We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.
job Description
Job Title: Assistant Commercial Manager (Sourcing)
Job Grade: HEO
Reporting to: Commercial Manager
Job Location: National
Contract Type: Permanent
Business Area: MOJ Commercial & Contract Management Department
Type of role: Procurement, Commercial and Contract Management
Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time
Number of Posts: 1
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. Responsible for courts, prisons and probation services, we work to ensure sentences are served and offenders are given rehabilitation opportunities to become law-abiding citizens.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has one of the largest and most complex spend profiles in central government. The Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
The MoJ spends £7.5bn a year and manages over 1600 active contracts, all of which are sourced and managed by CCMD. We are running some of the most groundbreaking programmes such as Prison Reform and His Majestys Courts and Tribunal Service Reform. The scope of our contracts ranges from building, maintenance and the operation of Prisons, Courts and Young Offender establishments through to food for prison dogs. The directorate also buys and manages contracts for feeding up to 80,000 prisoners, the secure escorting of prisoners from numerous establishments based around the country and translation services.
CCMD is organised into category teams, each with an interesting portfolio of contracts and diverse customers and suppliers to manage. We also have systems, programme management office, supplier relationship and risk management teams who work across all areas.
Scope
Portfolio - Rehabilitation Probation Services
The Rehabilitation portfolio within the Ministry of Justices Commercial & Contract Management Directorate part of the Government Commercial Function lead on the procurements of all outsourced probation related services such as accommodation, education and finance, and unique services such as dependency and recovery. To enable us to commission rehabilitation services across 14 categories (and more) we have established and maintain a 10 year, £4bn dynamic framework, the largest dynamic purchasing system in the public sector. In addition to the dynamic framework, we have also implemented and manage a first of its kind grants scheme with unique processes designed to create greater accessibility for the VCSE market to public sector contracting.
Person Specification
The probation system supports more than 243,000 a year in their journey to rehabilitation, so no day looks quite like the other and we're always ready to be responsive to an emerging need. Day-to-day you could be working to support the Senior Commercial Managers in delivering our £500million core services contracts or working closely with a policy lead to deliver a contract for a small, specialised service.
His Majestys Prions and Probation Service contains a diverse set of regionally based clients that each pose their own unique set of commercial challenges and opportunities. You will develop and maintain positive relationships with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, including suppliers and encourage collaborative relationships as appropriate. Your professional expertise and judgement will be relied upon and valued by senior colleagues.
The successful candidate can expect themselves to be working across a varied services category, working within a fast-paced environment, supporting the Commercial Manager on high-value procurements, and taking ownership of lower-valued, less complex procurements. You will be working with a wide and diverse set of stakeholders and will bring new ideas to help shape the way the team works, promoting continuous improvement, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. This role is an excellent opportunity to develop your commercial skillset in a high-profile environment that aims to reduce reoffending in our society.
Responsibilities
Key responsibilities include:
Supplier management within the Dynamic Framework and the Probation Grants Application Portal
Support in-depth market analysis, engagement and development across a unique, diverse and vast marketplace.
Work with core business stakeholders to understand and develop procurement requirements such as specifications, performance metrics and payment mechanisms.
Supporting the development of procurement strategies develop business acumen and market insight to drive commercial opportunities to deliver continuous improvement, value for money and/or savings.
Comprehensive drafting of commercial documents, including Invitation to Tenders (ITTs) and Call-Off Contracts
Managing low-value competition exercises through the MoJ eSourcing portal
Support the continuous improvements within commissioned rehabilitative services
Ensuring compliance with legislative and policy requirements by providing sound commercial advice to stakeholders
Possible line management responsibilities
Experience
Your application must demonstrate experience in the following areas:
Essential:
Relevant procurement/sourcing or commercial and contract management experience.
Ability to work collaboratively to drive decisions and deliver on timely outcomes.
Ability to prioritise and manage multiple competing tasks, to meet business objectives in a fast paced and ever-changing environment
Strong written and verbal communication skills
A team player who leads by example
Ability to bring new ideas to drive continuous improvement
Desirable:
Knowledge or experience of Dynamic Purchasing Systems
Knowledge or experience of Grants
Understanding of Probation Services in England and Wales.
CIPS Qualification (or desire to work towards one)
Application form stage assessments:
An initial sift will be performed against the following elements in relation to the key responsibilities and person specification above:
Experience
CV
Statement of Suitability
If shortlisted, youll be invited to an interview and will be assessed on selected success profile elements at the interview stage. Please carry a valid proof of Id that has your photo on it (passport, BRP, driving licence etc) at the interview.
Interview:
There is one interview stage for this vacancy and as part of the interview process you will be required to provide evidence of the following:
Behaviours
Making Effective Decisions
Changing and Improving
Managing a Quality Service
Delivering at Pace
Experience
You will also be assessed on experience relevant to the job description.
Please use STAR approach to structure your examples.
· Situation Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.
· Task The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.
· Action What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use I, not we to explain how your actions lead to a result.
· Result Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.
Further information on the Success profile elements can be found on Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We will consider applications from non-qualified candidates, who are willing to develop and work towards a recognised qualification in order to meet the full requirements of the role.
The specialist allowance may apply to qualified applicants with a commercial professional qualification, for example, CIPS, World CC etc.
Further details can be provided during the recruitment process
