Army – Commercial Officer: Sourcing

Location: Army HQ Andover, South-East England, SP11 8HJ. The Army is operating a hybrid working arrangement of 40-60% (up to 2 – 3 days a week) in the Andover office. We are passionate about Smarter Working and believe that a combination of flexible working practices, digital technology and modern workspaces will give you the opportunity to enjoy a healthy work-life balance, while ensuing you deliver your outcomes effectively and efficiently – we expect you to know where to be to have the most impact, balancing your individual needs with that of your team and the organisation

Have you considered a Civil Service career and the unparalleled opportunities it has to offer in a variety of significant roles, with the potential to change the nation and people’s lives for the better?

The Army’s Programmes Directorate brings together all the key change programmes to optimise their delivery and to direct and monitor its change portfolio ensuring that programmes are delivered to performance, cost and time.

As a Directorate, we are passionate in Project, Programme & Portfolio management (P3M) and delivery.

From every item of basic equipment to the most ground-breaking technology imaginable, every new project brings outstanding possibilities and challenges, and we’ll ensure you’re equipped to succeed, with extensive training and development opportunities.

Our dedicated Commercial Team comprises of around 90 qualified Commercial Officers ranging in experience and levels. Within this team, there is a responsibility for placing around 180 contracts a year for around £240M worth of activity and handling £5bn worth of contracts.

This post sits in the Army Commercial’s Capability Support Team which provides support to the Directorate of Futures and Directorate of Programmes. We provide support and commercial advice ranging from early engagement support, dedicated commercial support to Major Programmes and for procuring urgent requirements. It is a great time to join the team as we grow in providing the professional Commercial support and advice to our customers across the directorates.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week

This new and exciting role is an amazing opportunity where you can make a really positive difference. This is a role will provide commercial support to teams in MCD and help commercially shape urgent procurements required for projects and programmes to help improve routes to market and deliver positive outcomes and supply solutions

With the diversity of projects, no day will be the same! 

Embedded with the Project team, this role will be challenging and require a candidate who is hardworking, proactive and has a positive approach to problem solving and enabling solutions. Engagement throughout the procurement cycle will enable positive outcomes and this will maximise the opportunity to influence, shape & lead the commercial approaches developed and implemented working with internal customers & colleagues. This is an exciting role, which requires commercial competence and experience, strong communication skills, and relationship management skills.

The key job areas that this role encompasses are:

-Responsible for providing early and ongoing commercial advice and establishing/maintaining positive working relationships within all areas within the MCD Team.

-Laying the commercial foundations for requirements to pass through timely and effectively, meeting both Army Commercial and Stakeholder needs.
-Generating ideas for securing better value for money in meeting Army requirements through support to requirement setting and development of commercial strategies.
-Define, procure and contract manage contracts.

-Supporting the implementation of Commercial Awareness training to maximise and sustain improved commercial awareness across the Programmes Directorate.
– Support early industry engagement to help inform procurement options

Desirable:

• CIPS Level 4 or willingness to work towards.

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

• Leadership
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

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

• – SECTION 2: SOURCING
  The Competency Level for this role is: Practitioner
  Supporting documentation: CommercialSkillsandCompetencyFramework_v1_Sep17-O.pdf (sharepoint.com)

As a civil servant working alongside the Army, you will be part of a forward-looking organisation with inclusive workplace policies, excellent career prospects and a job that makes a difference.

 

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

 

Other benefits for Army civil servants include: 

• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
• Highly competitive pension scheme
• Personal and professional development of skills
• Alternative working patterns for many roles
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
• Enhanced Parental and adoption leave
• 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities

 

Learning and Development

We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role.

 

A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career. Most of the training will be ‘on-the-job’, with the remaining ‘off-the-job’ training delivered by an external training provider. This means minimal disruption to your work alongside a big developmental opportunity.

 

Professional qualifications which can be achieved through an apprenticeship range from Level 2 (equivalent to 5 GCSEs/ broadly equivalent to Scottish National 5s(N5s)), Level 3 (equivalent to 2 A Levels//broadly equivalent to Scottish Higher/Advanced Higher (H/AH)), and Levels 4 -7, which can give you a foundation degree, a full bachelor’s degree, or a master’s degree. They normally last between 12 months – 3 years, depending on the level of the apprenticeship.

Anyone can undertake an Apprenticeship and everyone, regardless of age, can benefit from developing their skills in an accredited way.

Successful candidates can discuss their development options with their manager when in post.

Discover my benefits– outlines the range of benefits available to MOD Civil Servants.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

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 by 31st December 2022. 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.

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

Please note, expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

 

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/

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.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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

Job contact :

• Name : Sarah Hammond
• Email : sarah.hammond953@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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