About the job

Job summary

Building a strong Commercial Function in Government, and with it the right commercial capability, is at the heart of a far-reaching programme of Civil Service reform.

We are building a cadre of commercial talent in all Government departments; people who can manage our commercial portfolios, who can lead our most complex and novel programmes and projects, people who have the gravitas and depth of experience to work alongside our policy and operational leaders to develop innovative commercial arrangements, whether through joint ventures, outsourcing or best-in-class contracts.

The Government Commercial Organisation is an employer which is truly committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and are able to perform to their potential. We understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and strive for a workplace that reflects the communities which we serve. We especially welcome applications from underrepresented groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, candidates with a disability and candidates with gender-diverse identities. Appointments will be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We have already made significant progress through the establishment of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), our single employer of senior commercial talent across government. This role will sit within the GCO, but based in our DWP commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

Job description

This is an exciting time to join CD, as we are seeking experienced commercial professionals to lead in the delivery of the business strategy and be responsible for delivery of key procurement and contract management outcomes within the team. The role offers attractive long-term career opportunities within a supportive and engaging work environment, alongside a range of excellent employee benefits. We require driven and dynamic individuals able to achieve results in a challenging but rewarding commercial environment.

You will contribute to the development of Category expertise within the team, and increase the level of commerciality, operational execution, and stakeholder/supplier engagement. Your role will be to support one of the above categories, and will require you to be passionate about creating change, taking a leadership role in the development of an enhanced Category management capability. You will have the skills to challenge, inspire and lead others in a complex landscape of departmental transformation.

Health & Assessment Services (2 vacancies) - The Health & Assessment Services Category (H&ASC) are based across Blackpool, Leeds and Sheffield Commercial Hubs.

• The H&ASC provides an incredibly challenging, high-profile pipeline of work, offering the opportunity to help some of society’s most vulnerable people, through the implementation and commercial management of high value and complex assessment contracts, with key strategic suppliers.
• The H&ASC is a well-established Commercial team (circa 44 members), with a great team ethos focused upon Commercial excellence, continuous improvement & knowledge share. H&ASC has recently completed a major procurement for contracts (Functional Assessment Service contracts - FAS) equating to £3bn in value. These contracts deliver assessment services which help to inform claimant eligibility to health and disability related benefits and replace the existing Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and the Health and Disability Assessment Services (HDAS) contracts. The new FAS contracts are currently being implemented with Operational Go Live scheduled for September 2024.
• This is a great opportunity to be part of the team to support the effective commercial management and exit from current contracts and the significant transition activity to the new commercial arrangements.

Employment (1 vacancy) - The Employment Services Category Team are based across our Leeds, London and Sheffield Commercial Hubs.

Here is a summary of the Categories achievements and services we manage

• In 22/23 delivered £126.2 million cash and efficiency savings
• Winner 2021 GO Overall Excellence Award and Award for COVID-19 Outstanding Response Award – Central Government Organisations.
• In 2021, the Employment team won the DWP Finance Group Working Together Award
• Winner 2018 CIPS Europe Overall Award and Award for Digital Innovation for the Dynamic Purchasing System. 
• Highly Commended for the prestigious GO Awards in 2017, for Team of the Year category for European Social Fund (ESF). 
• Procurement and Delivery of the Restart Scheme, providing claimants with enhanced support to find jobs in their local area. 
• Delivery of an innovative ‘Future Market Strategy’ jointly owned by both Policy and Commercial.
• Strategic market Stewardship approach alongside Contract Management and Partner Delivery (CMPD) colleagues to drive the market to meet our goals through SRM, Co-Opetition and a cultural shift.
• An opportunity to really change people's lives with our Contracted Employment Programmes to support them back into work.

Service Delivery and Change (1 vacancy), Financial & Shared Services (1 vacancy) - The Service Delivery Commercial (SDC) category and Change, Financial and Shared Services (CFSS) category based across our Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield Commercial Hubs.

SDC and CFSS provide critical services to DWP and its customers enabling it to effectively deliver its objectives on behalf of the secretary of state, we manage commercial contracts across the following key areas:

• Business Services - provide a wide range of services to DWP such as Travel & Accommodation, Fleet, Research, Marketing & Communications and Language/translation Services.
• Contact Centres – provide first line Contact Services enabling customers to contact us when required.
• Operational Support Services – provide Print, Post and Data storage services.
• Change, Financial & Shared Services – provide Banking, Debt, Business Process. Outsourcing and Enterprise Resource Planning.

Person specification

• Take operational responsibility for the development, review, negotiation and execution of many concurrent large scale and complex contracts (existing and new), and the commercial management of related suppliers, within your area of accountability
  
• Ensure agreed supplier cost savings targets are delivered, and initiatives are delivered that increase efficiency whilst maintaining adequate performance and risk management
• Contribute to the creation and delivery of market-leading category and commercial strategies, influencing supply markets to meet current and future Departmental needs 
• Provide commercial support and guidance to management and other stakeholders (internal and external), ensuring “best outcome” commercial solutions are delivered in line with DWP, Commercial and Category strategies, and develop their commercial capability
• Ensure accurate, comprehensive and transparent commercial analysis, with recommendations to senior decision makers based on value and whole life costs that maintain full business ownership of the commercial outcomes
• Activity management of supporting team members aligned to your sub-category. Through effective and proactive contract management of high value strategic contracts, create positive supplier relationships, a strong customer service ethos, and clear commercial strategies to secure optimum outcomes for the DWP
• Make a significant contribution to the building of a culture of continuous improvement within the Category and DWP Commercial Directorate 
• Line management, mentoring and coaching team members on policies, procedures, practices and techniques equipping them with the knowledge and skills to deliver. 

Please note on your application if you have a preference for one particular role over the others or you will be considered for all

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 17th April 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.