Background

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the UK Government's fourth largest spending Department with a budget exceeding £36Bn per year and net assets valued at over £100Bn. MOD is responsible for over 40% of the value of all Government contracts placed with the private sector each year.

Head Office Commercial provide commercial contracts and services to our customers with a contract landscape of approx. £4Bn. We support the Head Office with a range of HR Services, Financial Services, Specialist Services, Consultancy, Professional & Technical Services, Office Supplies, Travel and others.

Head Office Commercial advises and supports its customers by creating routes to markets for products and services critical to delivering a range of diverse corporate services and supports complex projects. We manage all aspects of customer and supplier relationships while spending taxpayer's money in an effective, compliant manner.  

The Commercial Team within Head Office Commercial manages the commercial needs of our varied and diverse customer base, directly supporting a huge number of services and projects across MOD. You will work closely with military and civilian colleagues in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. Head Office Commercial offers a varied, challenging but rewarding work environment as you make a significant difference in supporting our MOD customers to deliver a great Defence Service across the world.  

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. 

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to commercial customers, peers and management, consulting with customers and stakeholders to ensure that resource deployment (people, time, money) delivers high quality outputs, risk control and value for money for all contracts under management
• Dynamic team leadership in delivering objectives whilst supporting all performance / talent management / succession planning activities in developing direct reports
• Deliver robust relationship management, maximising your own and your team's engagement with / influence over customers and suppliers alike
• Produce processes, documents and tools that facilitate the embedding of best practice into Head Office Commercial contract placement, management and revision activities
• Actively contribute to the creation of programme plans, procurement and contracting strategies
• Deliver the end-to-end sourcing lifecycle for your area of responsibility: sourcing strategies, project planning & delivery, contract negotiation and award, and contributing to contract management.
• Ensuring that all procurement activities represent best value for money, whilst ensuring compliance with regulations and best practice
• Contributing to Contract Management and Supplier Relationship Management for key suppliers & contracts within area of accountability
• Network actively across Head Office Commercial, MOD and OGDs, Crown Commercial Services and externally in accessing current trends and best practice, as well as potential routes to market
• Review current Commercial processes, policy and governance, and general ways of working in identifying opportunities for improvement, and contributing actively to MOD commercial function continuous improvement and development activities
• Support the implementation / promote the use of e-business/procurement tools across Head Office Commercial
• Act as a role model for others, demonstrating good leadership, effective communication and appropriate behaviours while ensuring compliance with standards and policies

This role is central to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Head Office Commercial team, delivering against the commercial transformation strategy. This is an ideal time for you to join us, developing a broader understanding of end-to-end procurement within a challenging commercial team, and opening opportunities to progress across the wider MOD Commercial function.

Reporting and Management Relationships

Candidate Profile

 Skills / experience / knowledge

Substantial experience gained in Procurement and Commercial activities, ideally including Contract Management within the Public or Private Commercial Sector, ideally in a  complex, matrix organisation

• Demonstrable experience of leading small teams that develop, review, negotiate and execute large, complex contracts
• Knowledge of the Commercial life cycle and related compliance / governance requirements (e.g., UK Procurement Regulations)
• Previous involvement in the design and delivery of Commercial Strategies and procurement projects
• Demonstration of excellent stakeholder engagement & management at all levels, internally and externally
• Able to support direct reports when issues are escalated or key decisions with strategic consequences are to be made

 Leadership attributes and behaviours

 Holds a track record of successfully leading and developing others, increasing the professionalism and capability of staff while delivering against Commercial goals

• Demonstrable commercial acumen in providing advice to customers, delivering positive outcomes and value for money
• Engaging and collaborative, quickly gaining the respect of/buy in from others. Confidently establishing positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders and partners
• Supports organisational change initiatives, helping staff and peers to transition from the old to the new whilst improving performance and embedding better practices
• Resilient, showing political astuteness in supporting senior stakeholders with varied agenda
• Competently navigates policy and process requirements whilst supporting a varied group of stakeholders operating under challenging circumstances
• Organised, effective at prioritising the use of resources (money, time and people)
• Remains current with Commercial best practice
• Strong communicator (written and oral) in communicating with individuals or groups who possess varying levels of Commercial expertise

 Qualifications/experience

The job holder for this role will be expected to hold a Practitioner commercial licence. Licenced Commercial Officers are responsible for managing the commercial activities across the procurement life-cycle and, depending on experience and level of competence, can have delegation to sign contracts up to £10 Million at this pay band.

The practitioner commercial licence requires the attainment of CIPS Level 4 qualification ,as well as success at an internal MOD accreditation panel. Therefore a candidate who has already attained CIPS Level 4 qualification is highly desirable. If, however, the successful candidate does not already hold the CIPS level 4 qualification, you will be supported to undertake :

the relevant level of study with the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS). This will be funded by Head Office Commercial in the MOD. Additionally Practitioner-level accreditation via an internal panel to demonstrate competence against the Government Commercial Function (GCF) professional standard will be arranged

Leadership development and defence commercial professionalism courses to develop commercial skills and ensure on-going Continuing Professional Development are also desirable

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

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

• Section B - Understanding Needs & Sourcing Options from the GCF People Standards at Associate Commercial Lead level
• Section B - Procurement Process from the GCF People Standards at Associate Commercial Lead level

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements. 

The post does not offer relocation expenses. 

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.  

- London locations may attract locational allowances. The Inner London Weighting RRA Allowance' is £3,250 per annum and the Outer London Weighting RRA Allowance' is £1,750 per annum. 

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. 

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.  

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. 

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.  

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey - We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. 

Job contact :

• Name : Nathan Lewis
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]