Commercial Lead – Contract Management

Job summary

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is leading one of the most ambitious digital transformation agendas in government. The department is responsible for modernising how public services are designed, delivered and operated, replacing legacy approaches with platforms, products and delivery models designed to work at national scale.

This Commercial Lead role focuses on contract management across the Government Digital Service (GDS) portfolio — supporting the operation and performance of nationally critical digital services and platforms. The scope spans major live services such as GOV.UK and One Login, alongside emerging areas including digital identity, the National Data Library and AI. This work sits at the heart of how government delivers and operates services at scale, with a strong focus on maintaining service continuity, performance, value for money and effective supplier delivery across complex, business-critical contracts.

This role is central to ensuring that major digital programmes are supported by robust, well-managed contracts as they scale, evolve and transition between delivery phases. You will shape and lead contract management approaches that ensure strong in-life governance, effective performance management and early identification of risk, enabling programmes to deliver at pace while maintaining control, assurance and value.

You will work closely with contract owners, delivery teams and suppliers, providing commercial leadership across contract management, supplier performance and in-life commercial controls. The work is high-profile, fast-moving and often involves complex supplier arrangements, requiring confident judgement, proactive intervention and the ability to influence outcomes to maintain delivery confidence.

DSIT Commercial operates as a central function, bringing together experienced commercial professionals managing a broad and evolving portfolio of live contracts. While your primary focus will be GDS, you will be part of a wider commercial community, contributing to improved contract management capability, consistent standards and a more structured, portfolio-level view of in-life commercial performance across DSIT.

This role offers the chance to shape how digital government is delivered at scale, working on programmes that genuinely change how the state operates. If you are motivated by complex transformation, enjoy working where delivery, risk and innovation collide, and want to have real influence over high-impact digital programmes, this is a role where your judgement and expertise will matter.

Job description

The role supports major digital transformation initiatives, including nationally significant platforms and services that operate at scale across government.

The role may include some line management with a strong focus on leading contract management across complex, high-profile digital delivery programmes. You will work closely with teams delivering GDS products and platforms, shaping and overseeing in-life commercial arrangements, including contract performance, supplier delivery and commercial controls across the lifecycle.

Key stakeholders include programme and delivery leaders within GDS, senior departmental officials, finance and legal colleagues, and a wide range of technology and delivery suppliers. You will act as a trusted commercial adviser, using your judgement to manage risk, challenge constructively and support informed decision-making across complex delivery environments.

You will lead contract management across a defined area of the digital, data and technology portfolio, taking accountability for in-life performance, governance and value for money. This includes managing supplier performance, maintaining effective commercial controls, and ensuring contracts adapt as services scale, transition or evolve. You will support more complex or high-risk commercial issues where required, applying proportionate and outcome-focused approaches.

In addition to your portfolio responsibilities, you will contribute to DSIT Commercial’s wider objectives, including strengthening contract management capability, improving tools and processes, and supporting a consistent, pragmatic and portfolio-level approach to in-life commercial management across an evolving departmental portfolio.

These roles sit within DSIT’s central Commercial team, providing commercial leadership across some of the department’s most high-impact digital programmes. Initial focus will be within the Government Digital Service (GDS) portfolio, including GOV.UK One Login, digital identity, the National Data Library, and emerging areas such as AI and digital capability. These programmes are at the forefront of public sector transformation and operate at national scale.

As a key member of the DSIT Commercial team, you will lead contract management across a defined area of the GDS portfolio. You will work closely with delivery, policy, digital and operational colleagues to ensure that in-life commercial arrangements support delivery outcomes, maintain service performance and drive value for money across complex, business-critical contracts.

You will be part of a flexible, collaborative commercial function supporting DSIT’s digital transformation goals.

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

In this role, you will:

• Lead contract management across a defined portfolio of live contracts, ensuring alignment with the GDS Contract Management Strategy, associated standards, controls and governance.
• Provide leadership to a small team, setting priorities and allocating resources across competing demands, ensuring consistent and proportionate contract management.
• Manage contracts according to risk, value and service criticality, with a particular focus on high-risk and business-critical arrangements.
• Apply a differentiated approach to Build and Run contracts, ensuring strong mobilisation, delivery control and performance management across the contract lifecycle.
• Own and maintain core in-life commercial controls, including contract management plans, risk and issue management, change control, supplier assurance, financial monitoring and forward planning.
• Work closely with delivery teams and suppliers to improve contract data, challenge performance and identify risks early, driving timely intervention where required.
• Lead supplier relationship management activities, including performance reviews, issue resolution and escalation, to maintain delivery confidence and accountability.
• Ensure effective mobilisation and handover from procurement into in-life management.
• Contribute to a robust portfolio-level view of contracts, improving visibility of performance, risk, spend and pipeline considerations.
• Develop and improve tools, templates and ways of working to support consistent, proportionate and audit-ready contract management.
• Provide clear, confident commercial advice to senior stakeholders on contract performance, risk and future implications.
• Build capability across the team and wider organisation through coaching, collaboration and knowledge sharing.

You will bring experience of delivering commercial activity in complex or fast-paced environments, ideally within digital or technology programmes. You will be confident working with suppliers, applying sound judgement and leading contract management activity to support delivery outcomes.

Technical skills

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

• Able to evidence building and maintaining effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders to support collaboration and successful delivery.
• Experience delivering contract management across complex or high‑value contracts, including performance management, governance, and risk identification.
• Ability to apply commercial judgement to manage in‑life performance, risk and value for money, taking appropriate action in complex or fast‑moving environments.
• Evidence of taking a proactive approach, identifying issues early, challenging constructively and driving resolution while maintaining delivery confidence.
• Experience managing supplier relationships, including performance oversight, escalation and improving outcomes through effective commercial engagement.

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 Tuesday 4th August 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

Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS) Opens in new window (pdf, 64kB)467348 - Commercial Lead – Contract Management - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 765kB)