Senior Commercial Finance Manager in Blackpool

Location: Blackpool; Leeds; Manchester; Newcastle upon Tyne; Sheffield; Glasgow

Salary: 58,961 - 73,743 per year

Employment: Full time

Category: Finance Manager

Posted: 2026-11-04

Valid to: 2026-11-17

Employer: Department for Work and Pensions

Job summary

We are delighted to share that we are now hiring for a Senior Commercial Finance Manager to join us in Commercial Finance at Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The Commercial Finance team is a small team with a broad reach, operating across critical commercial and procurement categories and projects, providing colleagues with financial guidance and support, before and during the life of critical commercial contracts.

As a team we’re responsible for providing financial support to major procurements projects and post contract award support, which includes Open Book analysis, supplier viability analysis, payment modelling, and financial Strategy development. The position of Senior Commercial Financial Manager will primarily focus on supporting financial negotiating and assessing financial viability of major contractors, supporting the Health workstreams within the Commercial Finance team.

Job description

The Commercial Finance team is a small team with a wide reach, working across the DWP Health Commercial Category, to support our commercial colleagues on sourcing activity and to provide financial support during the in-life management of contracts. The team supports over 3bn of public sector tenders. We support our customers designing payment methodology for procurement activity, playing a key role in procurement dialogue and negotiations, and providing financial support when monitoring and assessing the financial health of our suppliers during procurement, implementation and live running to ensure we bring out the best value for money in our programmes.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Commercial Finance Manager within the Commercial Directorate. The role will be to support:

• Commercial finance engagement on major program procurements (ranging from hundreds of millions to billions in contractual value)
• Manage multiple relationships across DWP, in particular, with key senior stakeholders within Finance, Commercial and Policy communities to demonstrate a clear understanding of commercial finance strategic direction
• Act as a trusted partner to commercial teams as they manage supplier on commercial agreements.

Career Development & Learning

Colleagues have joined us from a variety of backgrounds, sectors and specialisms; they enjoy the exposure and stretch opportunity this position provides. Your learning, development and career growth journey doesn’t end when you join DWP. It’s just getting started. Everyone in DWP gets a guaranteed 5-days learning per year when they want to expand their accounting skills, and the reality is you’ll have access to as much learning as you want. DWP Finance has a significant remit to implement the Government’s welfare and economic growth so there is lots of opportunity to progress. We have a highly supportive and collaborative finance and commercial community here – you’ll be able to tap into that expertise through coaching and mentoring programmes and the collaborative nature of your work.

Person specification

This post is challenging. It will require pro-active and innovative thinking, with excellent communication skills and an outgoing and enthusiastic approach to financial challenges. The roles and responsibilities for this position include, but are not restricted to:

• Leading a small team of accountants providing advice to the Head of Commercial Finance, on the safe delivery of bn’s worth of contracted services.
• Standardising the approach to commercial finance modelling activities across DWP’s major programmes including leading and managing financial analysis and cost intelligence projects across high-value procurement activities together with assessing supplier financial viability.
• Providing specialist advice and guidance to senior stakeholder and the wider organisation- including payment models, investment, make or buy decisions, ‘should cost’, financial due diligence and contractual terms.
• Leading and designing financial analysis during tender rounds and in-life contract management, including building a new team to roll out open-book contract management.
• Working with operational colleagues to design robust and fair payment mechanisms to maximise successful outcomes, whilst managing risk and achieve value for money for the taxpayer.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

The application process will involve uploading a CV and personal statement. To be successful, you must demonstrate your experience matching ALL the Essential Skills listed below.

What do we need to see from you?

• Strong leadership skills and experience of leading and developing individuals and teams effectively in delivery of complex procurement projects and programs across a diverse portfolio.
• Demonstrate previous experience of working collaboratively across a range of stakeholders at all levels, using appropriate communication and influencing skills, with the confidence to challenge and manage stakeholder expectations.
• Data analysis, creating bespoke analysis and comfortable going beyond the numbers to deliver a compelling narrative in a project related environment.
• Experience with Financial modelling, the ability to scope and commission the modelling team to develop complex models to provide expert advice and insight.
• Experience in developing new strategy and propositions to maximise commercial opportunities.
• Strong Excel skills, including the ability to analyse data, use formulas, and present information clearly.
• Confident in creating clear, engaging presentations using PowerPoint, tailored to different audiences.

Qualifications

This role is open to CCAB / CIMA qualified accountants or part-qualified accountants who are still studying. You must hold a full chartered level qualification, or be studying for a professional qualification, awarded by a UK-recognised accountancy body: CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Memberships

You must hold a full chartered level professional qualification awarded by a UK-recognised accountancy body: CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland. Your membership of one of these institutes must be up to date and live on the day you submit your application.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 58,961, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 17,081 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Our team loves the ability to balance their life and their work, with flexible hours, flex-friendly, hybrid working (some time in the office, some time at home) and lots more. Flexi-time policy means that at those times when you might need to work longer to get the job done, you build up flexi-credits that you can use to start later or finish earlier or take extra days off. Our teams are friendly and supportive – the work we do is important, but your life, health and happiness come first.

In return for your skills, we offer salary range of 58,961- 73,743 p.a. (National based locations), an attractive civil service pension with employer contributions of over 27% into a defined benefit pension scheme and a generous leave package of 30 Days, rising over time. We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance.

Location

You’ll join us in one of our brilliant DWP hub locations of Blackpool, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester or Sheffield. Applicants should apply for suitable posts where they can travel to and from their home office location daily within a reasonable time.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.