Commercial Lead - Great British Energy

Department for Energy Security & Net Zero; Scotland; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A government energy department in Scotland seeks a Commercial Lead to oversee procurement and contract management for Great British Energy. The role demands extensive experience in procurement, strong commercial focus, and the ability to develop strategic relationships with suppliers. You will ensure that procurement activities deliver value for money and adhere to compliance standards. Benefits include a competitive salary, generous pension contributions, and flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Generous pension contributions

Professional development opportunities

Employee discounts

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in procurement management and contract delivery.
• Proven ability to manage complex contracts and influence stakeholders.
• Strong commercial focus with demonstrated ability to achieve value for money.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic sourcing and procurement activities.
• Manage key supplier relationships and assess contract performance.
• Develop and implement category management strategies.

Skills

Commercial knowledge

Stakeholder engagement

Contract management

Procurement management

Team leadership

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Procurement frameworks

Grant management systems

Job description

Great British Energy will be a publicly owned, operationally independent energy company, designed to drive clean energy deployment, boost energy independence, create jobs and ensure U K taxpayers, billpayers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. Setting up Great British Energy is one of government’s first steps for change and we will do this in a way that means it will have both an early impact and long-term success.

Through its five functions (Project development, Project investment, Local Power Plan, Supply chains and Great British Nuclear), Great British Energy will speed up the deployment of mature and new technologies, as well as local energy projects, to support the government’s aim of decarbonising our electricity system by 2030 whilst also ensuring we can meet future demand as we further decarbonise the economy.

To this end and as an example of what it can achieve, we have already agreed a major partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate to accelerate deployment and support U K supply chains.

Great British Energy will work collaboratively with industry, local authorities and communities, and other public sector organisations such as the National Wealth Fund, to spread skilled jobs and investment across the country. Great British Energy will be backed by a capitalisation of £8.3 billion of new money over this Parliament.

In recognition of Scotland’s leading role in the UK’s clean energy revolution, Great British Energy will be headquartered and run from Scotland.

More details can be found in the Great British Energy founding statement.

Roles in what will become Great British Energy will initially be undertaken in shadow form within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. They will then be transferred to Great British Energy when the Great British Energy Bill becomes law and the company has the necessary procedures and systems in place to employ people directly.

Job description

In this role, you will lead the delivery of commercial excellence for Great British Energy (GBE), acting as a trusted Commercial Lead for the GBE Local delivery team and ensuring a customer‑focused approach that meets business needs and stakeholder priorities. You will build strong relationships with GBE’s key suppliers, driving value for money and robust risk management across your category.

You will manage and develop a team, building confidence and capability to deliver high performance and overcome challenges. Using your commercial expertise, you will identify opportunities for improvement and implement change, working collaboratively to resolve issues and embed best practice.

You will take ownership of key elements of the commercial lifecycle – from strategy and policy development, needs analysis and sourcing options, through to procurement, contract and supplier management. The role may also involve designing and delivering grants. This will include developing category management strategies, leading supplier negotiations where required, and providing timely, expert guidance to the business.

As part of establishing GBE’s new commercial function, you will ensure commercial assurance measures reflect DESNZ’s approaches and embed commercial principles from the outset. Building strong relationships across GBE will be critical to ensuring engagement in all commercial activities.

Within your first 12 months, you will also be required to gain a Government Commercial Function accreditation at Commercial Lead grade. This is a nationally recognised standard that will strengthen your professional credibility and open doors to future progression. Note, you will not be a Government Commercial Function employee.

Person specification

Key responsibilities

The activity in this role would be varied, and individual remit is subject to both size of the GBE business area you will be supporting and/or level of complexity, value and risk within that area. Typically, key responsibilities for a commercial professional in this role may include (but are not limited to):

Procurement & Sourcing

• Lead end‑to‑end strategic sourcing activities and act as a subject matter expert.
• Work with stakeholders to define clear business requirements and commercial needs.
• Provide guidance throughout the sourcing process, evaluating models and options.
• Develop business case options, articulating benefits and preferred solutions.
• Identify opportunities for collaborative supplier partnerships.
• Deliver compliant procurement services that achieve demonstrable value for money; lead and coach others in negotiation techniques.
• Ensure sourcing compliance and adherence to frameworks.
• Apply these principles to grant delivery and management where required.

