About the job

Job summary

This is a fantastic opportunity to join the largest and most complex commercial function in Government.  The MOD spends over £20 billion per year across nearly 6,000 contracts. Become part of MoD commercial and help deliver the best in class commercial and procurement capability, on some of the most complex programmes anywhere in the UK.  MoD are keen to recruit talented, ambitious, and bright individuals to help strengthen the commercial capability and develop future leaders. MoD offers the opportunity to influence and shape Defence capability for the United Kingdom. The MoD is a constantly evolving department, and the commercial function is right at the heart of the organisation. 

This is a high-profile role, which also offers a unique opportunity to work closely with the Cabinet Office (CO) to drive forward improvements that increase compliance with the CO Commercial Spend Controls; including supporting the development of the pan-MOD commercial forward look pipeline (Acquisition pipeline) and using MI to measure and evaluate performance. You will have the opportunity to support scrutiny across various MOD high-profile programmes and projects for MOD Top Level Budget Holders and Front-Line Command. 

Your role will support the delivery of an end-to-end progressive scrutiny model from Business Case review, through the procurement lifecycle, and into contract management as cases progress through the MOD internal approvals process and onwards through CO Commercial Spend Control approval process. This position provides a unique opportunity to gain insight into a diverse range of procurements, across different categories and complexities, building a strong risk mindset and commercial knowledge.

Job description

The post holders will become the focal point for Category A (excess of £400m) & Category B projects (excess of £100m) (tier 1 & tier 2 projects), providing end-to-end commercial scrutiny and expert advice and guidance for their respective business portfolios e.g. (Ships, Combat Air & Air Support, Weapons, Land Equipment).

You will represent the Commercial Assistance & Scrutiny team and the MOD scrutiny and due diligence function at key governance boards and provide strategic input on commercial issues.

The post holder will report directly into the Commercial Assistance & Scrutiny Team (CAST) lead.

Important: Applicants must be either CIPS qualified or working towards, or willing to work towards to be eligible to remain in this post.

Person specification

You will assist and support the SROs and delivery teams through the E2E commercial process, in line with the requirements of the Cabinet Office Controls across the key 6 step process:

1. You will ensure that all relevant commercial policies are reflected in business cases within your portfolio, for example, SME’s Social Value, Prompt Payment, Modern Slavery etc
   
   
2. You will provide commercial scrutiny against all commercial options with a view to maximising competition
   
   
3. You will provide commercial scrutiny against markets & suppliers “engagement, health of the market’s, trends, and market risks and issues
   
   
4. You will provide commercial scrutiny against risk allocation, pricing, and value for money, with focus on when a risk is being released and to ensure that risk has been allocated correctly to the right partner to deliver against those risks
   
   
5. You will provide commercial scrutiny against the management and delivery of the project, from contract management plans, appropriate performance measures i.e. KPIs, and plans surrounding on boarding, exit or transition
   
   
6. You will provide commercial scrutiny against Processes and Planning, the effectiveness of commercial planning, assurance and compliance against these 6 steps and in line with current playbook policies. 

You will work with your partners across the commercial function and delivery teams, in planning, preparing, and resourcing key projects across your allocated portfolio, as a minimum this will require:

1. Effective reviews of commercial / delivery pipelines
2. Effective reviews of all ministerial demands in line with commercial practice and delivery within your portfolio
3. Identify any key trends, tracking any points of concern within your portfolio, for example: lessons learnt, capability development and training, red team reviews etc
4. Responsible to keep accurate records in line with the MOD record keeping policies. 

Important: Applicants must be either CIPS qualified or working towards, or willing to work towards to be eligible to remain in this post.

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 15th May 2024 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. 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.