Commercial Practitioner

Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London

• and Normanton (Calder). For London based roles your contractual place of work will be Stratford. It is likely that site will be operational from Summer 2025, in the interim period you will be required to carry out your contractual duties from Vauxhall, or such other reasonable location, on a temporary basis. For the avoidance of doubt as your contractual place of work is Stratford, the move from any temporary place of work will not give rise to any entitlement to payments for travel time or costs under the Relocation and Excess Travel Policy. Successful applicants currently employed by NCA for this post may request to remain in their current contractual location. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment checks. Please note this is dependant on business needs, please commence discussions with the hiring manager at the earliest opportunity., There has never been a better time to join the National Crime Agency Commercial Function. We are looking for the best commercial talent to shape and influence our multi-year Commercial Transformation Programme to becoming the leading commercial function in supporting the fight against serious and organised crime., These are fascinating, challenging roles at the heart of the NCA’s commercial team with a direct impact on protecting the public from serious and organised crime.
In these roles you will contribute to the procurement process, delivering commercial excellence for the NCA and providing a customer-focused service. The roles are varied as you will be expected to operate within relevant frameworks in order to contribute to all stages of the procurement process, from gathering requirements from across the business in line with market research, through to the handing over of the contract to contract and supplier management. You will work as part of a larger team, but will be expected to work independently by prioritising and managing your own workload to deliver to deadlines and to respond to changing operational demands.
• To be considered, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance before commencing the role., + Provide commercial support for procurement, contract management and supplier management activities.
+ Lead on supplier engagement across a variety of stages within the procurement process. + Manage risks and foster high quality, reliable, and on time delivery of products and services. + Use cost models and associated commercial and security concepts. + Maintain accurate commercial records and audit trails in the commercial system, Atamis. + Support forward planning and development of commercial pipelines. + Provide commercial advice to internal stakeholders, building and maintaining strong positive relationships. + Proactively support commercial transformation by participating in improvement activities. + Maintain awareness of developments in procurement policy and legislation.Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: + Managing a Quality Service + Making Effective Decisions + Communicating and Influencing, + 3 x Technical / Experience skills via a 250 word Statement of Suitability per criteria, as outlined in the Person Specification. For further application guidance please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/applying-and-onboarding Once submitted your application will be acknowledged by the Government Recruitment Service. Please note depending on the volume of applications a Longlist at sift may be conducted on following criteria: + A good understanding of procurement law and public procurement regulations Candidates must pass this criteria for their application to be progressed. A panel will then assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Entry Criteria section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application. Sift results are expected to be released w/c Monday 11th November 2024. Interview Details You will then be asked to attend an interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence. There will only be one round of interviews - Candidates invited to interview will be asked to complete a technical task to cover the technical criteria listed within the advert on the same day as the interview. Candidates will be given one hour to review the task. They will then be asked to brief the interview panel on their response. This will then be followed by a competency/hypothetical-based interview to assess behaviours. Interviews will take place throughout November 2024 - locations to be confirmed. Please be advised that the type of interview (eg. virtual/face-to-face) may be subject to change and successful candidates will be notified of this prior to attending. However the interview is conducted, the interview criteria will remain as detailed within this advert. The above sift and interview dates are an indicative timeline. Should you be successful at sift but cannot attend on the interview date(s) listed the recruitment team cannot guarantee an alternative date. Please contact the recruitment team. Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Any instances of plagiarism including copying of examples/answers from internet sources will result in a withdrawal of your application. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants. Interview Outcome Candidates will be alerted of the outcome of their interview via their CS Jobs Portal. We will be retaining a candidate pool of successful applicants to draw from as vacancies arise for up to 12 months. If your application is successful and we are unable to offer you a post immediately, you will be invited to join our reserve list. If over the next 12 months we are able to offer you a position, we will contact you as soon as possible. Once we make you an offer you will then go through our vetting and pre-employment checks processes. All Appointments will be made in location merit order. Internal Applicants Successful applicants currently employed by NCA for this post may request to remain in their current contractual location. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment checks. Please note this is dependant on business needs, please commence discussions with the hiring manager at the earliest opportunity. Multi-Location Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be appointed in merit order for each location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application. Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only. If you are posted to a location that you have requested and you do not accept that location, you may not be offered another role. Please note, only advertised location can be offered. Notes populated in a free text box will not be taken into consideration. Near Miss If you are not found appointable at the advertised grade you may be offered the lower grade role if you are considered to meet the skills, experience and behaviours for the lower level. The benchmark for appointing to the lower grade is set at the start of each campaign. All offers will be made in merit. If you are found appointable at the higher grade but there are no positions available you may be offered an appointment at the lower grade. Hybrid Working Here at the NCA we have a hybrid working arrangement in place enabling officers to work a proportion of their role remotely. Eligibility and the degree of home working will vary depending on the requirements of the role. Further details can be discussed at offer stage. Reasonable Adjustment We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. As part of our application process you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process that you may need. If you have a disability or long-term condition (a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional. Inclusion and Accessibility We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process. For details of the available group please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/benefits-and-support In order to monitor the effectiveness of the National Crime Agency’s Diversity & Inclusion strategy, the NCA require certain personal details about you on submission of your application. Please note that this will be treated in confidence and will not impact your application. You will be asked to complete an E-consent survey asking for permission to share this data with the NCA to be used for statistical/monitoring purposes only, refusal of consent to share the information will not impact your application. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Additional Information + The NCA is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. Some roles may require you to respond at short notice or outside of core hours. + Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks. + Successful candidates may be required to undertake a medical. If required, the medical will take place in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed. + If you are an internal candidate who has passed interview but is undergoing an internal investigation or have a written warning in place preventing a post move you may not be able to be posted until this investigation is concluded or restriction lifted. You will remain on the reserve list for a max of 12 months VETTING REQUIREMENTS SC All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK. The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected. If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements. Checks will be made against: + Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records) + UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records + Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency + Security Services records For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA careers page for further information please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers If you have any specific queries about the role that are not covered above please contact: ncarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.Security 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., + 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)., If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint in relation to any stage of the recruitment and selection process please email Central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk. please ensure that you refer to the campaign reference number. If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your complaint you have the right to contact the Civil Service Commission to pursue it further. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/recruitment-complaints

+ A good understanding of procurement law and public procurement regulations. + Demonstrates the ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels using different communication styles. + Track record in the delivery of cost savings or service level improvements and reporting against them.

Alongside your salary of £43,415, National Crime Agency contributes £12,577 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. All officers in the NCA are members of the UK Civil Service. You will be eligible for: + Civil Service pension scheme + 26 days annual leave rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service + If qualifying criteria is met new joiners to the NCA from UK Police Forces or UKIC will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for Annual Leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day). + Training and development opportunities + Special leave + Flexible working and family friendly policies + Cycle to work scheme + Blue Light scheme For further details on benefits please visit https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/careers/benefits-and-support