[Hiring] Electrical Faults and Maintenance Contract Manager @ESP Utilities Group

Role Description

The Faults and Maintenance Contract Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management, coordination and performance monitoring of ESP’s appointed faults and maintenance contractors, ensuring that all contracted services are delivered safely, efficiently and in accordance with contractual obligations, agreed service levels, applicable industry standards and regulatory requirements.

The role acts as the primary operational interface between ESP’s Operations team and its faults and maintenance service providers. It ensures that contractors are held accountable for service delivery, operational performance, customer service and compliance with their own Electrical Safety Rules, Safe Systems of Work (SSoW) and associated safety management arrangements.

The successful candidate will drive continuous improvement in contractor performance, maintain effective working relationships and provide assurance to ESP that its electricity distribution networks are being maintained and faults managed to the required standards of safety, reliability and integrity.

Qualifications

• Experience in contract management, contractor performance management or operational service delivery within the electricity distribution industry or a comparable electrical infrastructure environment.
• Understanding of electrical distribution networks, including LV and HV assets, fault response, maintenance activities and network operational requirements.
• Demonstrable experience monitoring KPIs, challenging underperformance and managing corrective action plans.
• Understanding of electrical safety management and Safe Systems of Work.
• Experience managing competing operational priorities, service interruptions and time-critical activities.
• Strong communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to interpret contractual requirements and apply them consistently and fairly.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to produce meaningful performance reports and identify trends.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail, with a focus on maintaining accurate and auditable records.
• Confidence in challenging contractors and escalating concerns where safety, performance or customer service standards are not met.

Requirements

• Monitor contractor performance against agreed contractual Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and other performance measures.
• Track and report performance relating to fault response times, restoration times, attendance, repair completion, planned maintenance delivery and work order closure.
• Monitor compliance with contractual requirements for customer communication, incident reporting, technical reporting and evidence submission.
• Produce regular contractor performance reports, identifying trends, recurring failures, areas of concern and opportunities for improvement.
• Chair regular contractor performance review meetings, ensuring actions are documented, assigned and completed within agreed timescales.
• Challenge underperformance and require contractors to provide explanations, corrective action plans and evidence of improvement.
• Apply contractual escalation processes where performance falls below agreed standards, including recommending service credits or other remedies where applicable under the contract.
• Maintain a performance improvement action log and verify that corrective actions have been implemented and are effective.

Benefits

• Monitor the contractor’s response to network faults, emergencies and unplanned interruptions, ensuring that contractual response and attendance requirements are met.
• Maintain oversight of significant or prolonged outages, ensuring regular updates are received from contractors and escalated internally as required.
• Ensure fault investigations, root cause analysis, repair reports and supporting technical evidence are completed to the required standard.
• Monitor the quality and timeliness of fault reporting, including identification of the fault location, cause, affected customers, actions taken and final restoration details.
• Challenge repeat faults, recurring asset failures and ineffective repairs, requiring suitable investigation and remedial action.
• Ensure contractors maintain appropriate arrangements for emergency response, resource availability, competent personnel, equipment and specialist support.
• Liaise with the IDNO’s Control and Network Operations teams to support effective incident management and restoration of customer supplies.
• Review contractor performance following significant incidents and identify opportunities to improve response, resilience and network reliability.

Company Description

The Faults and Maintenance Contract Manager is responsible for the day-to-day management, coordination and performance monitoring of ESP’s appointed faults and maintenance contractors, ensuring that all contracted services are delivered safely, efficiently and in accordance with contractual obligations, agreed service levels, applicable industry standards and regulatory requirements.