Commercial Policy, Governance and Capability Manager
Job summary
This is a pivotal and high-impact role at the heart of the organisation’s Commercial Policy, Governance and Assurance function. The team provides vital commercial oversight, ensuring that commercial activity across the organisation aligns with government-wide standards, Cabinet Office policy, and internal governance requirements.Job description
In this role, you will be instrumental in strengthening commercial governance, developing and implementing commercial policies, and delivering high-quality robust assurance across complex, high-risk commercial portfolios. This role is ideal for candidates with experience in commercial governance, policy development, commercial assurance, risk management, or implementation of government policy initiatives.
The Commercial Policy, Governance & Assurance Manager is a busy role. It involves managing multiple priorities, collaborating with senior stakeholders, and supporting the Commercial function’s ongoing maturity and capability.
Support the Commercial Assurance Board and wider governance structures through preparation of papers, tracking actions, and coordinating inputs from stakeholders.
Work with senior commercial colleagues to ensure effective management and oversight of commercial policy and governance activities across the function.
Lead or contribute to policy engagement with other government departments, statutory bodies, and cross-government groups.Commercial Assurance & Continuous ImprovementSupport assurance reviews for major procurements and high risk commercial activity, identifying risks and contributing clear, actionable recommendations. risk commercial activity, identifying risks and contributing clear, actionable recommendations.
Manage the organisation’s application of the Continuous Commercial Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF), coordinating evidence collection and tracking progress against assigned themes.
Ensure insights from governance, audit, risk, and assurance activity directly drive continuous improvement initiatives across the function.
Coach and mentor colleagues, including designing and delivering training and capability building sessions. building sessions.Risk ManagementEmbed risk management methodologies into commercial processes, ensuring appropriate checks, controls, and escalation routes.
Undertake regular reviews of the Commercial risk register, identifying emerging risks and supporting mitigation planningStakeholder Engagement & Capability BuildingPromote awareness and understanding of Commercial policy across business areas, providing guidance and practical support.
Build and maintain a trusted network of commercial expertise, encouraging collaboration, consistency, and best practice sharing across teams and with other public bodies.
Manage commercial training bids, identify capability gaps, prepare learning proposals, and track professional development aligned to functional requirements.Governance, Audit & ReportingManage the relationship with Audit on behalf of the Commercial function, ensuring actions are tracked, progressed, and translated into updated policies or operating processes.
Prepare high quality written materials including briefings, reports, policy notes, guidance, and governance papers
Monitor compliance with commercial policies, governance frameworks, and performance measures, providing insight and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
Proactively engage with stakeholders to gather pipeline data and ensure conditions are met in a timely fashion Team Leadership & ManagementProvide line management to team members responsible for Commercial policies, operating procedures, data management, reporting and analysis.
Foster a positive, inclusive culture and support professional development within the team
Person specification
Experience in a relevant field, such as; commercial, commercial policy, commercial governance, commercial assurance, risk management, Ability to analyse complex information, identify risks, and provide clear, evidence based recommendations.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing reports, policy documents, or governance materials.Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels.Proven ability to manage competing priorities in a fast paced environmentStrong organisational skills and attention to detail.Desirable Criteria
Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.-Understanding of public sector procurement regulations and commercial policy.-Knowledge of government commercial frameworks, including
Commercial Continuous Improvement Assessment Framework (CCIAF) ,Cabinet Office Commercial Spend Controls and HMT Delegations.
-CIPS/MCIPS (or working towards) or Government Commercial Function accreditation
-Experience managing governance boards or formal decision making processesVirtual Open Evening Event
To find out more about the role and the application process we will be holding virtual opening evenings via MS Teams on Monday 23rd March at 6pm.
This event is by invitation only.
To register, please click on the following link Virtual Event registration - Commercial - Monday 23rd March 2026 – Fill in form.
You will be asked for your name and email address.
Registration will close on 22nd March at 23:45.
