Commercial Business Manager - Commercial Governance & Policy Category

The Insolvency Service is a leading government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability network group, Employee Assistance, Representatives, FACES Network Group, LGBT+, Mind Matters, Part Time Workers, The Shed - Mens Network Group and Womens Network Group.

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, through our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities.

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career!

We are looking for an individual with Commercial experience and a desire to develop a career in the Commercial function. You will drive best Commercial practise across the organisation, and help shape how we do business as a Function to deliver our portfolio of activities. This role provides a unique opportunity to see across the full breadth of what we do, and add value through robust planning, data analysis and governance.

The Insolvency Service (INSS) part of the Department for Business and Trade - is critical to the proper functioning of markets and the economy in general. We are a government agency that helps to deliver economic confidence by supporting those in financial distress, tackling financial wrongdoing and maximizing returns to creditors. We maintain the standards that help make Britain one of the best places in the world to do business.

The Commercial Function is small c.25 people but we punch above our weight in terms of functional excellence and delivery. The team were Team of the Year finalists at the GCF Awards, and consistently exceed targets. Our CCIAF scores match or surpass those of large departments.

The Commercial team sits in the Finance & Commercial Directorate, reporting to the Head of Commercial and the Finance & Commercial Director.

Within the Commercial Governance and Policy Category, we are responsible for developing, implementing and managing Commercial policies and processes to ensure functional compliance and excellence in delivery. The team manages our e-sourcing system, Procure to pay processes, Commercial administrative functions and reporting (both internally and externally).

A key aspect of the role is leading the interface between the team and the wider Business via our Commercial Front Door and the demand planning process. We develop the pipeline of work (BAU and Projects) and track delivery and quality against it, providing intelligence and insights for the team and our wider stakeholder including our Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Grade 7 Head of Commercial Governance and Policy you will be responsible for leading on the development and future maintenance of our Commercial Business Management function, owning the Commercial Front Door, Commercial Pipeline and Capacity Planning activities. You will develop methods to capture and use data across the Function in an efficient and repeatable way including key risks and issues. The role will also take responsibility for managing our reporting requirements, our internal commercial approvals board, Commercial risk register and communicating/escalating risks accordingly.

The role is key within the Agency to providing relevant and efficient Commercial support for stakeholders, driving Commercial best practice throughout the Agency and creating an environment and processes to allow innovation in sourcing, driving Value for Money.

In this role, youll be responsible for the following key areas:

• Commercial Business Management Developing the Commercial Front Door process, continuously improving it to meet the changing needs of the agency. This is the primary point of contact for all new requests, triaging and liaising with the business to support quality requirements and completion of relevant Governance up-stream to enable efficient sourcing by Commercial Business Partners. The post holder shall be responsible for identification and sourcing training for stakeholders based on trends identified through this process
• Commercial Pipeline Development and Management (demand planning) Maintaining an up to date Commercial Pipeline within our e-Sourcing system, using Front Door data and information from wider Agency planning forums. Assigning work to the relevant Category team and producing summary information for stakeholders
• Capacity Planning Developing the Capacity model for the Commercial Team, mapping the Pipeline into the model and monitoring and prioritising Commercial activity against the Capacity model
• leading on commercial reporting requirements and finding ways to develop them, including efficiencies for producing reports and enabling self service (utilisation of Power-Bi as an example)
• managing (as Secretariat) the Commercial Approvals Board (CAB), a requirement to be used for all 2m plus commercial activity
• meeting compliance requirements across the Agency, DBT, Cabinet Office, GDS and HMT and demonstrating adherence to Government Commercial Operating Standards and GCF People Standards
• Risk and Opportunity Management develop and maintain commercial risk / opportunities log across the service producing reports where required
• support with undertaking Commercial Assurance (where required) to ensure work is being delivered across operational categories in line with policy and processes
• supporting the Communication of new / changed requirements to the wider Commercial team and sharing best practice
• support development of, review and maintenance of Commercial policy and process including the development of a Statement of Requirement Policy and production of standard operating procedures (SOP) to drive consistency across the teams
• developing and sustaining relationships with internal stakeholders including the Agency ELT and external stakeholders including, DBT, Cabinet Office, GDS and GCA
• line management of an EO

The ideal candidate will :

• be a confident and experienced commercial professional with proven category management experience, who is flexible and adaptable, able to work autonomously or as part of a team. A strong communicator, able to challenge stakeholders and influence decisions up to Director level.
• be a conscientious professional, astute and aware of the context of their work, particularly around risks and opportunities.
• have experience in applying public sector procurement rules, governance and controls including Digital spend controls (eg. Cabinet Office, GDS, HMT);
• have experience in working with multi-functional teams, providing commercial expertise to develop and deliver sourcing and procurement strategies, evaluation plans and fit for purpose contracts;
• have a strong, demonstrable recent working knowledge of Public Sector Frameworks particularly Government Commercial Agency, Government procurement processes and procedures, governance and compliance requirements and operating standards.
• have the ability to identify and drive efficiencies (including savings) and delivering against performance targets;
• be someone who is willing to share experiences and knowledge with colleagues, to the benefit of the wider commercial team and the agency as a whole.
• be keen to make a difference to the agency. Our expertise and advice directly shape the strategy and operating models of the Insolvency Service.

Essential Criteria:

• experience of Business Management, including ability to capture data, manipulate and analyse with reports produced. This needs to be actioned efficiently.
• excellent stakeholder management skills;
• excellent Microsoft Power BI or Excel skills for management and reporting of Commercial data

Desirable Criteria:

• CIPS qualified (IACCM or specialist degree may be considered as an alternative), or working towards the qualification is desirable but not essential

Please note: This vacancy is open to external candidates nationwide; however, roles in Croydon and Stratford are restricted to internal applicants only.