About the job

Job summary

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) touches the lives of everyone in the UK in some shape or form, delivering services and support to help people find work, assist with a disability or provide support through their retirement.  As a key part of DWP, the Commercial Directorate (CD) shapes how services are delivered across 100’s of 3rd party contractual arrangements; with an annual procurement spend in the region of £3bn with some of the largest industry suppliers. CD has been undergoing a transformation exercise to develop into a world class Commercial function and is focused on continuously developing our achievement against Government Commercial Operating Standards.  

The Estates & HR Services Commercial Directorate procures services to help maintain the DWP Estates infrastructure. It delivers and manages contracts in a range of areas including Facilities Management (FM), Security, Furniture, Integrator services, Landlord and Lease Management (LLM), Property Legal Services, Projects and Professional Services. It is a lively team due to the large DWP Estate of over 800 properties which include Job Centres and Health Assessment Centres and as a result, the contracts we let are specialised to accommodate the needs of every customer that visits one of our sites and all our staff while achieving value for money for the department. HR Services is also key to delivery at DWP with contracts for Occupational Health, Apprenticeships, Eye Care and Employee Benefits delivered within the team. We also pride ourselves on developing the skills of everyone in the team, along with supporting other colleagues, to build a professional commercial community that progresses and supports everyone we work with. 

Job description

We require a driven, dynamic leader who is able to deliver commercial solutions at pace. You will be a self-starter who is able to deliver discrete work packages with minimal supervision. You will demonstrate strong commercial knowledge and understanding of the procurement process and the Cabinet Office Sourcing Playbook. You will be motivated to achieve best value for money by implementing best practice Category Management techniques and working closely with colleagues across the Estates Delivery Team and the wider Commercial Directorate. 

You will be passionate about creating change by contributing to an evolving Category Team and you will have the resilience and skills to both challenge and inspire your team, staff and stakeholders. You will form robust and trusted relationships with stakeholders at all levels across your sub-category area, working collaboratively to solve complex problems and achieve the best outcomes. You will play a critical role in this complex category that will involve leading dialogue with major suppliers.

Person specification

• Motivate and manage a professional commercial team to deliver corporate outcomes and to ensure continuous improvement. Mentor and coach team members on policies, procedures, practices, and techniques equipping them with the knowledge and skills to deliver their work in an effective and efficient manner
• Contribute to developing Estate’s strategies to identify optimal delivery solutions, identification and delivery of savings initiatives and innovation opportunities. Be accountable for the selection and implementation of appropriate commercial models to achieve Departmental strategy and goals and encourage supportive supplier behaviour
• Act as a source of expert market knowledge, insight and advice to policy and operational teams in the Estates category area. Work with them to understand requirements and develop commercial strategies aligned to policy objectives, suppliers and supply markets
• Contribute to project scrutiny and approval boards as required
• Lead on procurements that conform to Departmental procurement procedures, and which comply fully with PCR 2015, Departmental commercial policy, and assurance processes
• Lead on implementing robust contract and supplier management processes and strategies, including the strategy for smooth transition from the existing to future contractual arrangements
• Provide expert advice on commercial risk management and deliver mitigation plans / strategies to manage identified risks at corporate level
• Represent the Commercial team at senior meetings across DWP, across wider Government department meetings including Crown Commercial Service, and externally at industry events to remain current with industry Best Practice and Public Procurement Policy

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.