Guidance

Commercial Risk Management - Associate Commercial Specialist

Published 8 July 2024

Job Pillar Role Component	ENABLING Commercial Risk Management
Commercial Professional Level	Associate Commercial Specialist (Grade 6 equivalent)
Role Summary	In this role you will contribute to delivering commercial excellence for your department through leading risk and opportunity management. You will be responsible for a range of activities spanning first line and second line assurance in relation to the discussion, analysis, escalation, mitigation, governance and reporting of commercial risks. The role will also include responsibilities spanning capability, resourcing and financing risks for the department’s commercial team. You will lead a team, building their confidence and commercial capability to drive performance and manage setbacks. The role will also require you to use your commercial expertise to identify opportunities for improvement and implement these changes at a local level by working with affected parties to identify and overcome challenges.
Key Responsibilities	Typically, the key responsibilities in this role will include (but are not limited to): ● Identifying and communicating perceived and relevant areas of risk early in the commercial lifecycle and at regular refresh points (to include supplier risks, supply chain risks and strategic risks) ● Leading the risk discussion, both in relation to commercial liability and indemnities and contingent liabilities as well as the reporting and approval process via finance and into the HM Treasury ● Overseeing the Commercial risk log, driving regular updates and reporting, and escalating risks and issues where needed to relevant stakeholders ● Managing and mitigating complex and high value contract and supply chain risks in accordance with the organisation's commercial risk management approach. For high risk contracts, carrying out stress tests and scenario analysis to classify risks ● Driving improvements in the organisation’s commercial risk management approach in line with best practice ● Managing the alignment of commercial and department’s risk registers ● Driving a consistent risk management methodology for commercial risks as well as resourcing and capability risks for the department’s commercial team ● Applying a strong visual project management approach ● Leading engagements with senior stakeholders with an understanding of their motivations and behaviours in order to effectively communicate messages and support decision making ● Maintaining good relationships with internal and external stakeholders and involving them in relevant decisions and discussions
Essential Criteria	Commercial Focus: ● Has a strong practical understanding of market and commercial drivers as well as contract law ● Demonstrates the ability to draw conclusions from a wide range of complex data from different sources ● Has a practical understanding of the concept of ‘value for money’ and can articulate what a successful return on investment looks like for a particular project/programme Risk and Assurance Management: ● Demonstrates the ability to take calculated risks in an area of responsibility in order to implement efficient and innovative solutions ● Demonstrates the ability to conduct analysis of options, risks and margins of error to provide assurance on decisions and manage subsequent trade-offs ●  Has an understanding of Corporate risk management frameworks/approaches in order to link successfully into corporate models/reporting Commercial Ethics: ● Ability to influence stakeholders to take active steps to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards Team Management: ● Demonstrates the ability to manage a team, understands their commercial capability and where they have development gaps and can build their confidence to deal with setbacks ● Has an understanding of the cumulative impact of implementing change in their business area to include: culture, structure, service and morale Build Relationships: ● Demonstrates strong stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to demonstrate resilience in interactions with suppliers in order to defend the department’s position ● Demonstrates the ability to present technical issues to senior stakeholders in order to help them arrive at decisions by acting in an advisory capacity
Civil Service Behaviours	Ability to show examples across all of the following behaviours for level 4 of the Success Profiles Framework: Changing and Improving: ● Encourage, recognise and share innovative ideas from a diverse range of colleagues and stakeholders. Give people space to take initiative and praise them for their creativity. Create an environment where people feel safe to challenge and know their voice will be heard. Make changes which add value and clearly articulate how changes will benefit the business. Understand and identify the role of technology in public service delivery and policy implementation. Consider the full impact of implementing changes on culture, structure, morale and the impacts on the diverse range of end users, including accessibility needs. Identify early signs that things are going wrong and respond promptly. Provide constructive challenge to senior management on change proposals Communicating and Influencing: ● Communicate with others in a clear, honest and enthusiastic way in order to build trust. Explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand. Take into account people’s individual needs. Deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required. Consider the impact of the language used. Remain open-minded and impartial in discussions, whilst respecting the diverse interests and opinions of others. Introduce different methods for communication, including making the most of digital resources whilst getting value for money. Monitor the effectiveness of own and team communications and take action to improve where necessary Developing Self and Others: ● Prioritise and role-model continuous self-learning and development. Identify areas individuals and teams need to develop in order to achieve future objectives. Support colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning and development. Ensure that development opportunities are available for all individuals regardless of their background or desire to achieve promotion. Ensure individuals take full advantage of learning and development opportunities available to them, including workplace based learning. Encourage discussions within and between teams to learn from each other’s experiences and change organisational plans and processes accordingly Leadership: ● Promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience. Welcome and respond to views and challenges from others, despite any conflicting pressures to ignore or give in to them. Stand by, promote or defend own and team’s actions and decisions where needed. Seek out shared interests beyond own area of responsibility, understanding the extent of the impact actions have on the organisation. Inspire and motivate teams to be fully engaged in their work and dedicated to their role
Department Context	To enhance the generic commercial role profile, additional information can be added by a department to outline the specific nature of the role. This may include: ● An additional short paragraph in the role summary ● Additional key responsibilities based on the department context ● Bespoke essential skills/experience required for the role