Commercial Lead – Market Creation

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 FCDO commercial team delivering departmental objectives.

The Commercial Lead – Market Creation will report directly to the Head of Supply Chain Management (SCM), a cross functional team supporting the FCDO Commercial Directorate.

The successful candidate will work across category teams in Commercial, with a focus on efforts to remove supplier barriers to entry; continue the development of the FCDO supply market to ensure it is fit for the future; creating participation opportunities for all suppliers (including UK, local in-country, SMEs, Civil Society); and, create an environment for quality competition that delivers value for money in FCDO contracts.     

You will play a critical role in ensuring our commercial model delivers excellent value, efficiency and development impact for FCDO, the UK Taxpayer and our Beneficiaries.  The role-holder will be responsible for supporting the Head of SCM deliver the SME Action Plan, work with policy-makers and key actors in the market to develop Commercial Directorate’s approach to locally led development, respond to market changes / conditions and deliver a first-class service to our stakeholders. 

The role requires significant engagement with key stakeholders from across FCDO and wider HMG.

This is a reserved post, opened to UK Nationals only. 

• Lead the development and delivery of the Market Creation Strategy for FCDO Commercial, creating efficiencies and streamlining processes across the department
• Be a champion for Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), leading the development and delivery of outcomes detailed within the SME Action Plan
• Operate as a commercial expert advisor to the department in the development of optimal strategies for commercial investment decisions and sourcing strategies for procured contracts. This will include providing advice on other routes to market and challenge to strategies, where appropriate, to improve outcomes
• Bring an understanding of market and commercial drivers to support policy development and commercial design to build and shape markets, and drive delivery partner innovation
• Lead the development of the Commercial approach to localisation (in programme spend), engaging with various stakeholders across FCDO to identify viable delivery options to drive closer working with local in-country supply partners and grass-root organisations
• Provision of expert guidance & advice on market engagement activity and identify cross-departmental synergies in how we engage with the market
• Ensure appropriate prioritisation and allocation of commercial resource to support the achievement of the Directorate’s commercial objectives and priorities
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting against key measures and targets for inclusion in a wide range of dashboards and wider commercial MI requirements
• Demonstrate leadership, influencing and driving transformational change and commercial thought leadership
• Support the Head of SCM by monitoring and tracking the divisional level commercial performance and customer satisfaction measures
• Deputise for the Head of SCM at key meetings, as required
• Support the development of others within team and across the Commercial Directorate by sharing technical knowledge & coaching
• Help to make our commercial team a better and inclusive place to work as a priority, participating positively in ‘people’ initiatives and demonstrating leadership behaviours including supporting action plans on Staff Surveys
• Supporting the development of an open and inclusive culture for the FCDO commercial function, role-modelling collaborative and inclusive behaviours
• MCIPS would be desirable for this role

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

• Manages Complexity – Proven experience overseeing complex commercial processes that involve multiple stakeholders, involving the right stakeholders in making recommendations or decisions early on and keeping them involved
• Market Insight – Proven experience of influencing commercial and procurement activities via structured market engagement and use of robust management information. Understands trade-offs that need to be made in their area
• Commercial Focus – Proven experience providing specialist advice on significant framework agreements or strategic contracts. Uses analysis to make effective decisions
• Coaching Manager – Demonstrates leadership qualities, including leading teams with evidence of a continual focus on professional development within the team and promoting knowledge and information sharing across teams
• Understanding Sourcing Needs – Supports in articulating requirements to the market, ensuring potential solutions are clearly understood by the market, & is able to challenge sourcing strategies & business cases where appropriate to improve outcomes

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. 

Job contact :

• Name : Lynsey Munro
• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk