Senior Commercial Manager

Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS); Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading organization is seeking a Senior Commercial Manager to provide a full procurement service for digital technology across Defence. With responsibilities spanning sourcing, contract management, and stakeholder engagement, this role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to critical military capabilities. Candidates require strong procurement experience and qualifications from the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply.

Benefits

Civil Service Pension with employer contribution

Fully funded professional qualification

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• In-depth experience in a commercial or procurement environment.
• Experience in negotiating with suppliers to achieve savings and value for money.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and assess information rapidly.

Responsibilities

• Provide expertise to Defence Digital project delivery teams for sourcing goods and services.
• Define and run procurement processes in line with public sector regulations.
• Negotiate favorable terms for pricing and contract terms.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Decision making

Communication

Education

CIPS Level 4

Job description

Senior Commercial Manager

Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 17th July 2025

Details Reference number: 411584

Salary: £44,590

ACivil Service Pensionwith an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade: Senior Executive Officer

Contract type: Permanent

Business area: MOD - Strategic Command - Defence Digital Commercial

Type of role: Commercial Procurement and Contracts Management

Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

MOD Abbey Wood, Bristol (BS34 8JH) as base location. This job role is suitable for hybrid working, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, blending a balance of attendance in the workplace (the permanent duty station), which is based on business assessment of where the work is best done) and working from home as a personal choice (if the role is suitable for this). If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

About the job Job summary

Due to the nature of the role, this position is open to UK Nationals only

We are looking for talented and hard-working individuals with demonstrable commercial experience or transferable skills, to join us in providing a full procurement service for digital technology capability across Defence.

Defence Digital is responsible for delivering and integrating new digital capabilities, giving our forces the advantage on the cyber battlefield to combat an ever-evolving threat.

In support,Defence Digital Commercialis building a centre of procurement excellence, focusing on getting the best outcomes across all our contracts. We are developing a more strategic approach to supplier relationship management and implementing new ways of working that will embed good practice category management.

We are committed to developing our staff, providing opportunities to develop and grow within an inclusive and supportive environment. You will work within a highly capable, diverse team who will support you to develop your professional and personal skills, knowledge, and experience, including a fully funded professional qualification (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).

Strategic Command is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to improve the way the Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, all posts within Strategic Command Headquarters and in time the wider organisation, are/will be subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Defence Digital is made up of five categories, IT Hardware & Services, Military Technology, Software & Cloud, Networks and Professional Services. Within these five categories sits Software & Cloud and it is here where the opportunity sits for a Commercial Lead to come into the Digital Intelligence team.

Within Digital Intelligence our Commercial vision is ‘To collaboratively and incrementally secure sustained capability for Defence at the earliest opportunity and maximum value.’

The capability Digital Intelligence successfully provides is critical to the safety of the United Kingdom, its military personnel operating around the globe, and our Allies – who rely on the intelligence our Commercial teams help deliver, as illustrated as an example by the front-page headlines “British intelligence reveals location of hidden Russian jets used to strike Ukraine.”

Within Digital Intelligence Commercial, we successfully deliver this capability through a multitude of extremely challenging leading-edge projects. Some of these really exciting and fantastic opportunities include:

• Working in full collaboration with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – 28 European States and USA & Canada on the Battlefield Intelligence Collection Exploitation System (BICES) – which, as an example, successfully enables the processing and distribution of geospatial information between Allies;
• Delivering a single end-to-end capability for the collection, processing and production of authoritative and assured Aeronautical Information; enabling continued collaboration and sharing of Defence and Civilian Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and other Five Eyes partners by adopting common data standards, practices and procedures to deliver a co-production capability; and
• Providing meteorological and oceanographic (MetOc) data and services that are critical to understand, plan, navigate and target for Defence operations including the Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD). Using an open, extensible and Defence-owned architecture, integrating with the Digital Backbone, and providing assured access to MetOc data and services, including via machine-to-machine (M2M) interfaces.

In support of these operational deliverables, Digital Intelligence Commercial is also transforming its delivery from stove piped projects to service-orientated programmes which will require a change of commercial approach. Through cost categorisation and market segmentation the Commercial Team utilise procurement strategies and commercial models that foster a technology driven supplier ecosystem whilst exploiting Defence Digital enterprise services.

