Commercial Category Manager - Commercial Lead

Are you an experienced Commercial professional looking to develop your career?

Do you enjoy networking and building strong, effective stakeholder relationships?

Do you thrive on guiding and developing capability in others?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

We have 2 fantastic opportunities for a Commercial Lead to join our dedicated Commercial Directorate within the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Both roles will be as Category Managers in multi-faceted roles where you will work with numerous stakeholders, providing outstanding exposure to learn a wide range of skills, and experience fresh opportunities.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the Kings birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - Department for Transport Careers

The Category Manager leads a team of commercial professionals, providing expert advice to senior stakeholders. Roles sit within either Data Contracts and Professional Services or Commercial Compliance and Capability, covering areas such as procurement, contract management, policy development, and mapping capability. The role ensures compliance with DVLA policies and national regulations while managing the full commercial lifecycle. Strong stakeholder engagement with internal teams, suppliers, and public bodies is essential, alongside contributing to wider organisational objectives.

Your responsibilities will include, but arent limited to:

• Trusted for the development of the commercial category expertise, acting as escalation point for commercial queries, and is able to put technical considerations in plain language for stakeholders.
• Timely delivery of business requirements balancing compliance with the Agencys commercial and legal obligations, applying commercial principles to deliver of optimum outcomes. Resolves legal issues in collaboration with experts.
• To identify and mitigate commercial risk, providing practical advice and strategic direction.
• To proactively manage and support a team through understanding own and teams strengths. To identify skill gaps and work to build the teams capability in line with the standards applied by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply and wider Government initiatives.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile.Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

We are looking for an experienced Commercial professional with outstanding stakeholder engagement and relationship building skills, which allow you to influence and challenge across all levels. You must be a confident communicator and be comfortable in challenging others and providing leadership for your stakeholders and team.

You will enjoy working with a structured approach, are keen to learn, develop and work hard to deliver results in a fast-paced working environment.

The successful candidate must be hold Level 6 Advanced Diploma in Procurement and Supply, or equivalent (or committed to work towards within 3 years)

Required Experience

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Experience of working in a commercial environment.
• Building and maintaining strong working relationships with senior stakeholders, demonstrating how you influence and challenge at all levels.
• Leading and enhancing team capability while promoting a culture focused on continuous improvement
• Ability to work at pace, delivering against multiple priorities and meeting deadlines. Providing advice and robust recommendations to a diverse range of colleagues.

Additional Information

We welcome applications from candidates who can speak Welsh and English. Welsh language skills could be useful in this role, but it is not an assessment criterion, so it wont put you at any disadvantage during recruitment if you arent a Welsh speaker. Please note that the application and assessment process will be held in English.

Working Hours, Office Attendance and Travel Requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Infrequent, occasional travel to other offices may be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.