About the 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 MOD commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

Job description

As our Land & Strategic Enablers Commercial Director you will be responsible for Commercial Strategy across this category of spend. You will be ensuring the highest commercial standard of delivering best value for money outcomes for the armed forces. You will be the lead commercial advisor for the Department in this area and will be called upon by the Department, Ministers and across Government to advise and develop commercial strategy, embed a category management approach, lead on complex negotiations and disputes and take a lead supplier relationship role for those strategic suppliers in your area.

Responsibilities

You will be:

• Developing, delivering, and assuring multi-million-pound commercial strategies that represent best possible value for Defence in the acquisition of defence equipment and support through end-to-end procurement activity;


• Driving category ownership through the commercial and business organisations and creating links with sector and industrial strategies across Defence to enable supply chain development and improved value;


• Building end-to-end responsibility and expertise across the different commercial organisations in Defence, working with other delivery Directors to ensure effective working with our customers and other parts of the commercial function;


• Demonstrating clear market insight and flow down of category approaches to the commercial organisation and wider customers;


• Leading negotiations and supporting acquisitions in line with the agreed strategy and delivering savings to agreed targets;


• Establishing and maintaining comprehensive measurement of the Land & Strategic Enablers commercial delivery element of the overall MOD Commercial Function;


• Ensuring the implementation of, and compliance with, commercial policy and applying best practice mentoring to the Commercial activity in this area;


• Reviewing and driving performance of the commercial function and recommending improvements to the Commercial Board;


• Coordinating and working with other Commercial Delivery Directors as part of the Commercial Board of Directors;


• Providing supportive yet robust leadership to a diverse and geographically dispersed organisation. (Functional leadership for up to 1,000 commercial colleagues);


• Line Management for 5 Senior Commercial Leaders with responsibility for circa 3,000 contracts with an annual spend of circa £4.5 Billion.

You will also:

• Be amongst the most senior members of the Government Commercial Function and play a role in the broader commercial reform programme led by the Government Chief Commercial Officer;

• Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the Ministry of Defence and across Government.

Technical skills

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

• Developing effective commercial strategies in a category environment for complex and high value procurements and programmes, that have delivered win-win outcomes and significant benefits;
• Strong leadership experience working at Board level and with a broad range of Board-level stakeholders;
• Working as a collaborative member of a larger team in a matrix structure, driving organisational change and with a track record of uplifting capability and understanding what best in class looks like;
• Excellent communication skills, relating commercial information to non-specialist audiences and securing support for difficult or unpopular commercial decisions;
• Ability to influence effectively at Senior Level in private and public sector.