About the job

Job summary

The Prime Minister’s Office enables the Prime Minister to deliver the Government’s overall priorities and to communicate the Government’s policies to Parliament, the public and international audiences. From the Policy Unit and Press Office, Switchboard and Custodians, to the Events & Visits team and the world class Private Office Support team; the diverse Downing Street teams draws on varied expertise from across the Civil Service and beyond. The teams come together to deliver excellent service to the Prime Minister while also making No10 a great place to work.

Job description

We are recruiting for a Digital Commercial Manager within our busy, fast paced, highly motivated Service Delivery team in the heart of Government.  

The Digital Commercial Manager reports to the Head of Service Delivery and sits within the No10 ICTS team working across both ICTS Support and Delivery teams.

ICTS are a small insourced diverse technical team that design, develop, support, maintain and manage IT and Telecoms Services used by the Prime Minister and across No10 24/7/365.

The Digital Commercial Manager is the lead on all commercial activity across the full range of the commercial life cycle including pre-market strategy and engagement, procurement, and contract management.

There will also be a small amount of financial management also required in this role.

Various hardware, consultancy and software services are needed to support the management and delivery of No10 IT and telecoms services. It is the role of the Digital Commercial Manager to ensure that the team has access to these services and are compliant with all licensing and hardware they need, when they need it.

Person specification

Key Responsibilities:

• The Digital Commercial Manager will work as a part of the larger No10 ICTS team with other senior internal and external stakeholders to identity and document business needs and subsequent commercial strategies across different value thresholds.
• The individual will lead on all procurement activity, ensuring compliance with Public Contract Regulations 2015 and NCSC cyber security requirements, and maximising value for money whilst meeting business needs.
• They will work closely with the Cabinet Office Commercial team and the Crown Commercial Service team throughout the procurement process to ensure we are following the correct steps and are compliant.
• In addition to leading on the delivery of contracts to support the ICTS team’s technical work, they will ensure any risk is understood and appropriately mitigated or signed off for each contract and that this risk is manage this over its lifetime.
• They will maintain a working knowledge of best commercial practice in line with Cabinet Office guidance, and proactively seek out opportunities to improve existing processes to create better ways of working for years to come.

To be successful in this role, you will have the following essential experience and skills:

• Relevant commercial & procurement management experience or learning qualifications, with a strong understanding of the end-to-end procurement process.
  
• Knowledge of digital technologies and services used by organisations to support and deliver ICT and telecoms services and be able to understand digital contractual and commercial requirements.
  
• Excellent people engagement skills across all levels of internal and external stakeholders.
• A collaborative approach as a team worker to drive decisions and deliver on timely outcomes.
  
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities with a customer and delivering focus to meet deadlines in a fast paced and ever-changing environment.
• Be interested in and have knowledge of commercial management and what it entails, with a wish to learn and expand their knowledge in this area.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, particularly in delivering commercial advice to senior leaders in business cases or draft meeting minutes.
• Proficient with the Microsoft 365 suite of products including Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and SharePoint.
• Show evidence of data analysis skills and being able to present commercial data in a clear and user-friendly way.
• An understanding or knowledge of risk management and mitigation techniques when managing procurements.
• A basic understanding of Government Security markings and how to handle sensitive data

The following experience and skills are desirable in this role.  Although the post holder may not possess all the following criteria, they should be willing and interested in working towards gaining the full list:

• Awareness and understanding of public sector procurement principles and legislation.
• Experience in a Digital and Technology commercial role.
• Project and programme experience.
• Supplier Relationship Management experience.
• An understanding of Public Contract Regulations 2015 and how these shape best commercial practice across government.

Please include on your CV any qualifications you have that are relevant to this role.

There may be a need in the future to additionally go through the DV clearance process depending on future projects, so applicant must be willing to do this. Successful candidates must be willing to undergo DV, if required. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,250, Cabinet Office contributes £10,327 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, Strengths and Experience.

Application process

Please include a CV & personal statement. We are requesting a maximum of 1000 words in a statement of suitability that provides examples against all four of the Behaviours listed on the job advert and shows relevant experience at the level required.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Selection process

Candidates successful at sift will be invited to a Behaviour & Strength based interview. For the Behaviour question, we will be expecting answers using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action & Results) format. 

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – Mid Jan 
Expected interview date/s – Early Feb
Interview location - TBC

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further information

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'contact point for applicants' section.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to Cabinet Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

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.