About the job

Job summary

This role is part of the Corporate Services Pre-Award senior leadership team, and we are looking to continue building on the success we have achieved so far in the Corporate Services-category. This Corporate Support Services sub-category covers category areas including Business Process Outsourcing, Travel, Fleet, Print, Marketing and Communications, Logistics and Research. 

This is a very exciting and challenging role, and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with internal experts, senior leaders as well as external stakeholders such as supply market, regulators and industry bodies to drive the commercial strategy and deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

Beyond our goal to deliver enhanced commercial outcomes for HMRC and wider Government, our team’s vision is also to be a valued contributor and influencer of Government’s Strategy and Policy. You will therefore have the opportunity not only to provide commercial thought leadership for various projects but also be a critical part of the cross-functional teams delivering policy changes that make a tangible difference to the lives of the UK public.

Job description

The purpose of this role is to be a trusted commercial adviser to the relevant senior customers and wider teams within HMRC in order to enhance value and commercial outcomes by ensuring continuity and reliability of critical services as well as embracing and implementing innovation.

You will be accountable for the commercial strategy of the Corporate Services sub-category of spend which covers Business Process Outsourcing, Travel, Fleet, Print, Marketing and Communications and Research with innovation underpinning all of these areas, spend circa £100m p.a. 

You will be leading a team of three (three commercial leads) supported by other commercial functions, i.e., Procurement (part of the Corporate Services Pre-Award Team) and Contract Management.  

The role will also require you to support a wide and increasing group of stakeholders within HMRC with a particular focus on HMRC’s Customer Service Group, Customer Compliance Group and Fraud Investigation Service. In addition, there will be an expectation to work collaboratively across Government, e.g. engagement with Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and other Government departments who have shared interests and similar/common focus areas.

Locations

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.

Person specification

• Leading and delivering high quality category strategies and delivering strategic priorities through matrix working
  
  
• Ensuring commercial strategies meet business needs and objectives by constructively challenging requirements and the status quo
  
  
• Developing internal know-how in ever changing markets and industries by proactively identifying opportunities and risks arising from these changes for HMRC and wider Government, supporting the development of the relevant business strategies
  
  
• Driving and facilitating opportunities for innovation feeding into BAU operations within Corporate Services Pre-award and, as part of Extended Senior Leadership Team, across Commercial Directorate
  
  
• Building and maintaining strong strategic relationships with key internal and external stakeholders
  
  
• Building and ongoing management of the commercial pipeline in line with stakeholders’ strategic and operational objectives
  
  
• Business partnering with key stakeholders to drive improved commercial outcomes and value for Commercial Directorate
  
  
• Generating and overseeing delivery of category savings/efficiency plans
  
  
• Ensuring appropriate and best practice commercial techniques are embedded across all commercial activities within the category
  
  
• Proactively participating in relevant commercial forums and sharing best practice and knowledge across Government to drive multi-departmental improvements relevant to the category
  
  
• Providing leadership to the Corporate Services Pre-Award Team and Commercial Directorate as well as wider HMRC
  
  
• Line management of staff, building capability through coaching, and providing effective team management to deliver Great Place to Work initiatives, review operational risks, workforce planning and capacity management.  This will include operating across pre-awards and ESLT to manage flexibly and with agility deliver across the Commercial Directorate priorities.

Benefits

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. 

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 26th July and will require a full day's attendance. 

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 at 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.

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. 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.