Contract & Supplier Management

• Contract manage key agreements (e.g. Cabinet Office defined silver and gold tier contracts) for GBE.
• Manage contract and grant variations, providing strategic direction and advice.
• Evaluate contract performance and return on investment against value for money.
• Oversee benefit realisation and challenge non‑delivery, escalating where needed.
• Monitor supplier performance and report progress or issues.
• Manage risk/reward mechanisms and KPIs within contracts.
• Hold suppliers and customers accountable for contractual commitments; resolve disputes effectively.
• Lead contract exit and asset disposal processes.
• Own business continuity approach for relevant contracts and mitigate supply risks.
• Apply best practice to grants and non‑contractual arrangements.

Internal and External Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop key stakeholder relationships, enabling early engagement and challenging business need and demand.
• Providing commercial advice to stakeholders on all aspects of commercial protocol.
• Engage, where required, with the relevant senior business lead, ensuring that business requirements are supported by category strategies.

Enabling and developing GBE

• Champion procurement and Grant best practice; work collaboratively with others to create a proactive and intelligent function.
• Contribute to the maintenance and updating of systems throughout the procurement and Grant lifecycle.
• Play a role in building capability of new starters and those on development programmes.
• Feed into the delivery management for GBE, contributing to setting the direction for the GBE business area you are assisting.

Strategic Delivery and Category Management

• Develop commercial approaches that deliver requirements that are in line with business needs, category strategies and market trends.
• Contribute to the development of category strategies and delivery of sourcing requirements within commercial, as part of the team supporting GBE business as usual and project activities.
• Understand demand by forecasting and planning requirements with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Develop and maintain category plans for key spend areas.

Team Management and Performance

• Develop and manage SEO(s) assigned to you, assuring their outputs and assisting on their own professional development.
• Ensure team follow agreed processes and procedures when placing agreements and gather required information on these to assist in all reporting requirements.

As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.

Essential Criteria

Procurement Management: Extensive experience developing and delivering multiple procurements, using central frameworks as well as more open procedures, with the ability to manage several requirements simultaneously.

Contract Management: Proven experience managing medium to high complexity/value contracts, with a strong understanding of contract management principles and their role in the commercial lifecycle.

Category Management: Excellent knowledge of end‑to‑end commercial and grant lifecycle management, with experience developing and placing agreements such as Memoranda of Understanding and Grants.

Evidence of taking a strategic lead on securing value for money and influencing senior stakeholders and suppliers towards commercial solutions in complex environments.

Commercial Focus: Strong commercial knowledge, understanding trade‑offs and applying principles within the boundaries of contract law.

Demonstrated ability to lead on achieving value for money and delivering good return on investment on commercial projects.

Risk and Assurance Management: Ability to analyse risks, understand margins of error and make effective, evidence‑based decisions.

Commercial Ethics: Ability to communicate and uphold standards that prevent corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate action when breaches occur.

Team Leadership: Ability to manage and build confidence in a team, resolve issues and implement change at a local level.

Experience overseeing others’ commercial activities and supporting their professional development.

Stakeholder Engagement: Strong skills in influencing internal and external decision‑making through clear, technical advice.

Ability to articulate commercial motivations and expected behaviours of stakeholders, suppliers and networks.

Desirable criteria

Experience delivering under Public Contract Regulations 2015 and or Procurement Act 2023 regimes.

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

Technical skills

• Procurement Experience
• Complex Delivery

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Procurement Experience

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,105, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £15,963 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non‑home based location for 40‑60% of the time over the accounting period.

Things you need to know Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and technical statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Applications will be sifted on CV and any technical skills required.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the lead technical skill Procurement Experience.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The interview will consist of behaviour and technical questions.

Expected Timeline

Expected Timeline subject to change

Sift and interview dates

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.