Position: Commercial Manager
Band: 4
Salary: £43,575 - £48,438
Location: Liverpool/Norwich/Newport/Birmingham
Term: Permanent/Fixed Term
Number of posts: 7
Hours: Full Time/Compressed/Part Time
Closing Date: 07/10/14
Do you want to progress your career in the UK’s largest public sector procurement organisation? If so, you will have the chance to create market leading commercial agreements that help shape how common goods and services are bought across the public sector.
The Role
Reporting to a Commercial Category Lead, the Commercial Manager is a key part of the Category team and has responsibility for ensuring the effective day to day management of commercial agreements. This demands a significant level of customer and supplier relationship management, which are integral parts of the role.
The 7 posts available are situated in different subcategories, please see below:
Facilities Management (Permanent)
Supporting the management of existing, and the creation of new, innovative Facilities Management commercial agreements where you will seek out ways to make efficiencies and streamline processes in collaboration with others within your direct team and the wider FM & Estates categories. The role will give you the chance to work with key priority sectors including, but not limited to, health and defence, and manage a broad range of activities throughout the category management lifecycle, such as supplier relationship management, providing support to customers, robust risk/issue management, financial management and marketing.
Construction Works and Associated Services (Fixed term until October 2025)
The Construction Works and Associated Services (CWAS) framework supports construction projects and programmes of national UK significance whilst assisting public sector clients to deliver added value. It is a Gold Standard framework that is embedded with best practices from the Construction Playbook to provide the best construction solutions for our customers. We have an extremely supportive team which includes highly-experienced construction, procurement and category management professionals.
Financial Services - Grants (Permanent)
The role is within the Grants subcategory within the Payment Services Team, responsible for the development, delivery and procurement of payments services to public sector customers. You will support the Commercial Lead in the disbursement of grants and other funds, driving value for money to those most in need and for politically sensitive requirements through the Grants commercial agreements.
Financial Services - Insurance (Permanent)
The role is within the Insurance Services Team and is primarily responsible for the development, delivery and procurement of CCS Insurance Services to public sector customers whilst supporting knowledge sharing across financial services categories.
The role holder will work with a range of senior stakeholders from across the public sector and industry to identify, shape and deliver innovation and value, through CCS products and services, and their personal commercial excellence.
Technology (Permanent) IT solutions and services are critical to delivering quality and value for money public services, and the technology category helps customers understand technology trends, best procurement practice, and helps drive value from the technology market through our leading agreements and services.
Please state whether you have a preference on subcategory within your personal statement.
Commercial Directorate overview
Commercial is the largest directorate in CCS and is responsible for the design, development, implementation and management of our commercial agreements, which are used by our customers across the public sector. We have delivered value to the public sector and helped our customers spend more than £34 billion through the agreements we create and enjoy more than £3.5 billion in commercial benefits annually through our agreements.
Category management sits at the heart of CCS. We use our in-depth knowledge and expertise of public sector suppliers, to create market and category strategies. These strategies are used within CCS to create market leading commercial agreements that help shape how common goods and services are bought across the public sector. Our skills are also used in carrying out commercial policy, development of new products and services and supplier relationship management.
Team Summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join one of our fifteen teams across our three categories, all of which manages over £34bn of Public Sector spending. We are a supportive team of highly-experienced procurement and category management professionals.
Our Categories:
Corporate Solutions - Helping the Public Sector with everything from management consultancy and legal advice, to temporary and permanent recruitment, apprenticeship training, learning and development, interpreting and translation services, contact centre solutions and more
Estates - Our wide range of commercial agreements can help the public sector to buy everything they need to build a better, greener and more sustainable future. Our industry experts manage all estates related needs cost effectively, efficiently and compliantly, while meeting government policies and targets: from social value to carbon net zero.
Technology - We help public sector customers buy and make the best use of technology in their organisations. We work closely with customers and suppliers to make sure we keep up with market developments, customer needs and enable digital transformation.
We support government projects and programmes of national UK significance - helping the public sector to build back better.
Our Commercial Team is transforming to become even more flexible. Candidates should be aware that there will be opportunities to flex into other category areas as required, either to meet business needs and/or for staff development.
Key Accountabilities:

