Head of Sector Insights and Commercial Strategy

The post of Head of Sector Insights and Commercial Strategy is a highly varied role, that requires strategic thinking, the ability to deal with ambiguity and build relationships quickly.
The role is to lead a multi-disciplinary team in their work to ensure commercial and market considerations are embedded in policy design. This role specifically leads the work on sector insights for Social Care, Local Authorities and Integrated Care Boards.
The team offers an inward and outward facing service to senior DHSC policy officials, Ministers, and our ALBs. We provide long-term strategic commercial advice and support to major policy agendas with significant market forces in play. The department spends or influences billions of pounds through commissions and market policy, outside of core procurement and contracting. The team operates as a trusted partner with policy colleagues, taking commissions for fieldwork, industry consultation, market research, policy options appraisal and implementation design. Projects within the team a broad ranging and examples include social care reform, medicines pricing, life sciences collaborations, obesity interventions.
Responsibilities
+ Lead a team and giving strategic direction;
+ Lead a multi-disciplinary team that ensures commercial considerations are a key part of DHSC policy making and embedded into policy thinking from the earliest stages;
+ Lead a team to develop deep sector knowledge and use that knowledge and experience to work with policy areas, using a collaborative approach to bring a business, financial and commercial perspective to policy design and delivery. Offering a valued service that is credible and valued by our colleagues and includes bespoke project work, deep dive reviews, make vs buy analysis, stakeholder engagement and consultation, commercial options appraisal, market assessments plus market and sector engagement;
+ Prioritise resources to ensure your team can deliver projects and advice for policy teams on some of the most complex and high-profile areas across the department and works across the Health and Care system. This will include managing a diverse workload across multiple independent projects whilst meeting deadlines and providing high quality work;
+ To use creative thinking, commercial awareness, and experience to make well-informed judgements and influential proposals to policy colleagues. This will include drawing on additional expertise in analysing complex or conflicting evidence, presenting options, and making recommendations to enable the most appropriate solutions to be developed;
+ Lead engagement with markets and suppliers to ensure policies and strategies are deliverable;
+ Foster deep relationships within the Department, across the NHS and the wider health and care system, other Arms-Length Bodies (ALBs) and government departments;
+ Ensure value for money. Briefing ministers and senior leaders across Health and Care organisations, providing recommendations to shape service transformation and design, and encouraging innovation including through digital solutions and new technology;
+ Work Collaboratively and establish, build, and maintain relationships with key stakeholders who are of strategic importance to the organisation. This may include internal Ministers and senior employees from the DHSC or external government departments or organisations, (recognising potential differing views and priorities);
+ Engaging with DHSC Policy Units to generate new project opportunities by assessing the strategic commercial implications of new policies and projects, potential to improve services, improve efficiency or generate revenue from public sector assets/activities;
+ Build deep sector insights knowledge to better understand the structure, functions and significant activities in key sectors within the health and care system. Supporting the delivery of health and care outcomes at best value for the tax payer;
+ Support the Deputy Director to brief ministers and senior leaders both in person and via submissions which summarise the issues and seek their advice, approval, or action;
+ Lead by example, role modelling ethics, integrity, impartiality and the elimination of bias by building a diverse team and promoting a work environment that supports the Civil Service values and code., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Seeing the Big Picture
+ Leadership
+ Managing a Quality Service, A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to DHSC 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
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.
However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Please note that applicants will require SC clearance. For SC clearance, candidates must have been a resident in the UK for the past 5 years.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
This role is being advertised on a permanent basis. If preferable, Loan or Secondment options will also be available for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited NDPBs or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
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).

The role requires a flexible and adaptable approach as priorities and workloads will shift throughout the year.
You will:
+ Have a track record of juggling multiple complex projects, managing competing deadlines, working with ambiguity and change, and have experience understanding and responding to diverse stakeholder needs;
+ Be highly organised, respond to ad-hoc support requests when needed and re-task at pace;
+ Have experience of market insight production and/or strategy development (public or private);
+ Have experience of working on policy projects and understanding of challenges faced in developing good policy;
+ Have experience of policy implementation and delivery;
+ Have experience of leading stakeholder engagement and influencing senior stakeholders;
+ Have strong written and verbal communications;
+ Have experience of leading small teams;
+ Have experiences or significant knowledge of social care, Integrated Care Boards or local government.

In DHSC, we are proud of our purpose – to enable everyone to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. To achieve this, and create a great place to work, we have four values: we are inclusive, we constantly improve, we challenge, and we are agile. If this sounds like an environment you’d like to work in, we’d love to hear from you.
The Commercial Directorate is a strategic and enabling function that supports all DHSC’s commercial interactions with third parties and ministers in delivering their agenda. Our mission is to ensure that health and care policy is implemented at best value for the taxpayer.
We do this by leading and overseeing the department’s direct commercial activity, implementing commercial policies across DHSC and its arm's length bodies, and acting as advisors to the Secretary of State. Our vision is to provide a world-class commercial service to enable the health and care system to deliver for the public – we aim to be the best in government commercial for technical expertise and customer focus.
This is an exciting time to be part of the DHSC Commercial Directorate (CD) with an ever-growing need for policy and commercial professions to work closely to solve some of the most fascinating challenges in health and care. The Head of Sector Insights and Commercial Strategy post sit in the Sector Insights and Commercial Strategy Team (SI & CS) of the Commercial Strategy and Partnerships division which is part of the CD.
Within SI & CS we believe diversity of perspectives improves our service and decision making. The team consists of people from wide range of backgrounds and professions, including, commercial/commissioning, policy and project delivery, health and social care.

Alongside your salary of £68,503, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £19,845 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ 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%