Senior Commercial Officer in London

On behalf of the MOD, we are looking for a Senior Commercial Officer Inside IR35 for a contract until 31st March 2027 working on a Hybrid basis (1 day per week in London office and remaining WFH).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is a central government department with a mission to protect our country and provide the ultimate guarantee of its security and independence, as well as helping to protect its values and interests abroad. The MOD is one of the biggest public procurement organisations in Europe and the single largest customer for UK industry. It currently manages approximately £20 billion of spend on capital investments in equipment and infrastructure every year. Over the next decade the MOD is committed to spending over £190 billion on equipment and support.

The MOD’s customers include both the armed forces and national security agencies, and it has a diverse range of requirements, including military fighting vehicles, education services, nuclear submarines and facilities management. The MOD’s aim is to provide its armed forces with the best capabilities to enable them to protect the UK’s security and advance national interests, both now and in the long term. To do this the MOD has an annual budget of almost £53 billion and a workforce comprising 197,000 people, of which 54,000 are civilians working for the UK MOD.

The work really matters; the MOD offers a range of engaging roles which have a direct impact on the quality of services they provide, in many locations across the UK.

Background: CSM (Corporate Services Modernisation) is a multi‑year transformation initiative, cementing MoD’s ambition and providing its response to the Government Shared Services Strategy. It is a digitally enabled Transformation Portfolio, bringing together multiple programmes of work under one umbrella and introducing its target solution, a single software as a solution instance. The aims of the Portfolio include:

• Simplifying and standardising policies, processes and data
• Reducing MoD’s reliance on numerous complex legacy systems and tools, lessening service disruption risks and on‑premise system maintenance costs
• Transitioning services to a consolidated Cloud based Enterprise Resource Planning, Enterprise Performance Management and Human Capital Management systems
• Establishing a more efficient and sustainable model for operating MoD’s future shared services
• Taking advantages of the latest opportunities to adopt automation and artificial intelligence
• Putting the customer first, leveraging value from investments in technology, and streamlining the end‑to‑end experience

Job Purpose: This role sits within the Strategic Commercial Team of CSM, which has been established specifically to develop and deliver strategies and undertake procurements for technical solutions. CSM offers an exciting opportunity to make a difference in supporting the successful delivery of the aims of the Portfolio.

The main duties and responsibilities of the Senior Commercial Officer would be:

• Providing wide‑ranging commercial support to the Strategic Commercial Team, including supporting the development of commercial strategies, contract management delivery of service delivery partners, and procurement for technology and services.
• Supporting the development of procurement plans, RAID management and tracking the delivery of outputs against an outputs matrix using JIRA as the logging tool.
• Analysing data to ensure effective tracking of deliverables and maintaining effective expenditure management against the commercial portfolio.
• Providing a coordination role in the development of relevant Statement of Requirements, ensuring they are cohesive and fit for purpose to drive optimum value for money from the market.
• Building effective and sustained relationships across the Portfolio and with the market and other government departments as appropriate.
• Demonstrating a flexible approach, capable of managing uncertainty, adapting to changing priorities and providing direction to others to overcome ambiguity.
• Being a great listener and influencer with excellent communication skills (written, verbal and presentational), capable of adapting communication style and language to fit the needs of the audience.
• Highly motivated, with a proven track record of supporting delivery of large‑scale or high‑risk projects and programmes and stakeholder management in a complex environment.
• Being happy to lean in and support delivery in a complex changing environment.
• Experience of working across a diverse and complex operating model in supporting the development and implementation of effective commercial strategies.
• Experience of Digital, IT and/or technology procurements.
• Experience of Public Procurement Regulations.
• Experience of supporting the coordination of the development of Statement of Requirements.
• Experience of supporting the development and delivery of complex Invitations to Tender working closely with the Senior Commercial leads.
• Experience of providing robust contract management support to the commercial lead.
• Experience of building positive relationships across diverse stakeholder groups; able to understand and manage multiple perspectives, build consensus and influence stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Crown Commercial Frameworks.
• Experience of working in the public sector.

Please note: this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident: The MOD guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where a high volume of candidates with a disability meet these criteria, the best candidates from that group will be interviewed. The MOD also guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where a high volume of ex‑military candidates or military spouses/partners meet these criteria, the best candidates from that group will be interviewed.