About the job

Job summary

Building a strong Commercial Function in Government, and with it the right commercial capability, is at the heart of a far-reaching programme of Civil Service reform.

We are building a cadre of commercial talent in all Government departments; people who can manage our commercial portfolios, who can lead our most complex and novel programmes and projects, people who have the gravitas and depth of experience to work alongside our policy and operational leaders to develop innovative commercial arrangements, whether through joint ventures, outsourcing or best-in-class contracts.

The Government Commercial Organisation is an employer which is truly committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and are able to perform to their potential. We understand the importance of diversity and inclusion and strive for a workplace that reflects the communities which we serve. We especially welcome applications from underrepresented groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, candidates with a disability and candidates with gender-diverse identities. Appointments will be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We have already made significant progress through the establishment of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), our single employer of senior commercial talent across government. This role will sit within the GCO, but based in our CO commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

Job description

This is a high-profile role, advising Ministers and Senior Officials on the most complex and high value procurements and commercial deals. As a member of the Commercial Assurance team within the Strategy Assurance and Standards directorate, you will lead on the delivery of the Cabinet Office commercial spend controls and wider functional assurance, influencing spend of approximately £300bn per annum.

As a Senior Commercial Business Partner, you will have a responsibility for managing a portfolio of departments across HM Government. The role will include: proactive management of commercial pipelines and leading assurance case reviews for projects above £20m; early engagement on control case submissions providing early stage specific advice; presentation of written submissions for assurance by either the Deputy Directors or to ministerial panel; and management and resolution of related conditions set for assured cases.  

Using your excellent verbal and written communication skills you will be responsible for establishing relationships of trust with key stakeholders within your portfolio to enable you to conduct robust and constructive assurance and secure buy-in from stakeholders. 

The successful candidate will have an ability to digest and distil complex commercial information in clear and succinct terms to non-commercial stakeholders. This role will require you to work collaboratively with other Cabinet Office controls teams, as well as regular engagement with Infrastructure & Projects Authority (IPA) and HM Treasury leads.

As a leader within the Government Commercial Function and the Cabinet Office, you will be expected to actively demonstrate positive values and behaviours. You may be required to manage one or more team members as well as mentoring and supporting new team joiners. You will also be an active member of the Commercial Assurance Senior Leadership Team, with an opportunity to directly plan, influence and shape how the work across all portfolios is carried out.

Person specification

• The first point of contact for departments and organisations within your portfolio, you will proactively manage the pipeline of live cases, proposing the appropriate assurance status to the Deputy Directors as part of regular Pipeline Assurance Reviews
  
• End to end management of ‘Control’ cases, including early engagement with department commercial leads; review of business case documentation; departmental and external stakeholder engagement; drafting and presentation of related case submissions to Deputy Directors or ministerial panel for approval decisions.
• Pro-active management of conditions set for Control cases, including review and assessment of submitted responses from Departments
  
• Through engaging with the most senior commercial leads within your assigned portfolios, you will lead Account Management Reviews (AMRs). In these engagements, you will have the opportunity to recognise areas of excellent commercial practice, as well as identifying areas for further support and development
  
• As a member of the leadership team, you will role model positive values and behaviours; identify areas for collaboration across the Cabinet Office Central Commercial Teams; and manage team resources in both a direct and matrix management style. The post holder will be expected to have a key role in coaching and developing other staff within the team and wider commercial function
  
• Work with colleagues across the IPA and HM Treasury to promote functional commercial leadership and standards, and deliver effective outcomes
  
• Contribute to the development of effective organisational continuous improvement tools and techniques to aid Departments in assessing, baselining and continuously improving their commercial capability
  
• Provide timely and trusted advice to officials and Ministers on both programmes/projects and wider Departmental delivery of the Commercial Operating Standards
  
• Support the Deputy Director and Director to achieve the business plan objectives for the commercial function and to disseminate good practice to improve overall commercial capability
  
• Grow and evolve the team’s approach to commercial assurance, suggesting and implementing improvements to existing assurance processes and controls
• Supporting and iterating Commercial Standards, wider spending controls and other outputs related to commercial assurance and commercial continuous improvement

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 April 2024 and will require a full day's attendance.

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.