Commercial Lead / Category Manager – Grants, Revenue & Innovative Programmes (GRIP) x 2FTE

Job summary

At Defra, we are tackling some of the most important challenges of our time. From driving climate resilience to restoring nature, our work shapes the environment, economy and communities across the UK. As part of this mission, our Commercial Directorate plays a central role in designing, securing and shaping the innovative funding and commercial mechanisms that make this possible.

Within Commercial, the Grants & Revenue Innovative Programmes (GRIP) category is a small, expert and highly collaborative team of around 30 specialists operating where commercial strategy meets environmental ambition. We work across the full commercial lifecycle, from delivering major grant and revenue schemes to shaping emerging markets, unlocking investment, creating new delivery models and building partnerships that support nature recovery, net zero and wider Defra outcomes. Our work is fast-paced, high-profile and genuinely impactful, often pioneering approaches that later become best practice across government.

We are recruiting due to the internal promotion of the previous role holders — a reflection of the strong career development opportunities and the high-quality work delivered by GRIP and the wider GCO profession. These roles provide a rare opportunity to join a forward-thinking commercial function that is helping to build the UK’s future environmental markets and funding systems from the ground up.

As a Commercial Lead, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring resilient and efficient commercial models and agreements are in place so Defra can manage spend effectively and innovatively, while meeting Spending Review targets and delivering value for money. You will provide trusted expertise to senior leaders, influence policy, shape market and commercial strategies, and embed strong commercial governance across the programmes you support. You will also lead and develop a high-performing commercial team, building capability, promoting strong commercial principles and applying the Commercial DNA and People Standards to deliver excellence.

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious commercial professional to work on complex, meaningful challenges with real-world impact, while shaping how commercial principles influence environmental delivery across government. If you’re motivated by innovation, leadership and the chance to make a visible difference, we’d love to hear from you

Job description

This is a leadership and delivery role within Defra’s Commercial Directorate, offering the opportunity to work on some of the department’s most technically complex and strategically innovative programmes. As a Commercial Lead, you will shape, design and deliver commercial approaches that sit at the frontier of environmental policy, funding and new market creation.

You will lead a small team of commercial professionals (typically 2–4 people), providing day-to-day direction, coaching and capability development. You will also act as a trusted commercial adviser to senior leaders across Defra and its delivery bodies, influencing decision-making, ensuring good governance, and driving value for money.

The role involves leading commercial activity across a broad and evolving portfolio. This includes managing high-value or high-risk procurements, grants and commercial models; overseeing supplier relationships within your area; and ensuring effective planning, risk management and delivery. You will also represent the Commercial Directorate at senior programme boards, steer groups and project approvals forums.

A distinctive aspect of this role is the opportunity to design and implement bespoke commercial models for programmes that sit outside conventional public funding frameworks. These interventions often require intensive early-stage commercial input, working closely with policy, legal, finance, economists and delivery partners to build new models that are robust, innovative and aligned with Defra’s strategic goals. As these programmes transition into business-as-usual delivery, they move to other parts of the organisation, creating a fluid and varied portfolio of work.

Current programmes supported within the team include the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), Woodland Carbon Purchase Fund (WCPF), Marine Recovery Fund (MRF), Official Development Assistance (ODA) portfolios, Trees & Peat programmes, and the Farming and Countryside Programme (including Landscape Recovery and the Sustainable Farming Incentive). These programmes require commercial creativity, a strong understanding of regulatory and market dynamics, and close collaboration with delivery bodies such as Natural England, cross-government partners, and a wide range of external organisations.

Success in this role means being comfortable exploring abstract or emerging problem spaces where precedent is limited. You will need strong commercial judgement, resilience, and the ability to navigate a dynamic stakeholder landscape while maintaining strategic focus and delivering practical solutions.

This role is well-suited to someone with substantial commercial expertise and a genuine appetite for innovation. It is not a conventional contract-delivery role; instead, it offers the chance to shape new models of public funding, enable new markets, and help define how environmental goals are delivered across the UK. If you thrive on challenge, variety and creating new ways of working, this could be the ideal opportunity for you.

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

Defra Group Commercial (DgC) is looking to appoint 2 Commercial Leads /Category Managers (Grade 7). Reporting to a Senior Category Manager within the Grants & Revenue Innovative Programmes category, this role is a key part of the Category’s Leadership Team.

