Senior Commercial Manager
Government Commercial Function
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 3rd November 2024
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Location
Travel frequency to other MoJ offices in the UK for internal and supplier meetings and site visits anticipated to be occasional (2 – 3 times a month)
This is a full-time post with the requirement of physical presence in the office of 2 -3 days per week combined with hybrid working for the remainder of the week. Reasonable flexible working options will be considered in line with the requirements of the role.
About the job
Job summary
Welcome and thank you for your interest in joining us in our mission to make a positive impact on the national justice system through cutting edge commercial solutions. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a major government department at the heart of our national justice system, employing over 90,000 colleagues. Responsible for the country’s courts (HMCTS), prisons and probation services (HMPPS), we work to protect and enhance the principles of justice. Never has there been a more exciting time to join us. As one of the most heavily outsourced departments in Whitehall, MoJ is at the heart of the Government’s recent manifesto commitments.
The Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) in MoJ employs c550 professionals, manages over 1800 active contracts and spends c£6bn a year with third party suppliers. It provides commercial, procurement and contract management activities across a wide range of categories, ensuring value for money agreements are in place for the wider MoJ to source goods and services. Together the leadership has set a vision for CCMD ‘to be the Government’s best commercial team enabling world class justice’.
Within the Rehabilitation in Custody division, we are focused on supporting the department to deliver better outcomes, reduce reoffending and deliver value for money. I joined CCMD a year ago and have set a clear mission for my division ‘To reduce re-offending through commercial leadership, collaboration and innovation’. This mission was developed through a joint session with my divisional teams and supports the CCMD vision. I am personally motivated by delivering positive social outcomes at a national scale whilst challenging established ways of working to drive commercial innovation.
Job description
The Prisoner Education Services team is an integral part of the Rehabilitation in Custody division and delivers contracts to support the education, skills and vocational training of prisoners in custody. You will line manage a small team (2- 5 staff) to lead the category development and contract management activities of the next generation of Prisoner Education contracts. These are 11 regionally lotted contracts, up to 7-year duration, total value ca. £1.5 billion across 103 prisons in the English HMPPS estate. These are the flagship contracts of the new Prisoner Education Service, developed to meet the Prison White Paper and MoJ strategic objective of Reducing Reoffending. The role will also contribute to the key areas of contract mobilisation & strategic post contract management.
Following the conclusion of the prisoner education contract mobilisation, the role will pivot into creating education services category strategies and plans, working with the supply market to create innovative education service delivery models & piloting new commercial options. This work will pave the way for the next generation of Prisoner Education Services commercial strategy and the re-procurement to commence over the next few years.
You will work with Senior Business Owners and a wide variety of stakeholders in cross-functional teams, including the existing contracts management team, to deliver our aspirations.
Locations
The successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. When selecting your location listed in this job advert please be aware that this will be your contractual base location with a requirement to spend a minimum of 60% of your working time in this organisational workplace.
Your time spent on official duties at workplace locations other than your contractual office such as supplier, customer or partner locations required to perform your role is included in the 60% attendance.
This requirement will however take into consideration any reasonable adjustments agreed upon appointment for people with a disability, flexibilities agreed for those with specific caring responsibilities, or other similar temporary flexibilities.
Person specification
- Demonstrable skills and experience of developing contract delivery strategies through application of a data driven methodology and working with the supply markets to formulate contract start up plans in order to realise and implement the strategies to drive positive service outcomes.
- Manage the strategic supplier market development activities and maintain a healthy and agile supply market to meet contractual requirements, exit of existing contracts and mobilisation of new contracts.
- Be accountable for the system level commercial delivery of the relevant contracts, including associated processes, to ensure these continue to meet the business requirements and adhere to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and The Procurement Act 2023.
- Deep experience of developing the contractual documentation, working with external legal advisers, for the regionally lotted contracts, including contract awards and variations, and work with the Senior Business Owners to deliver the business case and service outcomes.
- Superior forward planning, time management and organising skills to work on multiple priorities to manage personal outputs and team deliverables, ensuring oversight & monitoring of teams’ work plans.
- Lead, manage, motivate, inspire and develop your team, whilst ensuring alignment with operational delivery and timely progression of new prisoner education services through to contract award and implementation.
- Develop and manage productive relationships with senior stakeholders in HMPPS and other functions to deliver effective commercial and contract management services.
- Ensure adherence to governance, legislative and policy requirements and adopt a robust approach to risk management across the team, including managing formal reports through MoJ’s internal governance routes.
- Drive a quality service and value for money to place it at the heart of the commercial process, together with enabling supplier collaboration to achieve improved outcomes.
- Ideally either MCIPS qualified (or working towards achieving the qualification) or hold a specialist contract management accreditation
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Assertive – Demonstrate an adaptive and assured style that inspires confidence to assert the commercial viewpoint, whilst engaging and challenging stakeholders, to influence positive commercial outcomes
- Manages Complexity – Works efficiently in a fast-paced environment to manage competing priorities across multiple-fronts (stakeholders, workstreams, contracts & projects) to deliver targets whilst working in a public sector commercial setting
- Decisive – Evaluate commercial challenges & recommend decisions swiftly, based on risk-assessed options analysis, using qualitative & quantitative evidence that focuses on delivering best commercial & service outcomes, proposing trade-offs
- Builds Relationships – Builds & manages positive relationships with a wide range of suppliers and challenging stakeholders, in different directorates with conflicting objectives, to successfully assert the commercial perspective
- Coaching Manager – Experience of motivating and managing multi-site team members, with a range of skills and experiences, at different levels of professional development to provide career paths within the portfolio and encourage retention
- Procurement Process – Experience & evidence of developing & implementing contract delivery & mobilisation strategies, processes & plans, end-to end commercial process, timeline, risks, mitigations & deliverables
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.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 22nd November 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 at commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk 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.
Details of schemes available are attached in the advert.
For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the explanation provided in 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 essential criteria for the role which are detailed in the attached Candidate Pack.
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.
IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Lynsey Munro
- Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk