Commercial Specialist - Strategy, Policy and Capability

Government Commercial Function -
Birmingham

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Job details

Permanent | Full-time
£101,000 - £131,000 a year
1 day ago

Benefits

Company pension

Qualifications

CIPS
Procurement
Presentation skills
Leadership

Full job description

Details

Reference number

472388

Salary

£101,000 - £131,000

GCO Pension, GCO Terms. Up to 20% performance-related-pay available on accreditation.

GBP

Job grade

SCS Pay Band 1

Commercial Specialist

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

GCF - Department for Transport

Type of role

Commercial

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share

Number of jobs available

Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information

Location

Assignment Location:
Birmingham
Leeds
Hastings
Swansea

Occasional travel to other DfT offices will be required.

Working Pattern: As this role is deployed to DfT, we defer to their local location strategy and operational demands. Office attendance and hybrid working patterns will be aligned with the host departments specific requirements.

Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

About the job

Job summary

The role is part of Group Commercial Directorates (GCD) Senior Management Team (SMT), all of whom are members of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), the role holder will lead the Commercial Strategy Policy and Capability Team (SPC), comprising 14 posts.

The role holder will be expected to work in a flexible and agile way to meet emerging business needs. The Divisions formal responsibilities are to provide leadership on commercial strategy, policy and capability in central Department for Transport (DfTc) and the wider DfT Group.

The incumbent will work with the DfT Group Commercial Director and other Deputy Directors to collectively lead the GCD, enabling the delivery of their own and their colleagues objectives, collectively managing budgets and headcount delegations to ensure we remain within these at a GCD level, aligning the GCD workforce to deliverables and risks.

Job description

Person specification

Co-deputise from time to time for the Group Commercial Director.
Play a pro-active role in leading Group Commercial Directorate, facilitating the achievement of Group Commercials strategic objectives.
Manage 3 Grade 6s who lead the Strategy, Policy and Capability teams.
Engage with Cabinet Office and Government Commercial Agency to influence central government policy and ensure it is fit for purpose for the DfT Group, ensuring that robust business impact assessments are undertaken for all commercial policy requirements.
As a member of the Commercial Assurance Board (CAB), ensure projects presented to the board align to (or have a derogation from) the Group Commercial Strategy, DfT Commercial Policies and seek assurance that the project teams have the requisite commercial capabilities.
Work with key stakeholders to agree a process for assessing policy compliance in DfTc procurements, which will include agreeing discrete policy areas for assessment, and the methodology and frequency of the assessments.
Maintain commercial operating architecture, including scheme of Contractual Delegations, and complete yearly review of delegations including compliance with training requirements.
Lead development and delivery of Contract Management policy and strategy in DfTc, including the development of commercial capability in critical areas.
Build organisational confidence and capability in the new Procurement Act 2023 to exploit the new possibilities it affords DfT Group and the roll-out of the Governments mission-led approach.
Maintain effective policy controls for consultancy spend and improve capability in DfTc to manage consultancy effectively and report consultancy spent to Executive Committee.
Review and make a proposal to improve the Low Value Purchasing policy, including low value thresholds to ensure the process is efficient, controlled and delivers a good commercial outcome. Consider if AI can be used to automate and achieve efficiencies.
Deliver CIPS Standard Corporate Accreditation lessons learned and determine if case exists for future accreditations.
Horizon scan and lead and deliver DfT commercial approaches to emerging areas, including procuring innovation, science and technology, embedding commercial guidance in BAU processes and ways of working.
Maintain and update the DfT Group Commercial Strategy, ensuring alignment with the Government Commercial Function.
Improve contract management capability in DfTc and consider the best contract management accreditations to achieve this.
Provide robust commercial capability consultancy to DfTc and the DfT Group through advice and guidance on learning and development best practice, ensuring that commercial job descriptions are used consistently across DfTc, including the provision of bespoke learning solutions and business impact assessments and creating a culture of efficiency through self-service.
Manage and control of the Divisions learning and development budget, ensuring that the appropriate controls are followed and value for money is achieved.
Maintain a strong external supply chain presence by attending meet the buyer events and other external engagements.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Ability to provide constructive challenge where necessary to ensure the best outcomes are delivered.
Extensive leadership experience in delivering complex procurement projects.
A proven track record in developing and implementing commercial strategies and policies.
Strong ability to influence parties in a complex stakeholder environment where competing priorities must be balanced.
Significant experience of leading teams that manage high-profile, complex commercial projects.
Drafting and presenting (both orally and in writing) high-quality advice and briefing on complex topics to a wide range of senior audiences and wider stakeholders under challenging timescales.

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.

Kindly refer to the following link for the GCF Rewards and benefits page.

https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gcf-benefits/

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

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.

Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on the 9th of September 2026 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 on [email protected] 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.

For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read 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 Technical Skills (essential criteria) and your Job History (CV) that you will be asked to provide during the application process. Further help and advice on our application and selection process can be found at this web address https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gcf-how-to-apply/

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/artificial-intelligence-and-recruitment/

IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: [email protected]

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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)
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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Ashlene Doherty
Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

Email : [email protected]

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should direct this to the Head of Commercial Resourcing Hub at the following email [email protected] quoting the vacancy reference number (if applicable) and the details of your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission via the following web page: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

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Details

Reference number

Salary

Job grade

Contract type

Business area

Type of role

Working pattern

Number of jobs available

Contents

Location

About the job

Job summary

Job description

Person specification

Technical skills

Benefits

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Selection process details

Security

Nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

Diversity and Inclusion

Apply and further information

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Recruitment team

Further information

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