Associate Commercial Practitioner

Your role will be as an Associate Commercial Practitioner within one of Commercial Categories listed below, with your role's overriding responsibility to support commercial activity within the category team and across the full commercial lifecycle. Health & Assessment Services (1 vacancy) The Health & Assessment Services (H&ASC) Commercial Category are based across our Leeds, Blackpool and Sheffield Commercial Hubs.

• The H&ASC provides an incredibly challenging, high-profile pipeline of work, offering the opportunity to help some of society's most vulnerable people, through the implementation and commercial management of high value and complex assessment contracts, with key strategic suppliers.
• The H&ASC is a well-established Commercial team (circa 44 members), with a great team ethos focused upon Commercial excellence, continuous improvement & knowledge share. H&ASC has recently completed a major procurement for contracts (Functional Assessment Service contracts - FAS) equating to £3bn in value. These contracts deliver assessment services which help to inform claimant eligibility to health and disability related benefits and replace the existing Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the Health and Disability Assessment Services (HDAS) contracts. This is a great opportunity to be part of the team to support the new FAS contracts which went live on the 7th September 2024.
Service Delivery (3 vacancies) - The Service Delivery Commercial (SDC) category are based across our Blackpool, Leeds, and Manchester, Commercial Hubs. SDC provide critical services to DWP and its customers enabling it to effectively deliver its objectives on behalf of the Secretary of State. Our contracts directly enable service delivery to millions of citizens who rely on DWP services across the country, we manage commercial contracts across the following key areas:
• Business Process Partnering - provide a wide range of services to DWP such as case review work, fraud error and debt contracts to support operational delivery across thousands of staff and millions of citizens.
• Contact Centres - provide first line Contact Services enabling customers to contact us when required and provide the right support and guidance through some of the largest contracts of this type in the UK.
• Operational Support Services - provide critical Print, Post and Data storage services to ensure we communicate on time with all our citizens, manage data and support millions of citizens who use our services day to day.
Change, Financial & Shared Services (1 vacancy) - The Change, Financial & Shared Services (CFSS) Commercial category are based across our Blackpool, and Manchester Commercial Hubs. Change, Financial & Shared Services (CFSS) Category are central to the provision and support of key DWP functions through:
• Shared Services Category, procuring tactical and strategic critical back off functions spanning the whole of DWP, including procurement, benefit and admin accounting, HR services and Debt Management.
• Financial Shared Services, ensuring contracts are in place to facilitate banking payments to Pension and Benefit customers - in the UK and abroad, DWP staff and supplier payments, and bespoke services for unbanked customers. In addition to contingency contracts for all these payment pathways, protecting the SoS obligation. The Category also supports larger transformation programmes, adopting a business partnering approach to ensure the support and advice is consistent and considers the complex needs of large projects. This includes; Service Modernisation; Change Portfolio and Fraud, Error & Debt.
As an Associate Commercial Practitioner your work within the Category team will be fast paced, you will provide essential support on a variety of commercial activities, for which attention to detail will be key. You will be required to communicate with key stakeholders including some supplier led activity on a regular basis to ensure information collected is up to date, accurate and helps ensure senior managers are able to make informed decisions that affect the category and contract portfolio. The post holder will also support their respective line managers in all the necessary commercial activity to the enable best Value for Money solutions to be realised, undertaking procurement exercises, ensuring contact compliance and maintaining consistency. The posts are challenging, you will be pro-active and innovative in your thinking, with good communication skills and be outgoing and enthusiastic in your approach to challenges. Key activities will include:
• Engaging with stakeholders at all levels to support business objectives and develop commercial strategies for future delivery of services within your team.
• Collation of Commercial information, undertaking contract management, supplier performance and relationship management to drive continuous improvement.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders and suppliers on a regular basis to ensure information collected is up to date, accurate and helps ensure Senior Managers are able to make informed decisions that affect the category.
• Undertake key procurement activities across the commercial lifecycle, working with suppliers and stakeholders to place new contracts, implement solutions and manage change.
• Support their respective teams in all the necessary commercial activity to the enable best Value for Money (VFM) solutions to be realised.
  
  Working towards sustainable futures. Championing diversity in the workplace. At the Department for Work and Pensions, it's all in a day's work. From HR to Finance, Policy to Communications, this is work that sustains and supports, where everyone's voice is heard, and our customers are at the heart of everything we do. For a career packed with possibility, a comprehensive benefits package, where we live by our values and have the opportunity to improve the lives of people across the UK, look no further.
Supporting people who need it most. That's our purpose. Start your own career today. Making the Difference The DWP is one of the UK's biggest government departments, building services that make a real difference to the lives of 20 million people. Commercial Directorate (CD) is one of the leading government procurement functions, is commercially unique and presents an attractive challenge for anyone wanting to advance their procurement career. Our Inclusive Culture We continue to grow our inclusive, diverse culture and focus on making CD a fabulous place to work. A culture where all our people feel themselves, feel valued, empowered, and have a voice that's heard. We do this well and as a result have a culture where innovation is driven at all levels and by everyone!