Commercial Practitioner

Job summary

IMPORTANT - This vacancy is using the Civil Service Numerical and Verbal tests. The deadline for completing the tests is the same as the vacancy closing date. Please ensure you complete the tests with sufficient time to complete the written application.

The Department for Education is responsible for education and children’s services in England. We work to achieve a highly educated society in which opportunity is equal for children and young people, no matter what their background or family circumstances.

Our responsibilities:

• Teaching and learning for children in the early years and in primary schools
• Teaching and learning for young people under the age of 19 years in secondary schools and in further education
• Supporting professionals who work with children and young people
• Helping disadvantaged children and young people to achieve more
• Making sure that local services protect and support children.

Approximately £23.5bn of the Department’s annual expenditure is managed through commercial arrangements (grants and contracted third party spend – including capital spend and schools funding). We deal with a wide and diverse range of external suppliers and grant recipients across the private/public sectors and Voluntary & Charitable Sector (VCS).

Do you thrive on a challenge? Do you have what it takes to secure value for money? Do you like working with others to deliver great outcomes? Are you looking for a role where you can make a real difference? If so, our Commercial Practitioner roles are for you.

The Commercial Practitioner roles offer an excellent opportunity for candidates with experience in procurement and buying, as well as those looking to develop their category management expertise. The positions enable individuals to build skills across the full end-to-end procurement process and are also suited to candidates who have a proven track record of creating and delivering commercial value. These roles provide a strong foundation for developing a career in Commercial within the Department for Education.

We have a range of exciting opportunities available across the function, covering a broad spectrum of commercial activity. Our work includes delivering high-impact projects such as breakfast clubs and school-based nurseries, developing procurement strategies, and conducting market appraisals across key technology categories including hardware, AI, and EdTech.

Job description

These roles play a vital part in helping schools make efficient, value-driven purchasing decisions. You will also collaborate with partners in the Impact Economy to unlock additional value, while contributing to the development of commercial strategies in markets that are critical to delivering the Department’s policy priorities.

This is a unique opportunity to work on innovative, high-profile initiatives while shaping the future of commercial strategy across the education sector.

This position will be based within the Department’s Commercial function, where we have a set of ambitious and exciting commercial challenges:

We are leading the delivery of commercial reform both within the Department and across the schools’ sector.

We are transforming the way in which we deliver a commercial service within the Department and its Executive Agencies. We are moving towards more direct leadership and delivery of the Department’s most complex and strategic commercial projects through the implementation of end-to-end Category Management. This will deliver improved commercial outcomes, drive value for money, embed a stronger commercial focus, reduce commercial risk and improve commercial capability across the Department.

We are one of the best commercial functions in government and as such we need to recruit the best people. The commercial function operates across 8 portfolios with responsibility for a broad spectrum of activity spanning policy development and operational delivery.

As a Commercial Practitioner, you will be delivering the best possible commercial outcomes for children, young people, and the education system. The post holder will be responsible for elements of the end-to-end aspects of the procurement process from market engagement and sourcing through to contract management. With market leading guidance, a collaborative team culture and development opportunities, you will have real opportunities to develop and influence DFE commercial projects, some which are valued at hundreds of millions of pounds. This is a great time to join us to help shape our future success.

The DfE commercial function saved £285 million of taxpayers’ money in the last financial year and worked on a number of high priority projects such as School Breakfast clubs and School-Based Nurseries. This role gives you the chance to see your efforts come to life, making headlines and a real difference to individuals and to society.

Our flexible people model:

To meet the needs of DfE, our commercial professionals are expected to be able to work across the commercial lifecycle.

To support your development, there will be a clear, consistent, and transparent process for gaining placements and development moves across the function.

If the need arises, you may be required to work on priority procurement projects.

If you are experienced in using your procurement skills to deliver value for money and passionate about making a difference for children, young people, and learners we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Key elements of the end-to-end commercial lifecycle, which could include pre-market engagement, sourcing and contract award.
• Managing a range of commercial projects individually and as part of a commercial project team.
• Proactively lead, support and challenge stakeholders throughout the commercial life cycle.
• Maintaining a category pipeline to allow commercial support to start in good time to ensure a full range of commercial options can be considered.
• Understand the supply market, category, and business context to inform and deliver the commercial strategy.
• Championing commercial capability throughout the Department and across wider stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of category management.
• Contributing to the development of the category savings plan and ensuring savings are realised and tracked.
• Using an e-procurement system to effectively manage and track procurement and end-to-end category management activity.
• Complying fully with public procurement law, DFE commercial procedures, policy, and assurance processes.
• Appraise the market to help develop requirements, inform sourcing strategy to drive strong competition and help secure best value for money.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Experience in a procurement, commercial or buying role, and/or of managing suppliers, contracts and stakeholders to deliver commercial value.
• Evidence of leading and securing value for money.
• Experience of analysing complex information to make informed decisions.
• Evidence of influencing key stakeholders towards commercial solutions.
• Evidence of managing projects to deliver successful outcomes and cost effectiveness.
• Evidence of working flexibly across teams and working with a wide range of stakeholders to support competing priorities and demonstrating adaptability.
• Ability to support change and meet fast paced demand.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of carrying out procurements using a wide range of different routes to market, including utilising Government Frameworks, examples include but not limited to G-Cloud, TePAS, DOS, DSP.
• Experience of managing procurement across the entire commercial lifecycle, including contract and supplier management.
• Experience of the construction industry (for the Education Estates roles only).

