Deputy Director, Commercial Assurance in London

Department: Cabinet Office - Strategy, Assurance and Standards

Job title: Deputy Director, Commercial Assurance

Location: London, Glasgow, York, Norwich

Salary: £106,000 - £131,000. GCO Pension, GCO Terms. Up to 20% performance-related-pay available on accreditation.

Sitting within the Cabinet Office - Strategy, Assurance and Standards directorate, this role provides an unparalleled pan-government mandate spanning all Central Government Departments and Arms-Length Bodies, directly influencing a total spend of £300 billion annually.

This is a pivotal moment to join us. You will lead the team through a period of significant change, implementing the Procurement Act 2023 and embedding our new 'RESET' control framework. This is your opportunity to drive a cultural shift, moving the function away from isolated, reactive compliance checks to acting as a proactive "critical friend" and strategic enabler early in the commercial lifecycle.

You will lead a high-performing team of Grade 6 commercial specialists. Working alongside HM Treasury, the Cabinet Office, and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority in multi-disciplinary teams, you will provide integrated, authoritative commercial advice directly to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and other senior ministers on high-profile spending decisions.

The Deputy Director for Commercial Assurance is a high-profile SCS1 / Commercial Specialist role with a pan-government mandate to safeguard and optimise public expenditure.

• Team Leadership: You will directly lead, manage, and develop a team of approximately 8 FTE, all operating at Grade 6 level. You will embed new ways of working under the RESET framework and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Key Stakeholders: You will regularly interface with high-level stakeholders, including Permanent Secretaries, Ministers, HM Treasury officials, Departmental Commercial Directors, and colleagues across NISTA and other Cabinet Office functions.
• Core Responsibilities: You will oversee the reformed Commercial Spend Control regime, reviewing 100–150 of the government's most complex, high-value, and novel transactions annually. You will act as a key gatekeeper for the Government Major Projects Portfolio and serve as the Cabinet Office commercial expert on critical cross-government governance forums, such as Treasury Approval Panels and Major Projects Review Groups.
• Systemic Improvement: By utilising data gathered from assurance and compliance activities, you will identify systemic delivery weaknesses across departments, issuing guidance to drive proactive capability growth across government.

Person specification

• Provide authoritative, senior-level commercial assurance and advice to HMT, NISTA, and Ministers on complex, novel, and contentious transactions.
• Lead the transition to the 'RESET' spend control framework, shifting the organisational culture from "process controller" to "strategic enabler".
• Drive alignment and integration across the 9 other Government Functions, promoting functional commercial leadership and standards.
• Collaborate with Cabinet Office and HMT colleagues to lead ad-hoc multi-disciplinary teams (including analysts and digital advisors) to deliver effective programme outcomes.
• Develop and manage strong, collaborative working relationships with Commercial Directors across all Central Government Departments.
• Identify systemic capability and process weaknesses across government and issue proactive guidance to address them.
• Actively manage the Commercial Assurance team, steering their professional development and ensuring business plan objectives are met.
• Be amongst the most senior members of the Government Commercial Function and play a role in the broader commercial reform programme led by the Government Chief Commercial Officer;
• Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the SAS and across government.

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Strong risk mindset with deep knowledge of policy, controls, and assurance regimes. Uses audit/assurance insights (e.g., NAO, GIAA) to assess inherent/residual risks and test risk appetite effectively.
• Ability to make robust, evidence-based decisions regarding statutory compliance investigations and spending approvals across central government departments.
• Outstanding commercial expertise on complex transactions, supported by deep lifecycle knowledge of PCR2015 and Procurement Act 2023 to enable strategic shift.
• Ability to influence and build credibility with Senior Responsible Officers, Accounting Officers, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Functional leads and senior HMT officials, providing constructive challenge on spending decisions.
• Proven leadership to manage a high performing team (including a team of G6 specialists), driving systemic improvement across government by translating assurance data into proactive guidance.
• This role requires a deep understanding of the HMG functional standards, commercial lifecycle, functional reference models, data standards, playbooks and HMG guides including the Orange Book.

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