About the job

Job summary

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the UK Government’s fourth largest spending Department with a budget exceeding £36Bn per year and net assets valued at over £100Bn. MOD is responsible for over 40% of the value of all Government contracts placed with the private sector each year.

Defence Digital Commercial (DDCmrcl) is a growing organisation and is responsible for delivering outstanding value for Defence within the Digital and Information Technology sector. We are responsible for a large portfolio of complex contracts worth £2bn a year, through more than 300 suppliers.

Defence Digital Commercial is made up of five categories, IT Hardware & Services, Military Technology, Software and Hosting, Networks and Professional Services, each individual category team varies in size but in total we are a 180-person strong team. 

We are now recruiting for Commercial Managers to join our team where you will have the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge to build your career. We are committed to developing our staff, providing opportunities to move into different commercial roles to develop a broad skill set, access to mentors and a suite of learning to support you on your career path.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. 

Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities.  Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

This post is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

We currently have roles available within the category team listed below. Reserve candidates may be offered alternative roles within DD commercial teams, although responsibilities will remain the same.

IT Hardware & Services - Deployed and Interoperability

This role will be operating at the heart of the Gateways team delivering IT services between the MOD, International Organisations and Other Nation States.  The role covers a wide variety of experiences which include: 

• Procurement of Outsourced Suppliers (up to £30m)
• Contract management of Government owned and run capability
• Establishment of a new Gateway Category

The team operate in a highly collaborative manner with diverse and committed delivery teams across multiple projects. The work environment is fast-moving and gives a good level of agility and responsibility to the commercial team supporting delivery.

The contracts are critical to national security and have a good blend of strategic suppliers and new and upcoming SMEs which allows for different contracting methodologies and contract managing styles. Performance management is a key building block for the H&S commercial team and this role will allow for direct engagement in the entire end-to-end procurement and delivery processes.

The nature of the work requires SC with a portfolio that will offer the opportunity for DV.

The role of Senior Commercial Manager includes the following:

•  Providing expertise to Defence Digital project delivery teams to influence and inform the sourcing of new goods and services from 3rd parties
• Proactive market insight which includes a coordinated monitoring of potential and existing suppliers in a strategic and dynamic way
• Define and run Procurement processes in line with public sector regulations and using agreed tools and systems
• Selecting appropriate suppliers using relevant evaluation criteria and responsible for ensuring value for money for the duration of supplier engagement
• Negotiating favourable terms for pricing and contract terms that deliver immediate and ongoing financial and non-financial benefits
• Identification, definition and tracking of financial and non-financial benefits and savings
• Ongoing proactive management of key supplier relationships
• Effective management of full life cycle of the contracts including managing changes and ensuring ongoing value and service quality standards are delivered
• Commercial risk identification, mitigation and management
• Supporting category management maturity improvements by identifying opportunities to further enhance the value delivered
• Intelligently developing and deploying a range of sourcing strategies in cooperation with internal stakeholders
• Supporting continuous improvement and change management, using knowledge and experience to influence and embed good practice across the sourcing lifecycle
• Supporting the senior commercial officers in the negotiation of complex contracts
• Hold formal delegated powers of up to £10M
• Providing specialist advice on commercial policies and processes to other teams for e.g. delivery group
• Potential line management responsibilities based on skill set and business requirement
• Providing coaching, support and leadership to junior team members; acting as a role-model and inspiring leader
• Champion, embed and promote Diversity & Inclusion as part of the DD Commercial team culture

Candidates are required to have CIPS level 4 or to commit to working towards this qualification as part of their role.

 All posts are full time equivalent. There may be opportunities for part time candidates if a job share partnership can be established, subject to full time hours being achievable for the role in question.

Offers made to candidates below the required 37 hours (FTE) will be subject to business need and at the Authority’s sole discretion 

Person specification

Experience

• Experience of working in a commercial role undertaking large sourcing projects, contract management and high value contract negotiation
• Experience in handling complex contracts
• Experience in managing end to end procurement process for medium and large value contracts
• Practical experience and expertise in requirements gathering
• Practical experience in utilising market insight to aid strategic sourcing and contract management
• Robust commercial negotiation of commercial and contractual terms, pricing and discounts
• Practical experience and expertise in Contract management, including managing contracts from contract award to contract closeout
• Practical experience and expertise in Supplier management
• Experience in delivering savings and benefits tracking
• Ability to analyse, interpret and draft contractual wording with a strong attention to detail
• Public sector procurement experience is desirable but not essential

 Behaviours

• Motivates and inspires and has the confidence of the team and their peers
• Build and maintain a working culture of mutual trust and inclusion
• Collaborative individual with a positive attitude
• Proactive with solutions to complex issues
• Able to anticipate problems, provide creative solutions
• Able to effectively challenge stakeholders to deliver the right outcomes
• Flexible attitude and ability to work to tight deadlines
• Effective communicator, able to clearly articulate messages adapted to the needs of the audience
• Clear decision maker and takes accountability for decisions made
• Effective at prioritisation and managing workload and time effectively
• Embraces change and improvement
• Provide a quality service
• Deliver at pace, results and output orientated
• Takes ownership of own development, actively seeks to learn new skills which add value to the team

Desirable

• Public sector procurement experience

 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,631 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, Experience and Technical skills.

At application stage:

Applications will be sifted and scored based on the information supplied in both your CV and suitability statement.

Please complete the CV section, setting out your career history, including key responsibilities and achievements. You must also complete a suitability statement (of no more than 1250 words). The suitability statement is your opportunity to provide us with additional information that highlights relevant achievements and experience, and the required skills and behaviours listed in this advertisement, that make you suitable for the role.

Note: You will NOT be able to attach your CV as a separate document.

At interview stage:

You will have the opportunity to provide further detail supporting the statements in your application, specifically relating to the skills and behaviours below: 

Technical Skills

• Understanding Needs & Sourcing Options (People Standards for the Profession – Associate Commercial Lead)
• Contract & Supplier Management (People Standards for the Profession – Associate Commercial Lead)

Success Profiles - Behaviours

• Leadership (Civil Service Success Profiles, Behaviours – Level 3 SEO or equivalent)
• Communicating and Influencing (Civil Service Success Profiles, Behaviours – Level 3 SEO or equivalent)

 Interviews will be held using MS Teams and are planned to take place from: Week Commencing 15 January 2024

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk  

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.  

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. 

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.