Senior Executive – UK Public Sector Commercial, Procurement & Client Engagement (Freelance / Contract Engagement) in Maidenhead

Freelance / Contract Engagement | UK (Hybrid)

About VE3

VE3 is a technology and consulting firm specialising in digital transformation, AI, data, and enterprise solutions across the UK public sector. We partner with central government departments, arm's-length bodies, local authorities and the NHS to modernise citizen services, accelerate digital change and deliver measurable public value.

As we scale our public sector book of business, we are seeking a seasoned independent advisor to strengthen our commercial discipline, deepen our government relationships, and bring senior-level credibility to our most complex client engagements.

Role Purpose

This is a high-impact freelance / contract engagement for a senior commercial professional with deep procurement acumen, an established public sector network, and a proven track record of stewarding difficult government contracts to successful outcomes. The advisor will act as a trusted internal counsellor and external ambassador — supporting business development, shaping winning bids, navigating client escalations, and serving as a sage on commercial matters where the stakes are highest.

The ideal candidate is a former civil servant or senior public sector commercial leader who understands government procurement from the inside out: how decisions are made, where bids succeed or fail, how to build durable supplier–client relationships, and how to recover situations when contracts go sideways.

Requirements

• Commercial & Procurement Advisory
  • Provide senior-level commercial counsel across VE3's UK public sector portfolio, with particular focus on bid strategy, pricing, contract structuring, and risk management.
  • Support qualification decisions on opportunities — championing the discipline of bidding for the right work, with the right partners, on the right terms.
  • Review contracts, statements of work, schedules, and KPI/SLA regimes prior to signature, flagging exposures and proposing mitigations.
• Client Engagement & Relationship Management
  • Cultivate and maintain senior relationships across central government departments, ALBs, local authorities, NHS trusts and integrated care boards.
  • Open doors to new buyers and decision-makers; act as a credible peer in conversations with relevant senior civil servants including commercial directors, CDIOs and equivalent NHS leaders.
  • Lead the response when client relationships become strained — diagnosing root causes, designing recovery plans, and personally engaging at senior level to reset the relationship.
  • Chair or attend critical client review meetings, contract change negotiations, dispute resolution conversations and remediation discussions.
  • Coach internal account leads and delivery directors through high-stakes client conversations; model the behaviours of a mature, calm, commercially literate counterparty.
  • Where contracts are underperforming, lead the commercial dialogue around scope, schedule, price, performance regimes and exit — protecting both VE3's commercial position and the client relationship.
• Business Development & Growth
  • Shape VE3's go-to-market in priority departments and verticals, identifying named target accounts, pursuit themes and partnership plays.
  • Contribute to capture planning for major opportunities — orchestrating pre-procurement engagement, market shaping and trusted-adviser positioning long before RFP issue.
• Presentations & Executive Storytelling
  • Lead or co-present at client pitches, oral evaluations, framework mini-competition presentations and executive briefings.
  • Develop reusable senior-level collateral: capability decks, case-study narratives, ministerial briefings and board-ready summaries.

Essential Experience & Skills

• 8 to 10 years' senior experience in UK public sector procurement, commercial leadership, supplier management, or senior account management to government — with a meaningful portion of that career spent inside the civil service, NHS, local government or a major government supplier.
• Demonstrable expertise in UK public procurement law and practice, including the Procurement Act 2023, PCR 2015 transition, CCS frameworks, dynamic purchasing systems, and major NHS / local government routes to market.
• Track record of managing or rescuing complex, high-value, contentious government contracts — ideally including contracts under remediation, dispute, or commercial reset.
• An active, current network in the civil service, the wider public sector and the supplier community.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication, with the gravitas and executive presence required to hold the room with senior client partners.
• Proven business development credentials — a history of originating, shaping and converting major public sector opportunities, whether as a buyer, supplier, or adviser.
• Bid and presentation craft: experience steering oral presentations, evaluator panels and competitive dialogue.
• Commercial fluency: comfortable with pricing models, margin analysis, contract clauses, risk registers and KPI/SLA design.

Desirable

• A former civil servant at Grade 6 or above, or equivalent NHS senior manager / local government chief officer / commercial director from a prime supplier.
• Background in or familiarity with digital, data, AI, cloud or technology transformation procurements specifically.
• Experience of Government Commercial Function (GCF) standards, Commercial Pipeline, the Sourcing Playbook, and the Outsourcing Playbook.
• Membership of professional bodies such as CIPS (MCIPS / FCIPS), IACCM / World Commerce & Contracting, or equivalent.
• Existing SC clearance (or eligibility to obtain).
• Experience supporting SME / scale-up consultancies in their commercial maturation journey.

Personal Attributes

• Composed under pressure — the kind of operator clients and colleagues turn to when a meeting is going sideways.
• Diplomatic and direct in equal measure; able to deliver difficult messages without rupturing relationships.
• Genuinely networked, not transactional; treats relationships as long-term assets.
• Commercially shrewd but ethically grounded — understands that long-term reputation is the asset that compounds.
• Coach as well as operator — generous with knowledge, willing to develop VE3's emerging commercial talent.
• Pragmatic and outcome-focused — happy to roll up sleeves on a bid one day, sit at a board table the next.

Engagement Model

Type: Freelance / contract via the advisor's own limited company (outside IR35 where appropriate, subject to SDS assessment) or umbrella, as preferred.

Initial term: 6 months, with strong intent to extend / convert to a longer-term retained advisory arrangement subject to mutual fit.

Commitment: Indicative 1–2 days per week, flexible to peaks (e.g., bid crunches, client escalations); availability for short-notice senior client engagements is essential.

Location: UK-based. Hybrid working — combination of remote, VE3 offices (Maidenhead), and on-site at client locations across the UK as required.