Commercial Leadership

• Provide commercial delivery and leadership across a portfolio of high-profile, time-limited programmes such as the Nature Restoration Fund, Marine Recovery Fund, and Official Development Assistance.
• Shape and implement innovative commercial models that move beyond traditional procurement and grant mechanisms; for example, regulation-driven funding, green finance, blended finance structures, and nature market interventions. Support complex negotiations and contribute to the design of bespoke contractual frameworks and collaborative funding mechanisms that stand up to public scrutiny.
• Co-develop commercial models that balance policy intent with delivery realities and long-term public value. Lead Delivery Model Assessments to determine and embed the most effective strategic approaches.

Programme Design & Market Intelligence

• Develop market intelligence across specialist sectors, including financial services, environmental and nature markets and grant administration, to shape bespoke commercial approaches and innovative delivery model design.
• Support the development of robust business cases (3-stage/5-case) that underpin investment decisions, secure Programme approvals, and demonstrate strategic alignment with government priorities.

Risk, Governance & Accountability

• Ensuring regulatory compliance and driving strategic alignment across varied in-country international contexts and delivery partners.
• Maintain strategic supplier and grant recipient relationships, ensuring performance, delivery excellence, and coherence with policy objectives. Lead complex exit strategies and resolve disputes, particularly where political decisions alter budgets or reshape delivery expectations.

Stakeholder & Partnership Engagement

• Manage stakeholder relationships across Defra, other government departments, devolved governments, Arm’s Length Bodies, and international partners, ensuring influence and alignment.
• Represent the Category at senior management meetings and at commercial and Programme boards, attending as required.

Innovation & Sustainability

• Support simplification and innovation across Defra’s programmes, identifying opportunities to reduce complexity, streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance the quality of commercial outcomes.
• Champion new ways of working within your own team and the wider category, that improve effectiveness, efficiency, and collaboration.
• Lead by example in sustainability, embedding it throughout commercial approaches and influencing senior stakeholders, delivery partners, and colleagues to strengthen their own practices and decision-making.

Leadership & Team Development

• Manage and support a team, building a high-performing and collaborative culture capable of delivering within complex and fast-evolving programme contexts. Contribute to the management of resources across the wider category in an agile and responsive way, balancing shifting priorities, emerging interventions, and peaks in demand.
• Support and coach team members on commercial policies, procedures, and techniques, equipping them with the skills, confidence, and judgement to deliver effectively in complex and evolving environments.
• Champion commercial capability and continuous improvement, mentoring team members and supporting customer directorates to embed commercial thinking across programme and policy design.

General Responsibilities

• Ensure the compliant delivery of contracts, grants, and frameworks in line with the Procurement Act 2023, the Government Grants Standards, and the Blended Finance Toolkit.
• Responsible for the development and adoption of fit for purpose commercial policies, procedures, practices and tools to support excellent procurement and grants giving across the business.
• Responsible for the application of the principles defined within the commercial DNA. Ensure best practice SRM and market analysis deliver corporate outcomes.
• Each Commercial Lead will work with customers within their portfolio to ensure their pipeline requirements are met and will work in conjunction with other programme leads to manage the customer relationship.

Financial Scheme of Delegation

• All Category Leads have a delegated authority at all stages of the procurement process:-
• Sign off of Procurement Strategies and Contract Award Reports up to £2m
• Make commercial commitments up to £2 million
• Single Tender Action (up to £250k)

Technical skills

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

• Leads commercial delivery across complex, changing programmes; prioritises, simplifies and drives progress in ambiguous contexts.
• Strong record of delivering value for money, setting clear commercial objectives and holding teams and suppliers to outcomes.
• Influences senior stakeholders with different priorities; builds trust, secures buy‑in, and communicates commercial advice clearly
• Experience coaching and mentoring, to build capability at all levels of commercial function.
• Shapes commercial approaches early in programme design, aligning models to strategic objectives and long-term public value.
• Leads high-value or high-risk procurements or grants end-to-end, from strategy and market engagement through award and mobilisation.

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 be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place on 1st April 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-recruitment/

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.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 : Patricia Krauss
• 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

449412 - Candidate Pack - DEFRA - Commercial Lead Category Manager – Grants Revenue and Innovative Programmes GRIP x 2FTE.docx Opens in new window (pdf, 541kB)Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS) Opens in new window (pdf, 70kB)