About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Description                 

Job Title:                  Assistant Commercial Manager (Prison Education Category)

Job Grade:               Higher Executive Officer    

Reporting to:           Commercial Manager         

Job Location:          National

Contract Type:       Permanent

Business Area:      MOJ – Commercial & Contract Management Department

Type of role:          Procurement, Contract Management

Working pattern:   Flexible working, Full-time

Number of Posts:  1

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. Responsible for courts, prisons and probation services, we work to ensure sentences are served and offenders are given rehabilitation opportunities to become law-abiding citizens.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has one of the largest and most complex spend profiles in central government. The Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) is responsible for coordinating procurement and contract management across the MoJ, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

The MoJ spends £7.5bn a year and manages over 1600 active contracts, all of which are sourced and managed by CCMD. We are running some of the most groundbreaking programmes such as Prison Reform and His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service Reform. The scope of our contracts ranges from building, maintenance and the operation of Prisons, Courts and Young Offender establishments through to food for prison dogs. The directorate also buys and manages contracts for feeding up to 80,000 prisoners, the secure escorting of prisoners from numerous establishments based around the country and translation services.

CCMD is organised into category teams, each with an interesting portfolio of contracts and diverse customers and suppliers to manage. We also have systems, programme management office, supplier relationship and risk management teams who work across all areas.

SCOPE

Portfolio – Prison Education

Prison Education can transform lives and is shown to dramatically reduce reoffending, working in the commercial prison education team will give you an opportunity to contribute to this rewarding work and develop your commercial skills as part of a supportive high performing team.

The Prison Education category team is responsible for £150m of spend per year and works with the senior contract managers to manage the outsourced education contracts ensuring delivery of the contracts and high-quality education.  The team is also helping shape the next generation of education contracts and will lead their procurement.

This role responsible for Prison Education in Wales will have a breadth of interest and give a real opportunity to join a well-established team working closely with local Educational Teams, Operational and Policy colleagues to support the rehabilitation of prisoners, reducing rates of re-offending and contributing measurable social value to society.

We are seeking a Commercial Professional with the right personal qualities – enthusiasm, energy, proactivity, collaborative, prepared to work as part of a team and under their own initiative and to be flexible and adaptable in a demanding environment.

This post provides a great opportunity to learn new skills and knowledge whilst contributing to the delivery of a high-profile programme.

The current team structure is:

• Senior Commercial Manager – Grade 7 (Band A) x1

• Commercial Manager – SEO (Band B) x 1

• Assistant Commercial Manager - HEO (Band C) x 3 posts (one of which is this vacancy)

• Commercial Administration Officer – x 1 EO (Band D)

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to a Commercial Manager, the post holder will be responsible for:

• Responsibility for commercial activity for the Prison Education Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), including but not limited to:

• Support HMPPS (Prisons) in using the DPS, by managing a Call Off projects and competitions that deliver educational benefits for those learners in custody; this will include:

• Reviewing Customer specifications, facilitating Projects and Invitations to Tender (ItTs) on the DPS (Jaggaer portal); reviewing tender evaluations, drafting award letters, and arranging DPS Call Off Contracts

• Supporting potential suppliers with the Supplier Qualification (Onboarding) process

• Tracking and capturing information on DPS activity, spend, savings, supplier performance data and providing reports (scheduled and ad hoc) to support the function and HMPPS

• Analysing market, spend and performance data and using this to inform commercial activity and deliver against reporting requirements

• Seek ways to continually enhance and improve the outcomes for learners through education and training

• Delivery of continuous improvement to drive high quality customer service and user experience

• Supporting the wider commercial team within CCMD as and when required

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

• Working with complex contractual, financial and legal constructs;

• Managing relationships with stakeholders;

• Experience of eProcurement portals, DPS systems or similar;

• Ownership of tasks / projects from initial stages through to completion;

• Awareness of public sector procurement legislation;

• Demonstrable Experience of Project management; Stakeholder engagement; Presentation and drafting skills.

• Adept at using Microsoft Office software, particularly Excel and Power-point

• Experience of seeking out and analysing information, and making evidence-based proposals

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

Desirable Criteria:

• Awareness of public sector procurement legislation including EU Rules and UK interpretations, post EU exit

• Working knowledge of Procurement Systems, e.g. Oracle (ERP) and/or Jaggaer (Bravo)

• Experience of procuring services

• Contract Management experience

• Relevant category knowledge and/or industry experience

Qualifications

Candidates must have one of the following or a willingness to work towards gaining the appropriate qualification.

• Member of a relevant professional body, e.g., CIPS, IACCM or similar.

• Relevant degree, such as in law, finance, or MBA.

Application stage (Sifting):

An initial sift will be performed against the following elements:

Experience

• CV

• Statement of Suitability

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service – 500 words

• Delivering at Pace – 500 words

Please note that in the event of a large number of applications being received we may run the initial sift against the Statement of Suitability, CV and Lead behaviour of Managing a Quality Service.

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview and will be assessed on the selected success profile elements at the interview stage. Please carry a valid proof of Id that has your photo on it (passport, BRP, driving licence etc) at the interview.

Interview stage:

There is one interview stage for this vacancy and as part of the interview process you will be required to provide evidence on the following:

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service

• Delivering at Pace

• Making Effective Decisions

• Communicating and Influencing

Please use STAR approach to structure your examples.

• Situation – Describe the situation you found yourself in and what happened.

• Task – The Hiring Manager will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation that you found yourself in.

• Action – What actions did you take and how did you do it. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions lead to a result.

• Result – Use facts and statistics to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Further information on the Success profile elements can be found on Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We will consider applications from non-qualified candidates, who are willing to develop and work towards a recognised qualification in order to meet the full requirements of the role.

The specialist allowance may apply to qualified applicants with a commercial professional qualification, for example, CIPS, World CC etc.

Further details can be provided during the recruitment process

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,827, Ministry of Justice contributes £8,896 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.