Associate Commercial Specialist – Networks and Cyber Security

Job summary

HMRC are delighted to have opening to recruit an Associate Commercial Specialist, within the Commercial Directorate to lead the Networks and Cyber Security technology procurement team. The role, reporting to the Deputy Commercial Director for IT Infrastructure, is to lead a procurement team of 7 commercial professionals, responsible for the commercial strategy, implementation, and ongoing procurement of over £33.3m per year of IT Networks and Cyber Security related technology. These procurements, range from highly complex and mission critical services to transactional procurements. You'll be responsible for the development of the core team and be a leader to support the development of HMRC’s commercial function.

HMRC’s commercial team of 250 people, is split across the lifecycle of commercial: Category Management and Sourcing, Contract Management and Strategic sourcing. This role is within the pre award IT Infrastructure team, in the Category management and sourcing section of the directorate. It is one of 4 pre award teams, the others being IT Applications, People and Professional Services and Corporate Services.

The IT Infrastructure Team is split into 4 key areas, Physical & Cloud Infrastructure, Networks and Cyber Security, Operating Systems and Data & Business Information. This team of 19 is supported by internal HMRC support for key programmes.

This exciting role offers the opportunity to expand your skills and experience in the procurement of the largest IT and Technology function outside the MoD in Government. It offers the ability to help shape how HMRC will support the collection and retention of tax for the UK government over the next 10 to 15 years. The role will be one of the extended leadership team for HMRC commercial and offer the opportunity for significant professional development by working with a large range of professionals from both the Public and Private sector with extensive backgrounds in Technology and Commercial.

You will lead a key area within HMRC and a developing Government Commercial Function. You will lead a small team of commercial specialists and will need to enjoy working collaboratively with the rest of the Commercial Directorate senior leadership team, our key customers and wider government to develop right across the commercial lifecycle. The right commercial capability will help HMRC to be more successful now and in the future so there couldn’t be a more exciting time to join us.

Job description

Reporting to a Commercial Deputy Director, you will lead a portfolio of IT Infrastructure commercial specialists with a team of 7 sourcing specialists, consisting of 2 Commercial Leads, 2 Senior Executive Officers, 1 Higher Executive Officer and 2 Executive Officers.

You will be accountable for the overall category strategy ensuring that it delivers innovative, competitive, and compliant commercial outcomes that are aligned to HMRC objectives and maximise value for money.

You will also develop highly effective and trusted relationships with key senior internal and external stakeholders, most specifically in HMRC’s CDIO technology Division. As part of the Extended Senior Leadership Team, you will be responsible for providing leadership to your Category Team and wider Commercial Directorate, whilst taking a proactive approach in talent development within your area of responsibility and beyond. Role responsibilities include:

Lead and provide direction for an overall category plan and future requirements, in-conjunction with key stakeholders across all functions, overseeing the procurement process across the category scope.

Develop and maintain strategic stakeholder relationships across relevant business areas providing focused commercial and category advice.

Using commercial acumen and extensive category knowledge, influence business needs, organisational objectives, and policy, ensuring market and sector intelligence is maximised and emerging and/or innovative solutions and suppliers are considered for all commercial activities.

Using and well-established pipeline, proactively identify opportunities across micro and macro environments, which are then to drive improved value through innovative solutions.

Working collaboratively with the business customer, as a business partner and with our colleagues in Commercial Contract Management to provide a seamless strategic commercial service that includes analysis to support make or buy decisions, market engagement/ development and delivery of the competitive processes used to select/ appoint suppliers and award contracts for all goods and services.

Locations
The successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. When selecting your location listed in this job advert please be aware that this will be your contractual base location with a requirement to spend a minimum of 60% of your working time in this organisational workplace.

Your time spent on official duties at workplace locations other than your contractual office such as supplier, customer or partner locations required to perform your role is included in the 60% attendance.

This requirement will however take into consideration any reasonable adjustments agreed upon appointment for people with a disability, flexibilities agreed for those with specific caring responsibilities, or other similar temporary flexibilities.

Person specification

The successful candidate will:

• MCIPS or equivalent professional experience
• Driving and leading delivery of the Category Strategy, you will have end-to-end multiple category lifecycle experience within complex business environments.
• Develop specialist category knowledge of market, suppliers, commercial models and value levers as well as responsibility for ensuring procurements comply with HMG & HMRC policies and regulations.
• Demonstrate strong team leadership, stakeholder relationship management, risk management and planning skills.
• Responsible for overseeing the procurement process in relation to the category including Category specific pre-market engagement.

Technical skills

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

• Demonstrates resilience & collaboration with suppliers, stakeholders, & team. Presents technical issues to aid decision-making. Coaches colleagues for development, promoting knowledge & resource sharing within the commercial function.
• Implements government commercial policy, articulates requirements to stakeholders, develops plans for complex delivery models. Produces/analyses data to inform category strategy, researches markets, and quantifies risk.
• Engages stakeholders for clear, agreed business requirements and specs for complex programmes, managing demand. Reviews business cases for robustness. Implements project/programme management to achieve ROI by managing resources & maximizing asset use
• Supports market creation to strengthen options. Collates/reviews performance, recommending improvements. Supports/leads negotiations with data/evidence; for some contracts acts as the signing authority.

Benefits

As a valued employee of the Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), you will have access to all the benefits the centre has to offer; including flexible working, generous benefits, Career Coaches, Mentors, L&D, a Commercial College, active talent management and, most importantly, access to commercial projects that will far exceed the scale and complexity on offer elsewhere in the UK.

For existing Civil Servants: For full details of the impact on any move across the civil service on your existing terms and conditions, please read the candidate pack. Please note that any move across the Civil Service may have implications on your ability to continue to claim childcare vouchers.

Kindly refer to the following link for the GCF Rewards and benefits page.

https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gcf-benefits/

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 our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

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

Your application will be reviewed by a panel and should you be successful at sift we will invite you to attend a Virtual commercial Assessment and Development Centre (VADC). The panel will review results of the VADC and determine which candidates will go through to a subsequent final panel interview. Please note: Only candidates that achieve an A grade at ADC will be invited to interview for this role.

Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 4 March 2026 and will require a full day's attendance.

If you are invited to attend a virtual ADC, but for any reason are unable to meet the date outlined then please get in touch with the team on commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible. The ADC is booked and paid for in advance by departments, therefore it is only in certain circumstances we are able to accommodate alternative dates.

For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the attached candidate pack.

Throughout our selection process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the Technical Skills (essential criteria) and your Job History (CV) that you will be asked to provide during the application process. Further help and advice on our application and selection process can be found at this web address https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/gcf-how-to-apply/

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 our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/artificial-intelligence-and-re…
IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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.

Diversity and Inclusion

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

Apply and further information

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 : Lynsey Munro
• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should direct this to the Head of Commercial Resourcing Hub at the following email commercialresourcinghub@cabinetoffice.gov.uk quoting the vacancy reference number (if applicable) and the details of your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission via the following web page: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

445061 - Candidate Pack - Associate Commercial Specialist – Networks and Cyber Security Opens in new window (pdf, 725kB)