Commercial constructs and artefacts focus on collaboration to embrace modular approaches, iterative agile development, open standards and architectures. Adopting SAFe 6, Commercial are integrating the power of Lean, Agile, and DevOps into a comprehensive operating system that helps Defence Digital thrive in the digital age by delivering innovative products and services faster, more predictably, and with higher quality.

Working collaboratively with multiple stakeholders across all our commands and Allies, you will directly support the Commercial approach to new and exciting projects; driving innovation, value, and agility through the successful adoption of Category Management.

Key responsibilities:

• Providing expertise to Defence Digital project delivery teams to influence and inform the sourcing of new goods and services from 3rd parties
• Proactive market insight which includes a coordinated monitoring of potential and existing suppliers in a strategic and dynamic way
• Define and run Procurement processes in line with public sector regulations and using agreed tools and systems
• Selecting appropriate suppliers using relevant evaluation criteria and responsible for ensuring value for money for the duration of supplier engagement
• Negotiating favourable terms for pricing and contract terms that deliver immediate and ongoing financial and non-financial benefits
• Identification, definition and tracking of financial and non-financial benefits and savings
• Ongoing proactive management of key supplier relationships
• Effective management of full life cycle of the contracts including managing changes and ensuring ongoing value and service quality standards are delivered
• Commercial risk identification, mitigation and management
• Supporting category management maturity improvements by identifying opportunities to further enhance the value delivered
• Intelligently developing and deploying a range of sourcing strategies in cooperation with internal stakeholders
• Supporting continuous improvement and change management, using knowledge and experience to influence and embed good practice across the sourcing lifecycle
• Supporting the senior commercial officers in the negotiation of complex contracts
• Hold formal delegated powers of up to £10M
• Providing specialist advice on commercial policies and processes to other teams for e.g. delivery group
• Potential line management responsibilities based on skill set and business requirement
• Providing coaching, support and leadership to junior team members; acting as a role-model and inspiring leader
• Champion, embed and promote Diversity & Inclusion as part of the DD Commercial team culture
• Actively promoting the reputation of the organisation with pride. Displaying passion and enthusiasm for the work, inspiring colleagues and stakeholders to engage with the aims and long-term vision.
• Working collaboratively with customers and delivery partners to manage, monitor and deliver agreed outcomes;
• Building trust as a leader through demonstrating credibility. Dedicating time to managing, supporting and empowering people through coaching and mentoring and sharing expertise/knowledge; and
• Translating priorities into clear outcome-focused objectives for managers and teams. Maintaining focus on priorities and responding quickly to changing requirements. Providing clarity about the action required to achieve results and address unexpected developments.

The post advertised is full time equivalent. There may be opportunities for part time candidates if a job share partnership can be established, subject to full time hours being achievable. Offers made to candidates below 37 hours per week (FTE) will be subject to business need and at the Authority's sole discretion.

As part of flexible resourcing, reserve candidates may be offered alternative roles within DD Commercial teams, although key responsibilities will remain the same.

Person specification

Specific skills and experience required for the role:

• In depth experience in a commercial or procurement environment, including sourcing through to contract management
• Stakeholder management and influencing, with strong communication skills
• Experience in negotiating with suppliers to achieve savings and Value for Money
• Experience in supplier management
• Confident with making decisions and able to work effectively both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to manage competing priorities, assess information rapidly and be flexible to respond to dynamic situations
• Hold Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply CIPS Level 4, or be willing to achieve this qualification by commencing study once in post. This will be fully funded and supported by MOD.
• SC level clearance is required to take up the post and there may be an expectation to go through DV once in post.

We are looking for a person who:

• Is a team player and sees the added value that a team contribution to achieving results can bring
• Demonstrates energy and personal drive to deliver business outputs
• Is responsive, innovative and seeks out opportunities to effect creative change
• Is flexible and adaptable to meeting business priorities, and accepts that these are often subject to change
• Builds positive and effective relationships that enable both commercial and/or project team goals to be delivered.
• Willingly contributes commercial advice and judgement in the acquisition process
• Empowers others
• Is fair, honest and transparent in all personal and professional activities
• Seeks continuous improvement and builds it into a personal development plan

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• People Standards for the Profession - Understanding Needs and Sourcing Options - Associate Commercial Lead
• People Standards for the Profession - Contract and Supplier Management - Associate Commercial Lead