Commercial Officer - Commercial Policy

Government Property Agency; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

Join the Government Property Agency as a key member of the Commercial Team, focusing on transforming procurement processes and enhancing commercial systems. This role offers the chance to join an apprenticeship scheme, develop diverse skills, and contribute to essential government operations, including supporting the implementation of new procurement legislation.

Benefits

Civil Service pension with a contribution of 28.97%

Learning and development tailored to your role

Flexible working options

Generous annual leave

Encouraging inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

• Motivated and interested in commercial activity.
• Able to collate a range of varied data.
• Capable of clear and concise communication with diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Support implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.
• Develop and manage E Commerce systems across GPA.
• Create commercial dashboards for senior leaders.

Skills

Clear communication skills

Organisational skills

Data analysis skills

Education

Willing to work towards achievement of CIPS

Tools

E Commerce Digital products

Excel

Power BI

Job description

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham

Job Summary

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern, cost-effective real estate service solutions.

Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. And we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Job Description

The Government Property Agency (GPA) Commercial Team sits within the Chief Operating Officer’s (COO) Group and is responsible for procurements and contracts delivered across GPA. The COO and Finance Commercial Team are at the heart of the commercial function GPA. We are driving transformational change that underpins and supports the GPA wide Commercial Teams. The GPA commercial activity is growing in confidence and maturity as it develops and strengthens its commercial remit. This team offers the opportunity to drive and make change often implementing processes and systems where they have not previously existed. You will need to be self-motivated, have an enquiring mind set and be interested and willing to learn a range of commercial skills.

This role attracts the opportunity to undertake commercial apprenticeship training and achieve professional exams, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. This would lead to opportunities to test in practical scenarios your learning to underpin and support your journey. The Government Commercial Function is a defined function across government and achievement of commercial experience and examination success will lead to the opening of promotion opportunities within the profession.

You will need to be a team player and work with a range of stakeholders both internally and externally to drive change and innovation. The remit of the team is both transformative and operationally critical, providing support to a range of GPA teams including HR, Legal, Marketing & Comms, Strategic Performance and Corporate Security. This strategic position within the GPA Corporate environment provides opportunities to build close relationships with teams and gain insight to the strategic direction of GPA.

The new Procurement Act 2023 creates many opportunities for the Government Property Agency to evaluate how we operate and provide new flexible procurement routes in the future. To build GPA’s resilience and capitalise on the opportunity presented by the new act, the Commercial Policy team will have the scope and freedom to develop new commercial policies and ensure compliance with the act while also improving outcomes for GPA. Your role will be to develop and support a suite of commercial policy documents, enabling innovation and driving efficiencies for the GPA.

To enable and monitor all of this commercial activity we use E Commerce Digital products, and your role will be to support the development of these products within a commercial context and use data and MI outputs to measure and monitor commercial activity creating dashboards.

This role will report to the Commercial Lead.

Key Responsibilities

• Support to implement the Procurement Act 2023 and the broader Transforming Public Procurement initiative into all of GPA Commercial E Systems and processes, ensuring alignment with the Act and Cabinet Office guidance.
• Support the development and day to day business as usual of E Commerce systems for use across GPA Commercial Teams. This will require consultation with commercial colleagues, suppliers and other stakeholder groups including linking to Cabinet Office commercial digital platforms.
• Support the development of Commercial dashboards of MI and reporting for senior leaders to demonstrate commercial activity and compliance with the procurement legislation.
• Support users, use E Commercial tools to procure and manage commercial activity.
• Create documents and how do I guides applying commercial knowledge practically in the support of individual procurements.
• Build commercial knowledge to manage and develop suppliers.
• Learn and apply project management skills to manage projects and e-commerce systems.
• Training and upskilling sessions when appropriate.
• Lead some procurement projects
• Support the team with governance and secretariat duties to enable commercial governance to be met.
  
  

The Government Property Agency (GPA) Commercial Team sits within the Chief Operating Officer’s (COO) Group and is responsible for procurements and contracts delivered across GPA. The COO and Finance Commercial Team are at the heart of the commercial function GPA. We are driving transformational change that underpins and supports the GPA wide Commercial Teams. The GPA commercial activity is growing in confidence and maturity as it develops and strengthens its commercial remit. This team offers the opportunity to drive and make change often implementing processes and systems where they have not previously existed. You will need to be self-motivated, have an enquiring mind set and be interested and willing to learn a range of commercial skills.

This role attracts the opportunity to undertake commercial apprenticeship training and achieve professional exams, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. This would lead to opportunities to test in practical scenarios your learning to underpin and support your journey. The Government Commercial Function is a defined function across government and achievement of commercial experience and examination success will lead to the opening of promotion opportunities within the profession.