• Direct on the end to end category management of our Commercial Agreements
• Lead on supplier relationship management, including the collection of supplier and customer management information, financial reporting, updating and assessing multiple data sources to identify trends and spending behaviours
• Work in collaboration with suppliers to identify and drive on customer focused initiatives, networks and forums that will drive better buying behaviours and value across the public sector
• Proactively counsel on customer relationship management activities that build strong relationships with key customers, including the management of customer partnerships where applicable, to comprehend their business needs and intent to define how and where the CCS portfolio may support their business
• Effectively lead the risk and issue management processes for your agreement, ensuring mitigation and escalation are implemented as appropriately
• Act as a source of knowledge and advice for our customers in the relevant category, influencing their buying behaviours and aiding and adding value to their call-off activities and commercial strategies where required
• Assisting the Category Lead in updating and developing the category strategy and heading on the presentation of this to key stakeholders as necessary
• Lead of marketing and communication activities for your commercial agreement
• Helping with the development of other team members, ensuring resilience in the team either directly or through a matrix managed style approach
• Identifying and providing recommendations for improvement of processes and implementing solutions to the benefit of CCS and the customer
• Maintaining and evaluating data from a variety of digital systems, for which full training will be provided, to identify opportunities and initiatives that could deliver value
• Communicating effectively to a variety of stakeholders of differing levels of seniority, using a variety of styles and methods that match the audience.
• Work across the category in a collaborative manner and on occasions direct and/or represent the commercial team on agreed corporate initiatives.
• Aiding, and at times heading, on the development of the commercial strategy and procurement of future commercial agreements
• Some travel will be required to customer and supplier premises and other CCS offices across the United Kingdom

Essential Criteria (to be assessed on application):

• Experience of category/commercial agreement management, with a track record of directing performance, developing and maintaining robust category strategies/plans and delivering excellent customer satisfaction / value for money
• Demonstrate strong commercial acumen with the ability to assess data and make informed commercial decisions in an often complex commercial environment
• Proven experience leading on supplier and customer relationship management.
• Demonstrable experience of working proactively and collaboratively to motivate, influence and persuade internal and external stakeholders of varying seniority, offering advice, encouragement and driving value for money whilst developing customer commercial capabilities.
• Possess the knowledge to problem solve and look for opportunities to find new ways of overcoming difficulties, leading on efficiencies that ensures the category/organisation operates with maximum effectiveness

Success Profiles(to be assessed at interview):
Experience
Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at pace
• Managing a quality service

Technical

• Contract and stakeholder management

(A link to the Civil Service Success Profiles Framework is provided below)
Success Profiles Framework
What we will offer you, here are some of the benefits you can expect:

• Competitive salary
• Generous pension scheme
• A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus
• Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location
• Flexi time scheme (available for B1-B6)
• Minimum 25 days annual leave to a maximum service related 30 days excluding bank holidays

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Working flexibly, delivering outcomes
CCS is a flexible business with a smarter working model where our colleagues benefit from a mix of home and office working. Successful candidates are expected to work from one of the office locations listed. Our current office attendance approach requires a minimum of 26 days per quarter (approx 2 days per week, which may be subject to change) in CCS office locations or off site meetings with suppliers, customers, partners, networking / industry events. This is pro rata for those who work part time. Our smarter working principles mean that our people have the advantage of both office and offsite based collaboration and learning, as well as working from home. This way of working allows us to honour our commitment to being a responsible business, offer flexibility and better work life balance as well as ensuring we deliver our business with confidence and in accordance with our CCS values.
Selection Process
Candidates who are successful at sift will be contacted as soon as possible following the closing date and advised of the interview process in more detail. The sift and interviews dates and times are to be confirmed. (Subject to change)
To find out more about our recruitment process please click
Please note: Applicants can make use of artificial intelligence but the information presented at application must be factual.
A reserve list may be held for up to 6 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitably similar vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview. Should you be placed on a reserve list and want to be removed please contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk.
Complaints procedure
Our recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles details of which can be found at
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk in the first instance.
If you remain unsatisfied with the response you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months
Pay: £43,575.00-£48,438.00 per year
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Norwich