Category Lead - Head Office Commercial

The Head Office Commercial (HOC) Team comprises around 78 full time equivalents across the five main offices in the UK. We play a vital role in supporting the delivery of value for money and in HOC we have a wide-ranging customer base across the whole of Defence. Through our category managers and commercial business partners we work strategically and in collaboration with stakeholders, driving innovative sourcing solutions throughout the entire commercial lifecycle to ensure delivery of best value outcomes to our extensive customer base.
In this role you have the opportunity to oversee the team responsible for the development of category strategies, create routes to market that will be utilised by MOD Commercial and contract manage the contracts to ensure benefits are realised long after contract let.
If you would like to make a real difference and drive benefit for the whole MOD this role would be of interest to you.
We look forward to reading your application., A vacancy has arisen within the MOD Head Office Commercial, Category Management Team, this role interfaces across the whole of MOD Commercial, Business Functions and other Government Departments including Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Services.
As Commercial Lead the successful candidate will be expected to lead and establish market-leading category strategies, creating supply markets to meet current and future departmental needs. It is a high impact role requiring drive, enthusiasm and dynamism, the work will be pan-MOD and stakeholder management will be a key part of the role. There will need to be a strong focus on market and supplier base analysis, spend, cost drivers and contract requirements.
This role will establish and align internal and external category expectations and deliver material change across MOD Commercial. Our customers have varied needs and expectations and strong stakeholder management skills will be needed to ensure that needs are fully understood and interpreted into a realistic commercial strategy.
As an experienced Commercial professional, the applicant will be used to leading a team of Commercial specialists in order to meet business needs, the team size is approximately 5 members of ‘accredited’ commercial staff at varying grades.
Locations, The main responsibilities are detailed below, whilst this will be the focus of the role the successful candidate will have the opportunity to show where they can add value in other areas:-
Lead on the development of category strategies based on customer demand, market analysis and engagement with all relevant stakeholder groups.
+ Set up and strategically manage frameworks, routes to market and associated contracts across all relevant categories over the full commercial lifecycle, including negotiations dispute resolutions and contract variations to ensure value for money
+ Understand and strategically monitor the internal supplier market landscape, lead supplier management of the key suppliers, consolidate / share past learnings where appropriate and act as an escalation point when needed
+ Contract management of pan MOD contracts; managing KPIs and tracking delivery against contractual obligations, actively engaging with suppliers to communicate MOD requirements and develop mutually beneficial strategic relationships
+ Ensure spend data is consolidated and segmented by category and relevant groupings to inform the on-going development of the category strategy
+ Work in a collaborative way across teams based in different locations and be prepared to flex across multiple categories when it is required
+ Develop category commercial expertise, ensuring the development of knowledge of market trends, innovation, developing commercial models and enhancements in service or product specifications
+ Act as the lead in market knowledge for the specific categories, providing intelligent management information to customers, including spend analysis and supply market knowledge to support decision making and benefits realisation
+ Provide day to day leadership for the relevant Categories including commercial controls and reviews, managing resources and Category requests
+ Work collaboratively with Commercial Business Partners and the Business Operations and Commercial Improvement team to ensure that teams across Head Office Commercial are supporting their customers and providing a cohesive service offering
+ Contribute to the development of effective tools and organisational continuous improvement techniques. Actively participate in activities that facilitate the embedding of best practice into Head Office category management activities
+ Drive innovation and work with the team to consistently review current Commercial processes, policy and governance, and general ways of working to identify opportunities for improvement
+ Lead engagement with other Government departments, CCS, suppliers, other Framework providers and public sector buying consortiums
+ Lead meetings / workshops with customers and business partners across MOD to understand business requirements and develop pan-MOD opportunities
+ Support the wider Head Office Commercial Leadership Team to move forward with the defined strategy as required
+ Line manage a team of commercial experts, delegating where appropriate and supporting the professional development of the team
+ Post holder will hold MCIPS for this role, If you are invited to attend a virtual ADC, but for any reason are unable to meet the date outlined then please get in touch with the team on commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible. The ADC is booked and paid for in advance by departments, therefore it is only in certain circumstances we are able to accommodate alternative dates.
Details of schemes available are attached in the advert.
For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the explanation provided in the attached candidate pack.
Throughout our selection process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the essential criteria for the role which are detailed in the attached Candidate Pack.
Your application will be reviewed by a panel and should you be successful at sift we will invite you to attend a Virtual commercial Assessment and Development Centre (VADC). The panel will review results of the VADC and determine which candidates will go through to a subsequent final panel interview. Please note: Only candidates that achieve an A grade at ADC will be invited to interview for this role.
IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
+ UK nationals
+ nationals of the Republic of Ireland
+ nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
+ individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
+ Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

The successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. When selecting your location listed in this job advert please be aware that this will be your contractual base location with a requirement to spend a minimum of 60% of your working time in this organisational workplace. Your time spent on official duties at workplace locations other than your contractual office such as supplier, customer or partner locations required to perform your role is included in the 60% attendance. This requirement will however take into consideration any reasonable adjustments agreed upon appointment for people with a disability, flexibilities agreed for those with specific caring responsibilities, or other similar temporary flexibilities., + Commercial Focus Have a track record of identifying Commercial opportunities to drive benefit in new and existing Commercial
+ Builds Relationships Ability to build effective relationships across a government dept, customers, commercial colleagues, and other government depts in order to share best practice and deliver the best commercial outcomes for MOD
+ Understanding Sourcing Needs Be able to take customer requirements and convert them into commercial solutions and develop procurement strategies that meet business governance and policy
+ Procurement Process Experience in leading high-value, high profile procurement activities, often working with Crown Commercial Services (CCS) utilising their Frameworks and feeding into CCS as a critical customer
+ Contract and Supply Management The suitable candidate will effectively oversee the contract management of large-scale contracts, continuously demonstrating value not only financially but also in providing a quality service to MOD

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is one of the UK Government’s largest spending Departments with a budget exceeding £46Bn 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., Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 28th October 2024 and will require a full day's attendance.

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.