Commercial Procurement Leads for Visas & Passports x5

Job summary

Welcome to the Home Office Commercial Directorate and thank you for your interest in the roles we are offering.

I joined the Home Office in 2016 to lead the Collaborative Law Enforcement Programme, delivering £320m in cashable savings and transforming how policing approaches commercial activity. Before that, I served as Commercial Director at the Metropolitan Police Service, where I repositioned the department as a strategic function through commercial insight and ambition—ensuring operational policing had the tools to serve stakeholders while achieving best value for the public purse.

The Home Office works to keep citizens safe and the country secure. We reduce crime, enforce the law, protect borders, and safeguard the most vulnerable, while shaping public policy at the highest level. Our commercial teams have played a critical role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening border and societal protections.

Each year, the Home Office spends around £3bn with third-party suppliers, managed by our Commercial Directorate—a team of approximately 300 procurement and contract management professionals. We source a wide range of goods and services, including complex programmes unique in Europe, supported by multi-million-pound contracts.

Joining us means making a tangible impact on the UK’s future. You will work across diverse missions, from Borders and Migration to Public Safety, Homeland Security, the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme, and Digital, Data & Technology.

We are partway through a programme of change which has seen us recruiting across all grades. Now we are seeking enthusiastic individuals at Commercial Lead level who can help support the delivery of Commercial’s objectives. Commercial Leads are leaders and managers who will help us to build Commercial’s reputation as a strategic partner, improving business outcomes and delivering value for money through the contracts we source.

So, whatever your background, either public or private, if you are passionate about delivering first class outcomes then come and join our journey.

Job description

The Home Office has one of the most challenging and critical jobs in Whitehall: to keep Britain safe and secure. We operate at the heart of the Government's agenda, leading on immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime policy, counter-extremism and counterterrorism and work to ensure visible, responsive, and accountable policing in the UK. The challenges the Department faces are significant and can change rapidly in the global environment in which we operate, making this one of the most exciting and stimulating Government Departments in which to work.

The Commercial Directorate manages the conduit between the Home Office and those supplier markets that help us provide key services to the public. It provides strategic commercial services such as market intelligence, procurement and contract management activities and its principal aims are to deliver efficiency savings, support the strategic agendas of our client groups by procuring the right products and services in a timely manner and dynamically managing contracts and suppliers, whilst delivering activities in a transparent and compliant manner.

The Visas, Passports, Citizenship and Resettlement Group (VPCR) Commercial team are looking for 5 x G7 experienced procurement professionals to lead 5 major procurements. The successful candidates would be joining a highly collaborative and supportive Commercial and will have a chance to leverage their skills as an experienced procurement professional under PCR 2015 and influence and shape the design of a procurement under the New Procurement Act 2023.

The G7 Leads will work closely with the project teams consisting of multiple stakeholders: Project Management team, Business, Finance, Commercial Finance, and Legal. Success will depend on building strong relationships with all stakeholders, building trust and credibility so that you are able to effectively challenge and influence at all levels.

Each successful candidate will lead a team of 2-3 commercial managed services resource. Longer term the roles will look to co-lead the recruitment of permanent staff. The 5 procurements are listed below:

English Language Testing procurement (£680m) - Those applying for citizenship in the UK are required to take a test to prove their knowledge of living in the UK English language testing for visa applicants

Life in The UK Testing procurement – (value over £100m). Those applying for citizenship in the UK are required to take a test to prove their knowledge of living in the UK. At Market engagement stage. The service is being re designed and the new contract will be revenue generating

Tuberculosis (TB) Testing procurement - (value over £100m). Screening in over 250 clinics worldwide as part of the Visa application process. At Market engagement stage. The service and contractual arrangement is being redesigned, and the new contract will be revenue generating for the Home Office.

Passport Document Handling BPO procurement – (£100m) scanning, validation and storage contract for passport applications. ITT has been launched.

Passport Contact Centre procurement – (£108m) Contact centre services for passport and visa enquiries from the public. Strategy development due to commence mid 2026.

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

The successful candidate will:

• Lead and deliver a successful re-procurement, leveraging the benefits of the Procurement Act 2023 to deliver an innovative solution.
  
  
• Ensure compliance with all relevant Cabinet Office and Home Office commercial governance.
  
  
• Lead a team of 2-3 managed consultants to oversee workload allocation and performance monitoring to maintain high standards of delivery.
  
  
• Develop and implement procurement strategies that maximise value for money and align with organisational objectives.
  
  
• Represent the Commercial Directorate at senior governance boards and programme/project meetings, providing expert advice on procurement approaches and risk mitigation
  
  
• Maintain accurate records of procurement decisions and reporting metrics to demonstrate compliance and transparency.
• Collaborate with stakeholders (Senior Responsible Officers, Delivery Managers, Project Managers, Finance, Commercial Finance, Cabinet Office and others) to deliver excellent outcomes, on time
  
  
• Maintain and regularly update the VPCR procurement pipeline, ensuring data integrity and timely reporting to senior stakeholders.
  
  
• Oversee delivery of bronze level procurements as required

Technical skills

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

• Evidence of working on complex commercial projects involving novel and non-standard commercial & contractual mechanisms, with the ability to identify improvements that deliver greater commercial outcomes
• Communicates clearly with stakeholders at all levels, presents complex commercial information in a way that is accessible. Influences decisions through credible advice, negotiation, and collaboration, fostering consensus and commitment
• Experience building and influencing strong, productive relationships at all levels and with a variety of stakeholders with different backgrounds, perspectives and drivers, in a highly complex, fast-moving, commercially focused environment.
• Supports business units in articulating their commercial requirements ensuring sufficient detail to allow the market to respond to requirements whilst leaving room for innovation. Can challenge specifications to improve outcomes.
• Experience leading procurements in a complex & policy-led environment. Advises on & applies procurement policies, processes and governance. Develops and publishes a full and approved bidder’s pack in line with financial and contractual delegations.

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 16th June 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.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

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 : Hayley Parfitt
• 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

458200 - Candidate Pack - Home Office - Commercial Procurement Leads for Visas & Passports x5 Opens in new window (docx, 766kB)Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS) Opens in new window (pdf, 70kB)