Deputy Director Commercial Performance & Operations

Job summary

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

• Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security
• Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
• Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
• Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
• Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities.

UKHSA operates as an integral part of the public health system and the national security infrastructure, utilising state-of-the-art technologies and ground-breaking capabilities in data analytics and genomic surveillance to tackle threats locally, nationally and globally.

The Commercial, Vaccines and Countermeasures Delivery (CVCD) Directorate is at the heart of everything UKHSA does. We maintain a complex ecosystem of contracts and partnerships that enable the agency to respond to current and emerging health challenges. We procure, store and distribute vaccines for all except one of the UK’s national immunisation campaigns and maintain capability to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. We manage business development partnerships that drive innovation and generate income to support core UKHSA capabilities.

Please note: The UKHSA Chief Operating Officer (COO) group, where this role sits, is undergoing organisational change over the next 12–18 months. While the process is still in the planning stage, some roles may be affected by future restructuring. We are committed to keeping candidates informed and will share updates as they become available.

Job description

This Deputy Director Commercial Performance & Operations reports directly to the Commercial Vaccines and Countermeasures Delivery Director and provides a significant opportunity to shape and strengthen both the directorate and the wider UKHSA Commercial operating model, ensuring commercial excellence throughout the delivery of our critical mission.

The role is pivotal to the development of a high-performing directorate, driving continuous improvement and innovation across key strategic pillars. These include commercial partnerships and strengthening supply chain resilience, embedding robust commercial policy, governance and assurance frameworks, building organisational commercial capability, ensuring strong financial stewardship and establishing fit-for-purpose commercial systems, data and analytics to enable insight-driven decision-making.

The successful candidate will deliver discrete projects on behalf of the CVCD Director. They will need to work collaboratively to establish a strong interface across the directorate and with colleagues across the Agency including with Finance and HR colleagues, and with our wider stakeholders, leading complex programmes of work requiring coordinated engagement across UKHSA, government, the wider health family and with external partners. This is a dynamic and challenging environment, and the successful candidate will need to be confident in managing complexity, applying judgement, setting direction and making decisions whilst collaborating effectively with a range of diverse stakeholders in a complex and fast-moving environment.

The role will have line management responsibility for a diverse portfolio of complex workstreams and teams, often needing to shift between multiple, distinct activities. The role is responsible for ensuring the CVCD Commercial Performance & Operations team delivers an expert, high-quality service to UKHSA, providing robust insight and advice to inform effective decision-making and drive efficiency and operational excellence across CVCD. The successful candidate will join a Senior Leadership Team with responsibility for strengthening the directorate’s performance, capability and operational resilience. The role will support delivery of high-quality commercial services that operate effectively in both business-as-usual conditions and during periods of increased operational demand, including public health incidents.

The role engages with a range of stakeholders, and the successful applicant will need to show strength in building and maintaining effective relationships. They will work with industry partners ranging from “Big Pharma” to start-ups, the wider UK and global health family, other government departments, and with key internal stakeholders to play a leading role in the supply chain, to reduce risks, achieve resilience and ensure value for money on behalf of UKHSA.

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

• Provide visible and inclusive leadership to a multidisciplinary team, setting clear strategic direction, performance expectations and professional standards, while fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and collaborative working.
• Work collaboratively as a senior member of the CVCD Senior Leadership Team to shape, build and continuously develop a high performing, inclusive and diverse CVCD directorate, ensuring it is appropriately structured, resourced and capable of delivering organisational priorities.
• Enable delivery of UKHSA’s commercial strategy, mission, and vision by building a high-performing workforce that drives innovation, embeds best practice, and leads sustainable change.
• On behalf of the Commercial, Vaccines and Countermeasures Delivery Director, hold financial accountability for CVCD budget and annual business planning, ensuring appropriate governance and control arrangements are in place for both pay and non-pay expenditure.
• Develop, implement and review the Target Operating Model for CVCD and commercial blueprint.
• Lead delivery of the Commercial Partnership Strategic Framework, establishing appropriate partnership arrangements with key industry partners to support long-term organisational benefits.
• Lead the development and maintenance of UKHSA’s commercial policy framework ensuring alignment with Cabinet Office and DHSC guidance, government functional standards, the PCR2015 and PA23, and translating statutory and functional requirements into clear operational practice.
• Establish and embed a proportionate commercial assurance framework including the creation and chairing of a Commercial Assurance Board to provide independent scrutiny, strengthen decision making and improve commercial outcomes across the department.
• Serve as a core commercial member of the UKHSA Investment Committee and relevant approvals boards, providing expert advice on commercial strategy, value for money, risk allocation and procurement approach.
• Provide strategic oversight of commercial risk management, ensuring that commercial risks are identified early, appropriately assessed and actively managed, with clear escalation routes and integration into corporate risk processes.
• Build commercial capability across the directorate, the organisation, and the wider health system, developing professional standards, supporting talent development and strengthening commercial awareness among non-commercial colleagues.
• Forge effective collaborative relationships within UKHSA, and with Ministers and the Executive team, advocating for the CVCD directorate and providing accurate, timely advice to government ministers and their offices, and to UKHSA’s CEO and Executive.
• Work with the Cabinet Office, Government Commercial Organisation (GCO), across government and the wider health family to develop UKHSA’s Commercial practice and play an active role in Government Commercial Function (GCF) activities. Accountable for delivering commercial transparency targets and reporting requirements.
• Implementing and maintaining critical commercial systems – including e-commerce platform (ATAMIS) and other e-procurement systems. Driving innovation underpinned by a self-serve model.
• Oversee Commercial data and reporting (BI / MI), ensuring Commercial SLT, UKHSA stakeholders, and Ministers have access to critical data they need to make effective decisions (key KPIs), providing future demand intelligence from the commercial pipeline and utilising solutions to deliver commercial activity for future surge requirements.
• Promote a culture of accountability, transparency and evidence-based decision making across commercial activity, ensuring compliance while enabling proportionate and timely delivery.

The successful candidate will:

• Be amongst the most senior members of the Government Commercial Function and play a role in the broader commercial reform programme led by the Government Chief Commercial Officer;
• Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the UKHSA and across government.

Technical skills

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

• High capacity to drive innovative approaches, build resilience and mitigate risk. Ability to analyse commercial risks and understand margins of error in developing recommendations for Customers and/or key stakeholders.
• Strong market insight and proven track record of commercial leadership in a complex delivery environment within health or a related industry, with large, strategically significant suppliers.
• Strategic thought leader combining analytical rigour with pragmatic problem-solving. Resolves complex commercial/supply chain issues and confidently influences at Ministerial/Board/Committee levels to drive impact.
• Develops strong stakeholder and business relationships centered around collaboration, service, organisational and delivery improvement. Demonstrable ability to work with very senior stakeholders from a variety of disciplines.
• Proven leader in building commercial capability & driving large-scale organisational change. Expert at motivating within a complex organisation & diverse workstreams through visible and collaborative leadership to deliver results.

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 the 22nd of 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-re…
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.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

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 : Ashlene Doherty
• 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, 70kB)20260518 OFFSEN 462593 - Deputy Director Commercial Performance and Operations - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 450kB)