Supplier and Contract Management Analyst Review

My role within SSE IT consists of understanding and managing the portfolio of IT contracts and the Vendors that supply them. This includes contacting a wide range of colleagues across the business, running supplier relationship meetings, involvement in contract renewals and providing summarised data to the senior member of the IT business.

Across the full apprenticeship I have gained many skills as well as improving my current skillset. Although the university course helped me to develop my technical skills the main skill areas that I developed were my soft skills like conflict resolution as well as communication & presentation skills by running meetings and speaking to colleagues I didn't know

I really enjoyed my time in the degree apprenticeship scheme which was partly due to being involved with a great cohort of apprentices who i still have close relationships with now. I always felt like I had the support and backing of SSE and was given the time and guidance needed to complete the course. However he one downside of a programme like this is the workload which you have to learn how to manage very quick.

The programme itself is structured into 2 parts, Work and University with 4 days a week at work with a day release to the University of Chichester to complete a Software Engineering Degree. Apprentices are also afforded an additional 4 hours a week during the 4 working days to complete University work. Over the 4 year course you experience 8 teams within IT in 6 month long placements.

I always got ample support from SSE when it came to both Work and University, they were always willing to have a conversation and take actions directly to the training partner on my behalf. Within SSE DA's are also assigned a mentor which allows for an outlet for questions or frustrations without having to go directly to your placement managers which I found to be really helpful.

During the 4 years at University I felt like the support was ok but not great in comparison to the support I got from my employer. Emails regularly took a while to be responded to and it felt like most lecturers didn't want to take time and engage in full conversations with me about modules or the university itself.

The University course helped get a wide base of knowledge of IT and allowed me to understand the general landscape in the business and completing many presentations and skill building on the course helped to bolster the soft skills that I use on a day to day basis. The more technical areas of my role are more company specific and had to be developed on the job.

Yes there are groups of colleagues that like to meetup and complete activities from weekly 5 aside football to NINO initiative walks that allow colleagues to meet up. There are also social events usually organised by teams over especially over the Christmas period and opportunities to attend conferences such as the Every Woman conference are offered.

Yes

All of the people that I have been involved with and worked under at SSE have been great. They have afforded me opportunities to develop my skills network and placed me into a full time position of my preference. I feel like they also provide a competitive compensation and benefits package and are extremely good with flexible working through the working differently initiative.

Make sure to be confident and believe in yourself and the skills you can bring to the business. Make sure to do background research on both SSE and the wider energy industry to try and understand the market landscape. Also ask open questions and involve yourself in discussions when possible.