Executive Officer – Commercial

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is the UK Government’s fourth largest spending Department with a budget exceeding £36Bn per year and net assets valued at over £100Bn. MOD is responsible for over 40% of the value of all Government contracts placed with the private sector each year. Head Office Commercial provide commercial contracts and services to our customers with a contract landscape of approx. £4Bn. Approx. £2.8Bn is delivered and managed by the team. We support our Head Office and Corporate Services customer base, with a range of HR Services, Financial Services, Specialist Services, Consultancy, Professional & Technical Services, Office Supplies, Travel and others.

Head Office Commercial advises and supports its customers by creating routes to markets for products and services critical to delivering a range of diverse corporate services and supports complex projects. We manage all aspects of customer and supplier relationships while spending taxpayer’s money in an effective, compliant manner.

The Commercial Team within Head Office Commercial manages the Commercial needs of our varied and diverse customer base, directly supporting a huge number of services and projects across MOD.  You will work closely with military and civilian colleagues in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment. Head Office Commercial offers a varied, challenging but rewarding work environment as you make a significant difference in supporting our MOD customers to deliver a great Defence Service across the world.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Key Responsibilities
Engaging with customers and stakeholders in a timely and appropriate manner, demonstrating 
and promoting MOD Commercial policies and practices. 

• Providing concise and consistent Commercial advice and guidance. 
• Taking forward procurement activities against customer requirements, subject to appropriate approvals, controls and policies
• Ensuring procurement activities undertaken represent best value for money 
• Managing and providing commercial advice on systems which support procurement – in particular ‘CP&F’ (the MOD’s Contracting,
• Purchasing & Finance Tool, used to manage requisitions, Purchase Orders, Agreements, and the On-Boarding of new suppliers) and our Defence Sourcing Portal. 
• Ensuring all documentation is stored in the correct way, with correct classification.
• Championing the use of the systems and tools to collate and share Management Information.
• Acting as a commercial point of contact for Low Value Procurement queries.
• Managing stakeholders within the MOD, Other Government Departments and Industry Partners.
• You will be accountable to a Commercial Manager for any commercial activity you undertake.

This role is central to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Head Office Commercial, delivering against our Commercial function strategy. This an ideal time for you to join us, developing a broader understanding of end-to-end procurement within a challenging commercial team, and opening opportunities to progress across the wider MOD Commercial function. Leadership attributes and behaviours.

• Demonstrable commercial acumen in providing advice to customers, delivering positive outcomes and value for money
• Engaging and collaborative, quickly gaining the respect of/buy in from others. Confidently establishes positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders and partners
• Supports organisational change initiatives, helping staff and peers to transition from the old to the new whilst improving performance and embedding better practices
• Resilient, showing political astuteness in supporting senior stakeholders with varied agenda
• Can navigate policy and process requirements whilst supporting a varied group of stakeholders operating under challenging circumstances 
• Organised, effective at prioritising the use of resources (money, time and people) 
• Remains current with Commercial best practice
• Good communicator (written and oral) in communicating with individuals or groups who possess varying levels of Commercial expertise
• Licenced Commercial Officers are responsible for managing the commercial activities across the spectrum of Acquisition and, depending on experience and level of competence, can have delegation to sign contracts up to £50,000 at this pay band. 

Note that for these roles we need staff capable of operating in the commercial environment straight away.  

Therefore ideally we would see evidence of commercial experience and of CIPS level 4 qualification or equivalent. Alternatively, where that qualification is not yet held, a willingness to work towards this by commencing study within one year of appointment is required. The Band D Commercial posts being advertised may be enrolled in the MOD Commercial Apprenticeship within 6 – 8 weeks of starting in role. This is a Level 4 Commercial apprenticeship which is a CIPS Level 4 qualification. The apprenticeship will typically take a minimum of 18 months to complete. And will be delivered through a blend of online learning and virtual classroom tuition.  Successful candidates will also be required to pass the MOD Practitioner Commercial Licence accreditation assessment or, if they have not passed this already, be willing to undertake the assessment when agreed by line management.

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD 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/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

Job contact :

• Name : Nathan Lewis
• Email : nathan.lewis677@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk