About the job

Job summary

Job Summary

Do you want to work for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and care for the Defence Estate? DIO enables Defence to live, work, train and deploy, all with sustainability in mind. From net carbon zero accommodations to runways for the F35 fighter jets; our outputs are unique in the UK and across the globe!

Learn much more about DIO in our Candidate Information Guide attached. 

Job description

About DIO Commercial teams: 

Currently DIO Commercial is in the process of expanding. Due to business growth we are looking to recruit Procurement professionals to support us with our UK’s defence strategy and pipeline of future programmes.

Across DIO Commercial we have over 19 different teams working throughout the UK leading and supporting various programmes of work. The teams include Regional Delivery, Major Projects & Programmes, Enabling Services, Utilities and Energy, Emission and Sustainability. We specialise in providing commercial expertise to Defence supporting them by managing and monitoring contracts, promoting Value for Money (VfM) and sustainability.

Why Join us:

Our DIO Commercial Practitioner roles will provide an opportunity to gain a wide range of experience in Procurement and customer engagement/management. Our roles provide a great opportunity to gain experience in working with both national and regional locations.

We support the Military and Civilians living and working in UK and overseas, contributing to NATO support, peacekeeping and the wider critical Defence missions within the UK. 

Our roles provide a fantastic opportunity to gain experience to build strong relationships with DIO customers, suppliers and supply chains. We provide a great opportunity to develop communication skills whilst widening your cultural awareness and diplomacy skills. 

A typical day could involve working with project managers to develop a forthcoming requirement for a new military installation, a conference call with the legal department to discuss resolution of a contractual issue on an existing contract, drafting criteria for evaluating a future procurement and evaluating bid proposals for a new construction project, or drafting an options paper to support your manager in a negotiation.  

You will have the opportunity to further develop your skills in researching supplier markets, contract drafting and contract management. The scale and scope of the projects involved mean you will have the opportunity to liaise with many other teams, including legal, finance, risk management, cyber security, technical service providers who support our projects and of course, the contractors with whom we are working. 

Although some of the workload is programmed, the nature of the work we do means that the successful candidate should expect to work in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. 

To succeed in one of our Commercial teams, you will need to be organised, team-oriented, delivery focused, with strong communication skills and the ability to create and maintain effective relationships with suppliers. 

Person specification

DIO Commercial commits that we can offer you great training, a strong team ethos, and an opportunity to be proud of your work.  
 
DIO’s mission is to Be proud; Be challenged; Be unique. 

To enable this DIO recognises that a diverse workforce is at the heart of different insights, ideas and innovation. A workforce diverse in background and life experience produces trusted public services and better decisions. We want our people to be curious and continuously strive for improvement, collaborative in an inclusive culture, ambitious and resilient and committed to Defence, empowered and able to challenge so you can play a key part in shaping the direction of our organisation. 
 
To enable this DIO commits to offering its employees:
 
•The ability to obtain industry recognised qualifications supported by DIO
•Free membership for professional qualifications including CIPS
•Professional and Personal Development of skills
•Access to thousands of training courses through Civil Service Learning, some free or paid by DIO
•Opportunity to join 6 networks covering Disability, Faith and Belief, Gender Equality, LGBTQI+, Race, Social Mobility and 3 networks dealing with employee wellbeing and support: Speak Safe Volunteers, Mental Health First Aiders and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisers
•Opportunity to drive and embed sustainable practices and solutions through delivering and managing sustainable procurement for Defence estates

Join the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and have a future that matters: Be proud; Be challenged; Be unique.

