About the job

Job summary

Do you want to progress your career in the UK’s largest public sector procurement organisation? If so, you will have the chance to create market leading commercial agreements that help shape how common goods and services are bought across the public sector.

Reporting to a Senior Commercial Category Lead, the Commercial Lead is a key part of the Category team and has responsibility for ensuring the effective day to day management of Commercial Agreements (frameworks). This demands a significant level of customer and supplier relationship management, which are integral parts of the role.

Commercial Directorate Overview

Commercial is the largest directorate in CCS and is responsible for the design, development, implementation and management of our commercial agreements, which are used by our customers across the public sector. We have helped our customers spend more than £34 billion through the agreements we create and enjoy more than £3.5 billion in commercial benefits annually through our agreements.

Category management sits at the heart of CCS. We use our deep knowledge and expertise of public sector suppliers, to create market and category strategies. These strategies are used within CCS to create market leading commercial agreements that help shape how common goods and services are bought across the public sector. Our skills are also used in carrying out commercial policy, development of new products and services and supplier relationship management.

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of our team in the HR & Workforce part of the Corporate Category Group. We are a supportive team of highly-experienced procurement and category management professionals

Job description

The Public Sector Resourcing & Permanent Recruitment team manages one of the largest contingent workforce frameworks in Europe.

As part of this team you will be the source of expert insight and advice for the public sector, proactively building and maintaining strong relationships of influence with customers (including Senior Government Policy owners) and suppliers, in order to develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of categories and markets.

You will utilise your awareness and understanding of commercial marketplaces and strategic category management to create and maintain best-in-class strategies for the categories and markets you operate within.

You will work collaboratively across CCS and suppliers to develop services and solutions that deliver value to our customers, meet their needs, are sustainable and drive growth in uptake.

You will perform a leadership role in the team and support the Senior Category Lead in the ongoing management of the frameworks and facilitating strategic added value initiatives throughout the category strategy and customer solution development.

CCS are looking for an experienced proactive, customer-focused and enthusiastic individual with a strong reputation for leadership, innovation, delivery and commercial excellence, to be part of a category team.

The category currently manages agreements in excess of £1.5bn annually covering Contingent Labour, Statement of Work, Recruit Train Deploy and Permanent Recruitment. In addition, they have now embarked on the implementation of the new Framework Agreement Workforce Solutions which will provide customers to further services including but not limited to Resource Augmentation, Overseas Workers and Campaigns.

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

• Lead on Strategic Supplier Relationship Management including the delivery of comprehensive continuous improvement and social value programmes
  
  
• Leading and developing innovative workforce solutions, including market and customer engagement
  
  
• Building relationships of influence with senior customers in the Commercial and HR professions. Being a trusted advisor
  
  
• Developing market sector knowledge and applying this to create a deep understanding of customer requirements, market capability and potential opportunities
  
  
• Market Strategy Development focusing on the future of Total Talent Management and innovation
  
  
• Engaging with Supplier Account Leads to support the transition of customers from the existing Public Sector Resourcing Agreement to the newly awarded Workforce Solutions Framework, including customer and supplier engagement, contract awareness, advisory support and project management
  
  
• Line management responsibility for a team of Category Managers
  
  
• Travel in and around the UK as required/requested

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 1st August 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 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 counter-terrorist 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.