Guidance

Continuous Improvement - Commercial Specialist

Published 8 July 2024

Job Pillar Role Component	ENABLING Continuous Improvement
Commercial Professional Level	Commercial Specialist (Senior Civil Servant 1 equivalent)
Role Summary	In this role you will promote the delivery of commercial excellence for your department and wider government by leading on continuous improvement. You will be expected to use your strong stakeholder management skills to lead the delivery of improved outcomes and ‘value for money’ in contracts and make government practices, processes and policies more effective. You will lead a team, building their confidence and commercial capability as an influential leader responding to complex and uncertain challenges, delegating risks and issues to individuals in line with your experience and potential. The role will also require you to use your commercial expertise to take measured risks in order to deliver better approaches and services.
Key Responsibilities	Typically, the key responsibilities in this role will include (but are not limited to): ● Driving the composition and successful delivery of a portfolio of change and improvement projects to tackle key issues to build the department’s capability ● Implementing change with a strong understanding of the impact on culture, structure, service and morale ● Creating, maintaining and innovating the operating protocols required for the Commercial Operating Standards and spending controls delivery areas for the Government Commercial Function ● Managing improvement projects, interacting with stakeholders, compiling cases against criteria and supporting the production of advice to management and then ministers on how improvements will unlock additional value ● Carrying out reporting and intelligence initiatives, manipulating existing data and offering improvements to the assurance, standards and controls delivery as well as informing future iterations of the Commercial Operating Standards ● Researching, encouraging and applying new ideas and ways of working to include the review of existing and future contracts to foster and maintain best practice, ‘value for money’ and to ensure alignment with business needs ● Engaging with stakeholders and understanding their motivations and behaviours in order to effectively communicate messages and support decision making ● Maintaining good relationships with internal stakeholders and involving them in relevant decisions and discussions ● Supporting the delivery of all commercial assurance, controls activity and timely reviews ● Applying a strong visual programme management approach to include facilitating start up sessions, go/no go decisions and change delivery planning
Essential Criteria	Continuous Improvement: ● Has extensive expertise of defining and delivering programmes of work to embed beneficial and sustainable change in a complex organisation, leading staff and working with stakeholders to improve the delivery of commercial practices, processes and policies Commercial Focus: ● Has a strong practical understanding of market shaping principles and contract law and has experience in working in a range of categories/sectors with a range of suppliers ● Demonstrates the ability to develop the definition of standards of success in terms of the return on investment and ‘value for money’  for each deal and can lead the debate to make the case with ministers ● Demonstrates the ability to manage the trade-offs and contradictions within complex deals and impact on other areas Risk and Assurance Management: ● Demonstrates the ability to take measured risks in order to deliver better approaches and services ● Demonstrates the ability to challenge the analysis of risks and margins of error to improve assurance on decisions Commercial Ethics: ● Demonstrates the ability to contribute to the development of standards and/or policy to eradicate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour Team Management: ● Demonstrates the ability to coach and mentor individuals as a trusted leader and displays strong motivational capabilities to create a department culture focused on performance and priorities ● Demonstrates the ability to manage a team in shaping and defining a deal in a complex and uncertain context, delegating risks and issues to individuals in line with their experience and potential Build Relationships: ● Has strong stakeholder engagement skills in order to effectively communicate a deal over time from conception to delivery in line with the department’s commercial requirements ● Demonstrates the ability to understand the motivations and behaviours of stakeholders, suppliers and networks
Civil Service Behaviours	Ability to show examples across all of the following behaviours for level 5 of the Success Profiles Framework: Changing and Improving: ● Challenge the way things have always been done and suggest improvements, learning from experience. Seek, encourage and recognise initiative and imaginative ideas from a wide range of people. Promote an environment where all colleagues feel safe to challenge. Encourage measured risk taking and innovation to deliver better approaches and services. Implement changes that transform flexibility, responsiveness and quality of service. Ensure changes add value to the business and express clearly how and why changes are necessary. Lead the transformation towards using digital technologies ensuring full consideration of accessibility needs and the diverse range of end users. Manage change effectively and respond promptly to critical events. Constructively challenge changes which are unhelpful Making Effective Decisions: ● Act decisively and make bold, unbiased decisions at a strategic level. Make sense of a wide range of political and national pressures and influences to develop strategies which meet organisational goals. Clearly communicate the purpose and reasons for recommendations and decisions. Consult with others where necessary to ensure decisions meet the diverse needs of the end users. Accept and respond to challenge constructively. Clearly recommend the best option articulating risks and impacts on economic, environmental, political and social factors Working Together: ● Proactively create, maintain and promote a strong network of contacts across the organisation and externally. Embed an inclusive culture of creating positive and supportive teams who consider the diverse needs and feelings of other colleagues. Ensure consideration and support for the wellbeing of all individuals across the organisation. Set out clear expectations that bullying, harassment, and discrimination are unacceptable. Encourage and establish mechanisms to share knowledge and resources across boundaries to support the business. Encourage teams to engage with a variety of delivery partners and stakeholders, listen to and act on their feedback Leadership: ● Remain visible and approachable to all colleagues and stakeholders. Actively promote the reputation of the organisation with pride, both internally and externally. Display passion and enthusiasm for the work, helping to inspire colleagues and stakeholders to fully engage with the aims and long term vision. Embed a culture of inclusion and equal opportunity for all, where the diversity of individuals’ backgrounds and experiences are valued and respected. Work to influence the strategy, direction and culture to increase effectiveness
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