Commercial Practitioner

IMPORTANT - This vacancy is using the Civil Service Numerical and Verbal tests. The deadline for completing the tests is the same as the vacancy closing date. Please ensure you complete the tests with sufficient time to complete the written application.

The Department for Education is responsible for education and childrens services in England. We work to achieve a highly educated society in which opportunity is equal for children and young people, no matter what their background or family circumstances.

Our responsibilities:

• Teaching and learning for children in the early years and in primary schools
• Teaching and learning for young people under the age of 19 years in secondary schools and in further education
• Supporting professionals who work with children and young people
• Helping disadvantaged children and young people to achieve more
• Making sure that local services protect and support children.

Approximately 23.5bn of the Departments annual expenditure is managed through commercial arrangements (grants and contracted third party spend including capital spend and schools funding). We deal with a wide and diverse range of external suppliers and grant recipients across the private/public sectors and Voluntary & Charitable Sector (VCS).

Do you thrive on a challenge? Do you have what it takes to secure value for money? Do you like working with others to deliver great outcomes? Are you looking for a role where you can make a real difference? If so, our Commercial Practitioner roles are for you.

The Commercial Practitioner roles offer an excellent opportunity for candidates with experience in procurement and buying, as well as those looking to develop their category management expertise. The positions enable individuals to build skills across the full end-to-end procurement process and are also suited to candidates who have a proven track record of creating and delivering commercial value. These roles provide a strong foundation for developing a career in Commercial within the Department for Education.

We have a range of exciting opportunities available across the function, covering a broad spectrum of commercial activity. Our work includes delivering high-impact projects such as breakfast clubs and school-based nurseries, developing procurement strategies, and conducting market appraisals across key technology categories including hardware, AI, and EdTech.

These roles play a vital part in helping schools make efficient, value-driven purchasing decisions. You will also collaborate with partners in the Impact Economy to unlock additional value, while contributing to the development of commercial strategies in markets that are critical to delivering the Departments policy priorities.

This is a unique opportunity to work on innovative, high-profile initiatives while shaping the future of commercial strategy across the education sector.

This position will be based within the Departments Commercial function, where we have a set of ambitious and exciting commercial challenges:

We are leading the delivery of commercial reform both within the Department and across the schools sector.

We are transforming the way in which we deliver a commercial service within the Department and its Executive Agencies. We are moving towards more direct leadership and delivery of the Departments most complex and strategic commercial projects through the implementation of end-to-end Category Management. This will deliver improved commercial outcomes, drive value for money, embed a stronger commercial focus, reduce commercial risk and improve commercial capability across the Department.

We are one of the best commercial functions in government and as such we need to recruit the best people. The commercial function operates across 8 portfolios with responsibility for a broad spectrum of activity spanning policy development and operational delivery.

As a Commercial Practitioner, you will be delivering the best possible commercial outcomes for children, young people, and the education system. The post holder will be responsible for elements of the end-to-end aspects of the procurement process from market engagement and sourcing through to contract management. With market leading guidance, a collaborative team culture and development opportunities, you will have real opportunities to develop and influence DFE commercial projects, some which are valued at hundreds of millions of pounds. This is a great time to join us to help shape our future success.

The DfE commercial function saved 285 million of taxpayers money in the last financial year and worked on a number of high priority projects such as School Breakfast clubs and School-Based Nurseries. This role gives you the chance to see your efforts come to life, making headlines and a real difference to individuals and to society.

Our flexible people model:

To meet the needs of DfE, our commercial professionals are expected to be able to work across the commercial lifecycle.

To support your development, there will be a clear, consistent, and transparent process for gaining placements and development moves across the function.

If the need arises, you may be required to work on priority procurement projects.

If you are experienced in using your procurement skills to deliver value for money and passionate about making a difference for children, young people, and learners we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Key elements of the end-to-end commercial lifecycle, which could include pre-market engagement, sourcing and contract award.
• Managing a range of commercial projects individually and as part of a commercial project team.
• Proactively lead, support and challenge stakeholders throughout the commercial life cycle.
• Maintaining a category pipeline to allow commercial support to start in good time to ensure a full range of commercial options can be considered.
• Understand the supply market, category, and business context to inform and deliver the commercial strategy.
• Championing commercial capability throughout the Department and across wider stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of category management.
• Contributing to the development of the category savings plan and ensuring savings are realised and tracked.
• Using an e-procurement system to effectively manage and track procurement and end-to-end category management activity.
• Complying fully with public procurement law, DFE commercial procedures, policy, and assurance processes.
• Appraise the market to help develop requirements, inform sourcing strategy to drive strong competition and help secure best value for money.

Essential Criteria:

• Experience in a procurement, commercial or buying role, and/or of managing suppliers, contracts and stakeholders to deliver commercial value.
• Evidence of leading and securing value for money.
• Experience of analysing complex information to make informed decisions.
• Evidence of influencing key stakeholders towards commercial solutions.
• Evidence of managing projects to deliver successful outcomes and cost effectiveness.
• Evidence of working flexibly across teams and working with a wide range of stakeholders to support competing priorities and demonstrating adaptability.
• Ability to support change and meet fast paced demand.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of carrying out procurements using a wide range of different routes to market, including utilising Government Frameworks, examples include but not limited to G-Cloud, TePAS, DOS, DSP.
• Experience of managing procurement across the entire commercial lifecycle, including contract and supplier management.
• Experience of the construction industry (for the Education Estates roles only).

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.