Commercial Deputy Director

480353

£101,000 - £131,000

GCO Pension, GCO Terms. Up to 20% performance-related-pay available on accreditation.

Permanent

UK Export Finance

Commercial

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share

1

Assignment Location: 2 Whitehall Quay, Leeds. LS1 4HR

Working Pattern: As this role is deployed to UKEF, we defer to their local location strategy and operational demands. Office attendance and hybrid working patterns will be aligned with the host department?s specific requirements.

Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

Thank you for taking the time to find out about this exciting role of Commercial Deputy Director at UK Export Finance (UKEF).

UKEF is the UK?s export credit agency and a government department strategically and operationally aligned with the Department for Business Trade. Founded in 1919 as the world?s first export credit agency, we have been innovating since day one and now have over 100 years? track record supporting UK exports. We support UK exports ? from companies large and small ? helping to create economic growth and support jobs across the UK.

The UKEF Commercial Function was launched on 31st July 2023, with a clear mandate to develop and execute a strong commercial strategy to support UKEF achieve ambitions set out in the Business Plan. There have been significant early successes, and the commercial function already performs to a high standard.

This role offers a fantastic opportunity for a commercial professional to build on this early success and lead our function and deliver commercial excellence for UKEF and Government Commercial Function.

This role will report into the Director for Corporate Services and be a member of the senior leadership team for that directorate.

Operating as a commercial entity at the heart of government, UKEF plays a critical role in supporting UK exports. This is a unique opportunity for a commercial leader to manage a high-performing team of 13 commercial experts while remaining "hands-on" in a fast-paced, small-department environment.

The successful candidate will provide strategic oversight across the entire commercial lifecycle, ensuring that our procurement activities not only meet rigorous government standards but also deliver exceptional value for money and commercial impact.

As the lead for the commercial function, your remit will cover:

• Strategic Sourcing: You will lead the development of robust sourcing strategies and oversee the procurement of complex contracts. You will ensure that UKEF?s requirements are met through innovative market engagement and efficient procurement routes.
• Policy, Performance, and Governance: You will champion UKEF commercial policy. This includes maintaining adherence to Government regulations and best practices, while managing the internal governance processes that keep our operations transparent and compliant.
• Contract Management: Beyond the initial award, you will drive effective contract management to maximise supplier performance. You will be responsible for ensuring that all commercial outcomes are delivered throughout the life of the contract.

This is a hands-on role; requirements and contracts span a number of categories including Corporate Services, Professional Services, Technology. You will develop effective relationships with stakeholders from across the business.

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.

• Development and delivery of the UKEF Commercial Strategy, vision and mission focussed on commercial outcomes including adding value and creating lasting change.
• Influence Departmental culture through effective commercial input, procurement excellence and effective contract management.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders including executive committee and board.
• Educate, advise, challenge and guide on commercial priorities.
• Ensure sufficient and capable resources are deployed across commercial function and to maintain high staff engagement.
• Lead a diverse team of commercial colleagues, ensuring they have the relevant skills and capability to outcomes, through coaching and mentoring.
• Deliver commercial outcomes measured by stretching functional KPIs.
• Manage Risk appropriately to get the correct outcomes for UKEF and Government.
• Responsibility for adherence to public procurement regulations, Government policy and best practice as well as maintenance of the UKEF commercial policy.
• Demonstrates the ability to act as an inspiring leader and a role model for the commercial team, wider Department and across Civil Service. Builds trust as a leader through demonstrating personal credibility and relationship skills.
• Drives and supports a culture that encourages a focus on performance and priorities.
• Demonstrates the ability to manage trade-offs and contradictions across commercial, policy, delivery and operations.
• Having a strong understanding of how to create value for money for all commercial deals.
• Be amongst the most senior members of the Government Commercial Function and play a role in the broader commercial reform programme led by the Government Chief Commercial Officer;
• Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the UKEF and across government.

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

• Expertly identifies and manages departmental commercial risks. Experienced at taking measured risks to innovate and improve service delivery, demonstrating the agility to adapt commercial approaches for better outcomes.
• Leverages complex data analysis and market intelligence to provide strategic insights, driving evidence-based decision-making at the highest levels to optimise commercial performance and organisational impact.
• Possesses expertise across full commercial lifecycle. Proven ability to balance complex commercial trade-offs & contradictions across commercial, policy, delivery & operations. Ensures all commercial deals deliver value for money.
• Exhibits exceptional resilience and composure under pressure, consistently delivering high-impact results within complex environments, while maintaining team focus and successful outcomes.
• Builds a strong network of collaborative relationships across a range of stakeholders. Demonstrates an understanding of supplier motivations and behaviours to forge strategic partnerships to achieve organisational objectives.
• An inspiring leader and role model, building trust through personal credibility. Experienced at driving a high-performance culture, empowering the team to deliver on strategic priorities with excellence.

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.

Kindly refer to the following link for the GCF Rewards and benefits page.

https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gcf-benefits/

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

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 : Ashlene Doherty
• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk