Commercial Category Lead

Job summary

Are you a commercial or procurement professional driven by the challenge of shaping high value commercial strategies that have a real impact on public trust?

Do you enjoy advising senior leaders, building strong relationships and leading teams to deliver excellent commercial outcomes?

If so, this is an exciting opportunity to join the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a Commercial Category Lead, and we’d love to hear from you!

The FSA is the non-ministerial government department responsible for ensuring 'food we can trust.' While this mission is delivered through our people, services provided by third parties also play a crucial role in achieving our outcomes. Our Commercial Team supports the FSA in delivering optimal value for money through procured services, while managing associated risks and ensuring the delivery of outcomes.

Job description

As a Commercial Category Lead, you will be responsible for driving commercial excellence across designated spend categories by acting as a trusted and strategic commercial advisor to the FSA. You will provide customer focused commercial leadership, developing a deep understanding of business needs, stakeholder priorities and market dynamics to deliver strategic, end to end commercial oversight.

You will lead the development and delivery of category strategies that secure value for money, strong supplier performance and effective risk management. As a senior member of the commercial team, you will oversee and own elements of the full commercial lifecycle including, shaping commercial strategy and policy, assessing requirements and sourcing options, leading supplier negotiations and enabling the effective management of contracts and supplier relationships.

Success in this role requires confident and supportive people leadership. You will develop and guide a team in delivering high quality commercial outcomes, translating commercial strategy into effective day to day execution. You will foster strong relationships across the FSA, with suppliers and with other Government Departments, providing clear direction and ongoing support to Category Managers and colleagues. Through your commercial insight, you will identify opportunities for improvement, champion continuous improvement, and ensure a consistent, high standard commercial approach across all assigned categories of spend.

Working pattern guidance

Applicants who wish to work compressed hours 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 applying as a job share partnership you should both complete separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs but should make it clear that you are applying as job sharers. Further details on job sharing can be found here JSF – What is the recruitment process for job sharers? , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

• MCIPS (or comparable qualification)
or
• willing to work towards MCIPS

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £61,608, Food Standards Agency contributes £17,847 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

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 Strengths and Experience.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role.

· MCIPS (or comparable qualification)

or

· willing to work towards MCIPS

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential and desirable criteria. (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Essential criteria

Experience

· Commercial Leadership & Category Management

Demonstrates strong commercial knowledge and an excellent understanding of the principles of end to end commercial lifecycle management Has experience of leading the procurement and management of high‑value, complex or high‑risk agreements, driving best value and ensuring optimal performance. (Lead criteria)

· Building Relationships

Proven ability to build strong, influential relationships with stakeholders at all levels, communicating technical and commercial advice clearly to enable effective decision‑making and successful commercial outcomes.

· Procurement Risk and Assurance Management

Experience in managing end to end procurement for medium value and medium risk contracts, analysing risks and trade-offs to make effective decisions and commercial recommendations.

· Team Focus

Leads and develops teams to deliver high performance, supporting individuals through challenges and driving continuous improvement.

Desirable criteria (Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie between candidates).

Experience

· In-depth knowledge of procurement legislation (e.g., PCR 2015 and Procurement Act 2023) and experience applying it to develop effective sourcing and category strategies.

Lead Criteria An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Strengths.

Experience

· Commercial Leadership & Category Management

· Building Relationships

· Procurement Risk and Assurance Management

· Team Focus

Strengths

We will also assess you against a number of Civil Service Strengths – these are not disclosed prior to interview.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 22 March 2026 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 23 March 2026

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 13 April 2026

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency 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.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not offer visa sponsorship and cannot provide advice on visa applications

Making a complaint

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated fairly in accordance with the principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email the FSA’s Director of People at jo.bushnell@food.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

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

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.

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 : Lauren Vaughan
• Email : Lauren.Vaughan@food.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk

Further information

If you wish to raise a complaint then please email hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk in the first instance.

Attachments

Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1054kB)Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 Opens in new window (pdf, 60kB)