Responsibilities:

As a Commercial Practitioner you will: 

•Identify, develop and deliver project sourcing strategies, lead key initiatives with cross-functional teams and drive the decision-making process for commercial activities
•Lead/support in the development of collaborative relationships with suppliers, clients and other key customers with a principal objective of achieving the best cost and performance
•Coordinate and collaborate with your local teams to deploy and implement the defined strategies
•Support with the development of the sourcing strategies, tender documents, evaluation criteria drafting and awarding contracts (once qualified)
•Evaluate supplier core proficiency and competitive positioning using industry cost models and bench-marking analysis
•Support/Lead the fundamentals of sourcing and supplier engagement activities including tendering, spend pattern analysis, contract analysis, bid evaluation, negotiations, and supplier consolidation in accordance with DIO processes
•Ensure Social Value and Environmental Polices are adhered to and included in relevant contracts
•Provide commercial advice and mentorship to stakeholders, some of whom will be senior members to the MOD 
•Support the wider DIO Commercial officers, including staff development, mentoring & support
•Ensure all mandatory and role specific training is undertaken

Essential Criteria

•You must become a qualified Commercial Officer to Practitioner Level within 18 months of joining the organisation. This means you will have to to study to achieve CIPS Level 4, and sit a MOD accreditation panel
•Ability and agreement to travel within UK when required, please note some roles may require overseas travel
•Be able to manage competing priorities, assess information and risk and be flexible in your approach

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,290, Ministry of Defence contributes £9,528 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.

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework and Commercial Skills and Competency Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.
 
Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile and the Commercial Skills and Competency Framework elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.
 
Please provide your evidence using the STAR Technique using the attached information on how to apply.
 
Situation: Describe the situation you found yourself in. You must describe a specific event or situation. Be sure to give enough detail for the job holder to understand.
Where are you?
Who was there with you?
What had happened?
 
Task: The recruitment panel will want to understand what you tried to achieve from the situation you found yourself in.
 
What was the task that you had to complete and why?
What did you have to achieve?
 
Action: What did you do? The job holder will be looking for information of what you did, how you did it and why. Keep the focus on you. What specific steps did you take and what was your contribution? Remember to include how you did it, and the behaviours you used. Try to use “I” rather than “we” to explain your actions that lead to the result. Be careful not to take credit for something that you did not do.
 
Result: Don’t be shy about taking credit for your behaviour. Quote specific facts and figures easily understandable.
 
What results did the actions produce?
What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your goals?
Was it a successful outcome? If not what did you learn from the experience?
 
Keep the situation and task parts brief. Concentrate on the action and the result. If the result was not entirely successful describe what you learned from this and what you would do differently next time. Make sure you focus on your strengths.
When providing your evidence please ensure that you avoid acronyms and company specific jargon.
 
At application you will be assessed against the following:

CV - detailing Job History, Previous Skills and Experience
 
Personal Statement - As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Personal Statement of 500 words, the purpose for this, is for you to showcase your relevant skills and experience against the job requirements.
The statement is your opportunity to give examples of how you fit the requirements of the role.
  
When writing a personal statement it is important that you:
Read the job specification so you are clear about the job requirements
Outline the skills and experience that you have that are relevant to the job and use examples to help demonstrate this
Keep to the word limit, if your statement is too brief it will not provide the required depth of detail and evidence to be assessed fully  

Technical: Commercial Skill and Competency Framework - Practitioner Level 
Section 1 Pre-sourcing 1. Supply Market Analysis - Defining the requirement
        
Please review the Commercial Skills and Competency element that we require evidence on, please ensure that you review and understand the description of this testing element at Practitioner level. We require you to provide evidence and a demonstration of specific skills, knowledge or transferable experience. This will allow you to provide evidence to show a more rounded picture of your suitability for the role.

At interview you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours:
Leadership

Technical: Commercial Skill and Competency Framework - Practitioner Level
Section 1 Pre-sourcing 1. Supply Market Analysis - Defining the requirement 
Section 2 Sourcing 3. Executing the Sourcing Strategy - Developing the sourcing strategy
Section 2 Sourcing 3. Executing the Sourcing Strategy - Developing and issuing the bidders pack

Application sifting is scheduled to take place on week commencing: 22/01/2024

Interviews are currently taking place remotely and will be conducted week commencing: 29/01/2024

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs.

To assist with your application please find attached below:

1. DIO Candidate Information Guide
2. DIO Candidate Information Guide - Accessible Version
3. Commercial Skills and Competency Framework

For help and support with your application check out our Civil Service Careers Homepage and the How to apply section

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.