Senior Commercial Officer - Air

The Air Commercial Team is a Front-Line Commercial Branch, part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Commercial Function and Government Commercial Function (GCF), delivering innovative commercial solutions and maximum value for the RAF. Embedded within the Royal Air Force (RAF) operating out of Headquarters Air Command (based at RAF High Wycombe) with regional representation primarily situated at RAF Cosford, RAF Leeming and MOD Lyneham. Air Commercial work as part of a fast-tempo, strategic and progressive Military Headquarters, where the Air Commercial team deliver innovative commercial solutions and maximum value for the RAF.

Air Commercial handles a diverse portfolio of contracts from Space Command, Digital demand, helping aircraft take off and safely land, from trialling warfighting capabilities to training new recruits. The Commercial function collaborates with a wide stakeholder base including suppliers, project managers, finance, technical staff and our military colleagues to procure equipment and services and to manage contracts. Working with frontline commands across MOD, Cabinet Office and Government Departments we ensure our commercial strategies deliver the capabilities required and achieves the best possible Value for Money for Defence.

This role provides a genuine opportunity to make a significant difference to the capability, efficiency and effectiveness of the Royal Air Force and UK Defence. You will be joining a highly capable commercial team as well as being part of a wider network of professionals across MOD and Government. You will be supported to develop knowledge and experience of procurement and commercial processes, including contract management, supplier management and category management and sourcing to ensure our customer needs are met.

The advertised role sits within the Air Commercial, Contract Performance and Management (CP&M) team who manage contract delivery of Air Commercial's major contract portfolio, currently 24 contracts with a combined value of 3.2bn. The successful applicant will work within the CP&M team, however, those on the merit list may secure a role in another Air Commercial team in the future; Define and Procure or Major Projects. Each team covers elements of sourcing and contract management activities; so the successful candidate will need to demonstrate their skills and capability to develop through the commercial lifecycle.

This role is suitable for hybrid working. Job holders may work from home or another MOD site, with regular attendance at your regular duty station as required based on individual, team and business needs.

Air Commercial offers an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of developing best practice in across the commercial lifecycle. You will work alongside military and civilian colleagues as well as engaging collaboratively with contracted service providers. The role is challenging and extremely rewarding with the opportunity to develop core and functional skills and to support Air Commercial's Senior Leadership Team with cross team objectives and broader government initiatives.

CP&M is the focal point of all contract management activity for contracts that are high profile and complex in nature. We offer significant opportunities to work with stakeholders to ensure requirements remain taut and fit for purpose, deliver outputs effectively, control costs and hold suppliers to account.

The successful candidate will line manage a HEO (C2 Grade) and have experience in commercial management, an enthusiastic and proactive approach, excellent communication skills with the ability to brief up and down the civilian, military hierarchy and industry management chain.

Some travel will also be required to undertake site visits and engage with key stakeholders in managing performance and contract delivery. They will be expected to work on cross team initiatives with other parts of Air Commercial to improve overall performance and development of the wider Air Commercial Team.

The right candidate will be self-motivated, commercially astute and enthusiastic. They will develop and drive new initiatives to meet best practice requirements. There are significant opportunities and you will be encouraged to develop yourself as well as the staff you are responsible for.

Air Commercial is committed to increasing professionalism and to applying consistent standards across the function. The successful candidate will hold Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Level 4 Diploma or a commitment to work towards it. On successful completion of the required training and a licensing accreditation, the candidate may be eligible for a Market Skills Allowance.

The post holder must be willing to undertake travel to relevant MOD Locations and other sites or locations on occasion to fulfil these roles. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Part-time or Job-share will only be considered provided full time hours can be covered.

Responsibilities

This job description is a general outline of the position duties and responsibilities and may be amended as the team evolves. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.

• Develop and deliver a high standard of contract management including, but not limited to; contract administration, negotiations, performance management, variations, stakeholder management and contract exit management.
• Develop and maintain robust contract management plans, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, that are proportionate to the scale and complexity of the requirement.
• Undertake deep dives of existing contracts as appropriate, to ensure VfM is realised with savings and benefits optimised.
• Supplier and stakeholder management, provide guidance, challenge service delivery to drive better performance and work collaboratively with stakeholders and suppliers to drive out inefficiencies and promote continuous improvement.
• Challenging key stakeholder direction and decisions where appropriate is a key attribute of this role but always, crucially, by working collaboratively.
• Work closely with the Major Projects and Plan, Define and Procure teams to transfer contracts across to CP&M in an efficient and timely manner.
• Share best practice within the Air Commercial team and the wider commercial function.
• Seek out opportunities to promote and to pro-actively engage with stakeholders to undertake further commercial awareness/upskilling and non-commercial training to support them in their roles.
• Administer internal Management Informations Systems and ensure records and data are up to date and correct and that policy is adopted and applied accordingly.
• Prepare contract management briefs and statistical data for management purposes and ensure management of contract files is compliant with policy.
• Identification, analysis and management of commercial risks working closely with suppliers and contract monitoring teams to mitigate risk; escalating when appropriate.
• Placement of service contracts from 12K to 100M+, working closely with stakeholder and contractors and resolving any contentious or problematic issues.
• Undertake procurement activity from pre-sourcing stage to contract award, including market engagement, pre-qualifying and tender activities, evaluation of bids.
• Build and maintain, appropriate effective working relationships within the Delivery Team, and with internal and external stakeholders including Military and non-Military customers and Defence Suppliers.
• The successful candidate will have Line Management responsibility for at least 1 HEO (C2 Grade) and potential oversight of 1 EO (E1 grade) team members. 2

Essential:

• CIPS level 4 or above or must be willing to complete CIPS Level 4 within 18 months of joining Air Commercial.
• Enthusiasm, proactiveness and a willingness to learn with the ability and confidence to engage.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining effective relationships.
• Public sector commercial experience and or previous experience within a commercial function.
• Strong problem-solving skills, an ability to prioritise tasks along with experience of balancing multiple requirements.
• Experience of understanding the requirement, the marketplace and potential solutions. Can provide advice and is able to challenge where necessary.
• Experience of engaging and working with key stakeholders to develop a clear and agreed view of business requirements and target outcomes.
• Experience of working with pre-existing arrangements either within the Department or across Government that could be exploited to meet the requirement negating the need to set up an alternative sourced arrangement.
• Able to ...