You will need to be a team player and work with a range of stakeholders both internally and externally to drive change and innovation. The remit of the team is both transformative and operationally critical, providing support to a range of GPA teams including HR, Legal, Marketing & Comms, Strategic Performance and Corporate Security. This strategic position within the GPA Corporate environment provides opportunities to build close relationships with teams and gain insight to the strategic direction of GPA.

The new Procurement Act 2023 creates many opportunities for the Government Property Agency to evaluate how we operate and provide new flexible procurement routes in the future. To build GPA’s resilience and capitalise on the opportunity presented by the new act, the Commercial Policy team will have the scope and freedom to develop new commercial policies and ensure compliance with the act while also improving outcomes for GPA. Your role will be to develop and support a suite of commercial policy documents, enabling innovation and driving efficiencies for the GPA.

To enable and monitor all of this commercial activity we use E Commerce Digital products, and your role will be to support the development of these products within a commercial context and use data and MI outputs to measure and monitor commercial activity creating dashboards.

This role will report to the Commercial Lead.

Key Responsibilities

• Support to implement the Procurement Act 2023 and the broader Transforming Public Procurement initiative into all of GPA Commercial E Systems and processes, ensuring alignment with the Act and Cabinet Office guidance.
• Support the development and day to day business as usual of E Commerce systems for use across GPA Commercial Teams. This will require consultation with commercial colleagues, suppliers and other stakeholder groups including linking to Cabinet Office commercial digital platforms.
• Support the development of Commercial dashboards of MI and reporting for senior leaders to demonstrate commercial activity and compliance with the procurement legislation.
• Support users, use E Commercial tools to procure and manage commercial activity.
• Create documents and how do I guides applying commercial knowledge practically in the support of individual procurements.
• Build commercial knowledge to manage and develop suppliers.
• Learn and apply project management skills to manage projects and e-commerce systems.
• Training and upskilling sessions when appropriate.
• Lead some procurement projects
• Support the team with governance and secretariat duties to enable commercial governance to be met.
  
  

Person specification

You Will Be:

• Motivated and interested in commercial activity, and willing to commit to undertake a commercial apprenticeship.
• Organised and methodical with an ability to collate a range of varied data to support decision making.
• A strong communicator, able to work with a range of audiences and provide information that is clear and concise.
• Able to think creatively and innovatively about problems and explore solutions.
• Understand the value of MI and Data and be able to present that to stakeholders, experience of excel and power bi is helpful but not essential.
• The ability to interpret data and Mi, potentially with an interest in finance.
• Collaborative in your approach, encouraging challenge and discussion from stakeholders to drive effective solutions.
• Enthusiastic about driving value for money for the UK taxpayer.
• Able to handle a wide variety of tasks and take care in prioritising work and managing stakeholder expectations.
• A good communicator, able to explain complex procedures, processes or data in clear language for a range of audiences applying consideration to accessibility and diversity.
  
  

Essential Criteria:

Experience & Technical Skills

• Clear communication skills.
• Excellent people skills.
• Organisational skills.
  
  

Desirable Criteria:

• Data analysis skills.
• Commercial sector experience.
• Project Management skills.
• Digital Skills.
  
  

Qualifications And Accreditations

Desirable criteria:

• Willing to work towards achievement of CIPS.
  
  

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Developing Self and Others
  
  

Technical skills

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

• Customer Perspective
• Commercial Acumen
• Property Market Knowledge
• Innovation
  
  

Alongside your salary of £35,175, Government Property Agency contributes £10,190 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Generous annual leave
  
  

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued.The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme (RIS) to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Sift

The sift is due to take place between week commencing 30th June 2025.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to include a CV and a 500-word personal statement. The personal statement should then align with the person specification.

Please confirm in your statement that you can 100% commit to the apprenticeship.

Refrain from using artificial intelligence (AI) to draft your application. In recent recruitment campaigns, a large proportion of application forms were extremely similar and lacking in the necessary detail required to pass the sift.

Interview

Interviews will be held virtually over Google Meet. The date and times will be confirmed if you are invited to interview. If you feel this will be a problem for you, please contact [e-mail] to discuss prior to submitting your application.

At interview, applicants will be scored against 4 behaviours - Making Effective Decisions, Developing Self & Others, Changing & Improving, and Communicating and Influencing.

Interview questions will be a blend of Behaviour, Experience, and Technical (core skill) questions.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via [e-mail] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to GPA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing [e-mail] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact :

• Name : Joanne Meaney
• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact [e-mail]

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission:

Click here to visit Civil Service Commission