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Building a strong Commercial Function in Government, and with it the right commercial capability, is at the heart of a far-reaching programme of Civil Service reform.

We are building a cadre of commercial talent in all Government departments; people who can manage our commercial portfolios, who can lead our most complex and novel programmes and projects, people who have the gravitas and depth of experience to work alongside our policy and operational leaders to develop innovative commercial arrangements, whether through joint ventures, outsourcing or best-in-class contracts.

The Government Commercial Organisation is an employer which is truly committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and are able to perform to their potential. We understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and strive for a workplace that reflects the communities which we serve. We especially welcome applications from underrepresented groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, candidates with a disability and candidates with gender-diverse identities. Appointments will be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We have already made significant progress through the establishment of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), our single employer of senior commercial talent across government. This role will sit within the GCO, but based in our Cabinet Office & HM Treasury commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

The Security Commercial team is a small team within the overall Commercial directorate, providing commercial advice and support to a number of business units within the Cabinet Office. There are two vacancies, once specifically focusing on Security and the other Communications.

IMPORTANT: if you are successful and wish to take up the Security role you will be required to undergo and pass SC level of clearance to be eligible.

The team works in a fast-paced environment with a significant challenge to successfully deliver a large volume of new contracts, often working with tight timelines. The types of procurement activity undertaken are extremely varied. The majority of the spend is digital, however procurement activity also includes people, learning, communications and media and facilities management. There is also a requirement for extra care and consideration to be taken around the security elements of what is contracted for, and as a result extra work is carried out by the team to run end to end procurements where it is deemed necessary.

You will be expected to provide commercial guidance and support to enable appropriate decision making and maximise value for money both in new procurement activity and existing supplier management, able to act under your own initiative and lead and drive commercial projects, engaging and influencing key stakeholders across the department.

At the same time, you will work with other commercial team members to enable continuous improvement and commercial capability development with your customers, working to implement new policies and processes as required.

Key responsibilities:

• Act as a commercial advisor to the department, providing advice, guidance and support to customers to enable commercial opportunities and consequences to be understood.

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  Build effective relationships with your customers (and when applicable across other central government organisations), fostering trust and transparency in order to allow you to provide the best level of commercial advice and guidance.

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  Work with other team members to enable continual improvement and commercial capability development across the business unit.

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  Provide hands-on targeted procurement or contract management support where required, for example where a contract or procurement activity is identified as being at risk or of high importance.

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  Enable your customers to act as intelligent customers to Crown Commercial Service, advising them in creating their requirements and considering Commercial strategy and planning.

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  Work with the Head of Commercial to implement any new governmental commercial policies across the department, engaging with the Government Commercial Function and other cross government departments where necessary.

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  Take responsibility for ensuring that a robust commercial pipeline and contracts register is in place for the business unit, working in partnership with the central Commercial Pipeline Manager.

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  Provide input to Management reports and other requests for information as required.

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  Support in building category strategies where appropriate.

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  Contribute to creating a great place to work, championing diversity and inclusive ways of working and proactively participating in improvement activities across the Commercial Directorate.

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Manages Complexity: Evidence of the ability to evaluate and present complex contractual issues resulting in sound recommendations to senior managers for solutions.
• Commercial Focus: Breadth of experience working within a commercial setting in government or the public sector or significant experience working in a regulated environment.
• Builds Relationships: Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to advise and guide stakeholders and build relationships with customers and suppliers.
• Coaching Manager: Demonstrable experience of successfully leading others to deliver objectives in a fluid and / or ambiguous environment, including ability to indirectly influence others.
• Contract and Supply Management: Understanding of commercial, contract and supplier relationship management techniques and demonstrable experience of applying them in practice.

As a valued employee of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), you will have access to all the benefits the centre has to offer; including flexible working, generous benefits, Career Coaches, Mentors, L&D, a Commercial College, active talent management and, most importantly, access to commercial projects that will far exceed the scale and complexity on offer elsewhere in the UK.

For existing Civil Servants: For full details of the impact on any move across the civil service on your existing terms and conditions, please read the candidate pack. Please note that any move across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to continue to claim childcare vouchers.

Job contact :

Name :
Sean Kelly
Email :
[email protected]

Recruitment team

Email :
[email protected]