Highways Contract Inspector

This is an exciting time to join our Contact Investigation team! We’re a new local authority, created in April 2021. We’re at the beginning of our journey of shaping what the Audit and Inspection looks like at West Northants Council, so there is plenty of opportunity to develop processes, and shape our offering so we can provide the best possible service to our colleagues in our Highways and Transport directorate.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

Contract Inspector – Carry out audit based inspections both planned and reactive recording and reporting in line with procedures. You will start by getting to grips with contract and auditing our most high-profile jobs as well writing reports to inform stakeholders of the contractor’s performance and helping the contractor improve.  As Highway Contract Inspector you will also assist the Senior Contract Inspector in improving reporting procedures ensuring stakeholder satisfaction.

You don’t need experience across all aspects of the role you’re applying for as that will form part of your development journey, but you will need experience of highway projects, contracts, and preferably auditing construction activities as this is the central to the role.

You’ll need to have a solution driven and adaptable approach to working, thrive in a busy environment with a positive approach to challenges! whilst being able use your own initiative to 'think outside of the box’. You’ll use your great attention to detail to ensure the council delivers efficiently for its residents.

If you’ve got experience within public sector highways delivery, that’s great, but not essential; being adept at building relationships with key hiring managers and quickly developing an understanding of how public sector works are delivered and the challenges they face are most important.

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.