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Technical skills

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

• Understanding Needs and Sourcing Options
• Business Acumen and Commercial Judgement
• Procurement Process
• Leadership Skills and Capability

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,806, Department for Education contributes £12,400 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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.

To apply for this role, please select 'Apply Now' at the top or bottom of this advert. CV details need to be included in the template within the application form; attached or emailed CVs will not be considered.

Stage 1: Civil Service Numerical Test (CSNT)

When you have completed your personal information, you will be asked to complete the CSNT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.

Stage 2: Civil Service Verbal Test (CSVT)

When you have completed the CSNT, you will be asked to complete the CSVT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.

It is important you allow enough time to complete the test online (within 24-48 hours is recommended), and obtain the results before you can complete your full application online prior to the test closing date and time.

Do not leave completing the tests until the last minute in case you experience any access or technical issues. There may not be technical support available after business hours.

While the tests should work on most operating systems and modern browsers with a good internet connection, we cannot guarantee that every combination will work. At the beginning, the test will check which browser you are using, and alert you if it is likely to be incompatible.

It is highly recommended that you complete the online tests on a desktop computer, not a mobile phone or tablet.

If you are unsuccessful in passing the online tests you will be unable to continue any further in the application process. If you successfully pass the tests, you will then progress to stage 3 of completing the full application.

Stage 3: Application

At sift stage, you will be assessed on your Experience in line with the essential skills listed in the person specification section of the job advert.

To apply for this role, please provide:

1. A ShortCV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
2. Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 1000 words, provide examples of how your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria. This is not intended to be a cover letter, instead work through each essential criteria in turn. You may wish to follow the STAR technique to help focus your examples. The key things we are looking for are what you did, how you did it and what the outcome was.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 1000 words. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert.

Should there be a high volume of applicants, candidates may be sifted on the first three (3) essential criteria.

We reserve the right to increase the minimum pass mark for the CSNT and CSVT where there is a high volume of applications or a particularly strong field of candidates. Where this occurs, candidates who do not meet the revised pass mark will not progress further, and their written application will not be assessed.

Please note, CV details must be contained within the template on the application form. Any CV or Statement of Suitability that has been emailed to our team will not be considered.

Application sifting will take place 06 July 2026 onwards. Please note these dates are subject to change.

If you are successful at application sift stage, your application will be progressed onto Stage 4 part of the Selection process.

We plan to hold an Engagement session. The purpose of this is to hopefully help you understand our DfE mission, where Commercial fits, about the SEO role itself, our culture and why you should join us! If you would be interested, please email Nichola.Drummond@education.gov.uk to express your interest. We will send over the invitation details nearer to the time.

Stage 4: Interview

The interview will last approximately 1 hour. You will be asked questions on your Technical skills listed above to determine your level of experience in these areas.

Interviews will take place towards the beginning of August 2026. Please note these dates are subject to change. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Interviews will be held over video conferencing using MS Teams. If you are invited to interview, please ensure that you have access to this software and that you have your video turned on. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We receive many applications, and unfortunately we’re not able to provide feedback for candidates who aren’t shortlisted. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

All communications will be electronic therefore it is vitally important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder.

Important Information

If you fail to complete the tests before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn. Guidance will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are untimed, administered via Civil Service Jobs, and applicant guidance is available during the test and online on GOV.UK Online Tests guidance.

Applicants must complete the test on their own, without help, and Departments reserve the right to retest applicants under supervised conditions at later stages of the selection process. Doing this can provide reassurance to recruiters who are concerned about the authenticity of one or more test results.

Please ensure you allow yourself sufficient time to complete both assessments and submit your application before the advertised deadline.

Reasonable adjustments & test accessibility:

See our reasonable adjustments guide for candidates (online tests), or some example case studies, to act as a guide. You can use these to help you decide whether to ask for help or take the test without help.

More information about online tests can be found here: Preparing for the Civil Service Verbal and Numerical tests - GOV.UK. You will also find practice tests on this page if you would find them helpful prior to completing the live test.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming 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/

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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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 : Nichola Drummond
• Email : Nichola.drummond@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)