You will not be able to register after this date and time.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Experienced in producing a complex written output including commercial policy documents, governance papers, commercial assurance reports or briefings for a board.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels.
- Evidence of strengthening or improving a governance process (such as risk management, assurance, or policy development)
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £55,575, National Crime Agency contributes £16,100 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.
If qualifying criteria is met new joiners from UK Police Forces or the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for annual leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day).
Other benefits include:
- Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
- Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
- Learning and Development opportunities
- Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
- Housing schemes - Key Worker status
- Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway , Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
- Staff support groups/networks
- Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)
Further information is available on the NCA Website.
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 Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.How you will be assessed: Your application will be assessed against the following:Technical - this will be assessed by 250 word examples on:- Experienced in producing a complex written output including commercial policy documents, governance papers, commercial assurance reports or briefings for a board.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels.
- Evidence of strengthening or improving a governance process (such as risk management, assurance, or policy development)
Longlist
In the event of a high number of applications, we may operate a longlist. Applicants will need to meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria.
- Experienced in producing a complex written output including commercial policy documents, governance papers, commercial assurance reports or briefings for a board. .
Candidates who do not meet the minimum pass mark for the lead criteria will not progress to having their other criteria assessed. Applications must meet the minimum criteria to be progressed to the assessment stage.
You will receive an acknowledgement once your application is submitted.
We aim to have sift completed and scores released within 10 working days of the closing date of the advert. For high volume campaigns this timeframe may be extended.
Scores will be provided but further feedback will not be available at this stage.
For guidance on the application process, visit:NCA Applying and Onboarding
Assessment 1
The format of this assessment will be Interview which will be tested on the criteria listed in the Success Profiles at Assessment section.
Additional assessment methods used alongside InterviewAs part of the assessment process In-Tray exercise will be required to assess the criteria outlined below:The In-Tray exercise will assess technical criteria 2 - Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels.Success Profiles at Assessment
Behaviours- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence and build credibility at all levels.
If successful but no role is immediately available, you may be placed on a reserve list for 12 months.
Reserve lists can be used to fill similar role types across the Agency where the assessment criteria is considered a match by the recruitment team and the business area.
In the event of a tie at the assessment stage, available roles will be offered in merit order using the following order:
- Lead criteria (behaviours/technical/experience)
- If still tied, desirable criteria will be assessed (if advertised)
- If still tied, application sift scores will be used
Occupational Health
Successful candidates will be expected to undertake an occupational health assessment. Depending on the role an in-person medical may be required in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.Multi Location
Where multiple locations are advertised, appointments will be made in merit order per location.
Indicate your preferences clearly; you may be posted to any preferred location. If you decline a post at a location you selected, another offer may not be made.
Only advertised locations are available, any notes added to the application will not be considered.
Near Miss
If you meet the criteria for a lower grade, you may be offered that role if not appointable at the advertised grade.
Conversely, if found appointable at a higher grade but no posts are available, you may be offered a lower-grade role.
All offers are made based on merit.
Hybrid Working
The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.Reasonable Adjustments
We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive, equal opportunities employer.
We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone can be their authentic self. If you’re neurodiverse, have a disability, or live with a long-term health condition, we encourage you to let us know about any reasonable adjustments you may need during the recruitment process.
If you experience accessibility issues with the advert or require reasonable adjustments, please contact our Recruitment Team at Central.Recruitment@nca.gov.uk before the advert closing date.
Please ensure you complete the ‘Equal opportunities’ and 'Reasonable Adjustments' sections in the application form to inform us on what support you may need in the recruitment process.
For more on our Disability Confident commitment, visit Disability Confident Scheme , Civil Service Careers.
Visit NCA Benefits and Support for more details.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
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
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.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 : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
- Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
Further information
If you believe your application has not been treated fairly, email: Central.Recruitment@nca.gov.uk (quoting the vacancy reference).If unresolved, you may escalate your complaint to the Civil Service Commission.
Salary range
- £55,575 - £58,593 per year