You will lead a team of ~30 including 5 G6 Direct Reports, providing the direction and support across the 4 strands of Commercial Enabling: Capability, Assurance, Compliance, and Sustainability &Policy, plus Commercial Delivery for corporate functions. This is an exciting time to join the senior leadership team and help shape the Commercial functions of DESNZ and DSIT.

The successful candidate will be:

A key member of the Commercial senior leadership team in both DESNZ and DSIT. Play an active role in supporting the leadership and management of the directorates, embedding their visions and values to create a supportive working environment for all;
A key member of the Commercial Management Teams, responsible for the strategy and operation of the Commercial profession within the departments, and an ambassador for the commercial profession.
A member of the GCO (Government Commercial Organisation’s senior team, with cross-Whitehall Commercial leadership responsibility, and a role in continually developing and improving the Commercial Profession;
Leader and line manager to ~5x G6: Head of Commercial Capability, CI, & Systems, Head of Commercial Assurance, Head of Compliance and Head of Commercial Sustainability & Policy, with overall accountability for supporting and developing their teams and the wider commercial teams;
Integral to DSIT and DESNZ’s commercial strategy development.

• Overall responsibility for Commercial assurance activities across the Deptartments and their associated Partner Organisations.
• Chair the Commercial Assurance Board for all cases below £70m
• Attend Project and Investment Committee (PIC), the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Enhanced Commercial Assurance Board, and the Building Digital UK (BDUK) Commercial Board as required
• Lead Machinery of Government transition planning from a Commercial perspective
• Lead on end-to-end commercial delivery for DESNZ, DSIT, and ICS corporate functions, including Digital, HR, Finance, Commercial, Communications, Analysis, and others as required.
• Ensure commercial risks and issues are managed and escalated appropriately
• Commercial systems, MI and data: including coordinating the Departmental contract and grant pipeline, contract register and any additional reports requirement by Government.
• Commercial sustainability & policy: implement, communicate, and provide guidance on Procurement Policy Notices (PPNs) and policy areas including but not limited to SMEs, prompt payment, and social value. Support across the 3 pillars of Social, Economic and Environmental Policy
• Lead the Departmental approach to Procurement Reform
• Lead the weekly Commercial Team calls and work closely with the other Deputy Directors
• Lead on Government Commercial Organisation priorities and programmes including the Commercial Blueprints and Contract Management Capability Programme
• Lead on Grants function priorities for DSIT including Maturity Assessments
• Lead on the Commercial Functional Standards
• Lead on People and processes: ensuring that the commercial team has the right tools, processes and skills to deliver departmental priorities
• Lead our interaction and best practice sharing with the Department’s Partner Organisations
• Raising commercial and grant awareness and capabilities across the department.
• Promote collaboration and sharing of best practices across the Partner Organisations, Grants Functionand Government Commercial Organisation;
• Liaise with the Government Commercial Organisation and Grants Function to leverage and implement best practices and key initiatives and provide departmental input to GCO strategies and plans.

Technical skills