Commercial Category Manager

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a non-ministerial department of over 1600 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

We are looking for a Commercial Category Manager to play a key role in securing value for money and supporting the delivery of services that help ensure food is safe and trusted. This is an opportunity to join a high performing, supportive commercial team that works closely with colleagues across the organisation to deliver essential outcomes. The role offers the chance to build commercial expertise, influence strategic decisions, and contribute directly to the success of a vital public‑sector organisation.

You will help shape and deliver commercial activity across a range of categories, working with both internal teams and external suppliers. The role is suited to someone who enjoys managing a varied workload, working collaboratively, and building strong relationships with stakeholders and suppliers. It also offers scope to develop your skills, contribute to continuous improvement, and become a trusted commercial adviser.

Job description

In this role you will develop and maintain category strategies, ensuring the delivery of procurement activity that supports organisational priorities and reflects market insight. You will lead sourcing projects from planning through to contract award, guiding colleagues on the best routes to market and ensuring compliance with procurement regulations. Your work will involve shaping specifications, managing evaluations, and supporting the smooth transition into contract management so that suppliers understand expectations and deliver effectively.

You will engage with key stakeholders to understand requirements, manage risks, and provide clear commercial advice. Alongside this, you will monitor category performance, analyse spend, and identify opportunities to secure improved value for money. You will play an important part in supplier relationship management, supporting regular reviews and helping resolve issues to maintain high quality service delivery. The role also involves contributing to wider commercial improvement initiatives, supporting team development, and applying strong organisational skills to manage deadlines and priorities.

If you’re eager to work in an organisation that makes a real difference and develop your commercial career, we’d love to receive your application.

Working pattern guidance

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)

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.

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

Please confirm the following
•MCIPS (or comparable qualification)
or
•willing to work towards MCIPS

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £45,125, Food Standards Agency contributes £13,072 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 criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

· Procurement & Category Management Expertise

Experience leading end‑to‑end procurement activity utilising strong understanding of category management principles, sourcing methodologies, commercial tools, and procurement regulations. Proven ability to secure value for money and manage a pipeline of expenditure effectively. (Lead criteria)

· Commercial Acumen, Risk & Ethical Standards

Strong commercial judgement with an understanding of commercial law and its practical application. Ability to identify, assess and manage commercial, cyber, personnel and physical risks, and uphold high standards of commercial ethics, taking appropriate action to address fraud, corruption or unethical behaviour in supply chains.

· Stakeholder & Supplier Engagement

Excellent relationship‑building and communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels. Confident in leading challenging conversations, articulating commercial benefits, establishing governance arrangements and maintaining productive supplier relationships throughout the commercial lifecycle.

· Collaborative Working & Continuous Improvement

Proven ability to work effectively within a team, support collective performance and manage setbacks constructively. The ability to apply structured continuous‑improvement approaches to enhance services, solve business issues and deliver better commercial outcomes.

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 and Strengths requirements of the role.

Experience

· Procurement & Category Management Expertise

· Commercial Acumen, Risk & Ethical Standards

· Stakeholder & Supplier Engagement

· Collaborative Working & Continuous Improvement

Strengths

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

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 16 March 2026 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 16 March 2026

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 30 March 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 : Adam Smyth
• Email : Adam.Smyth@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

v1.0 Candidate Pack - Commercial Category Manager (SEO) Feb 26 Opens in new window (pdf, 1072kB)Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 Opens in new window (pdf, 42kB)