; including monitoring, tracking and mitigation of petition risk

Presentation of strategies and/or governance papers as required to ensure correct governance is obtained and maintained.

Ensure strong and auditable records are maintained.

Ensuring compliance to governance procedures during all stages of work.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE

Degree in Civil or Mechanical Engineering.

Chartered engineer (or equivalent relevant experience).

Ability to carry out robust independent checks on a wide variety of designs and produce, interpret and assess specifications, standards and technical reports.

Ability to resolve complex design problems, demonstrating a tenacious approach to tackling problems whilst maintaining attention to detail.

Track record of working within utilities projects with multiple stakeholders.

Technical and commercial knowledge of the UK utility sector and the ability to confidently engage with the industry on these subjects

Ability to establish and maintain strong working relationships with a range of multidisciplinary stakeholders, demonstrating excellent influencing skills.

Ability to communicate, engage and influence a variety of external stakeholders at public forums.

Ability to communicate complex issues to stakeholders.

Strong written and spoken communication skills, strong interpersonal and influencing skills.

Strong team management, planning and organisational skills, and the ability to deliver under pressure to meet tight deadlines whilst gathering input from other functions.

Extensive experience of managing design and engineering, ranging from feasibility to detail design, working on a large, complex infrastructure project.

Experience in cost forecasting and management of stakeholder accounts with emphasis on application for payments.