Deputy Director Commercial Software & Cloud Services

Job summary

The nature of modern warfare is changing, with access to and exploitation of information becoming a vital way of securing military advantage (National Audit Office). The Digital Strategy for Defence addresses this in three key elements, including the need to collect and use data appropriately to harness strategic advantage, further transform digital capabilities to enable military and business advantage, and to deliver this across all of Defence both securely and at pace. The Defence Digital organisation is responsible for making sure that effective digital and information technology (D&IT) is put into the hands of the business and military front line.

We must position the UK Defence Enterprise in competition to the acquisition and delivery organisations of our adversaries. It's imperative that we work across Defence to acquire tomorrow’s technology today.

Defence Digital Commercial is the core team responsible for delivering outstanding outcomes and value for Defence across its exploitation of digital and information technologies, through our oversight and management of all third- party IT spend for Defence.

We are responsible for a large portfolio of complex contracts worth £4.7bn a year, through more than 300 suppliers. We have implemented Category Management and operate across five categories – Networks, Hardware and Services, Space, Software and Professional Services – engaging with suppliers of all sizes and specialisms across the Defence landscape.

Our Digital Commercial Strategy allows us to build a more strategic approach to relationship management and to build capability and embed new ways of working.

It is an exceptionally exciting time within Defence Digital Commercial and we are seeking procurement experts to join us to share knowledge and experience. Working collaboratively with multiple key internal stakeholders, you will deliver the Commercial approach to new and exciting projects, driving innovation, value and agility through strategic Category Management.

If the opportunity to work in this critical fast paced environment excites you, we would be delighted to receive your application.

Job description

Lead the £1.6bn annual sourcing and commercial portfolio for Pan MOD digital enterprise, covering Cloud services, Crypt Key, Cyber, Foundry, AI, and Digital Intelligence, one of the largest in all Government Commercial teams. Manage a supply base of over 300 suppliers of varying sizes and continue to diversify supply chain across strategic, digital related programmes. Drive transformation by modernising procurement policies and processes to position Defence as a cutting-edge buyer of digital services.

This role includes the ownership of contracts that are Critical National Infrastructure and delivers Enterprise Agreements that are MOD and Pan Government.

Management and direct ownership of 104 commercial officers and provide digital and Software category support to a wider Commercial function of 2500 people.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee category strategy and delivery across software, AI, Cyber, Crypt Key, Cloud, Digital Intelligence products and services.
• Manage high-value enterprise procurements and ensure alignment with Defence priorities.
• Lead transformation initiatives to streamline procurement and improve industry engagement.
• Operate within a matrix structure, balancing industry-facing categories with Defence-specific capabilities to optimise communication and outcomes.

Impact:
Shape the future of Defence's digital procurement, driving innovation and efficiency in collaboration with industry and internal stakeholders.

Operating Environment:

Operating at a senior level in a highly complex, multi-national defence and security environment, this role provides strategic commercial leadership across UK Government and MOD DigitalProgrammes.

The postholder will collaborate with Defence organisations, Government Departments and Agencies to shape commercial strategies that enable modern, secure and interoperable digital capabilities. Accountable for all commercial activity, assurance, and capability within these domains, the role operates amid rapid digital and technological change, evolving global threats, and stringent regulatory and governance frameworks.

The postholder must balance value for money while enabling assured delivery of critical digital and space capabilities while driving innovation, resilience, and compliance across diverse, high-profile and technically complex programmes. Decisions made in this role have significant implications for operational effectiveness, cyber resilience, and strategic advantage. The post demands exceptional digital commercial acumen, sound judgement diplomacy, and robust stakeholder management in a politically sensitive and internationally scrutinised context.

Examples of typical assignments:

Drive Cross-Government Software and Cloud Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with MOD, the Digital Centre of excellence and DSIT align procurement pipelines and spend under management through the Defence Tech Scaler process and align to pan Gov CTO strategies.
• Coordinate cross-government supplier intelligence, market insights, and commercial opportunities to reduce duplication and achieve better outcomes for the defense and national security

Develop and Implement a Software and Cloud Enterprise Category

• Produce and maintain the Enterprise level Category Strategy, analysing market trends, spend under management, supplier capability, technology roadmaps and driving change and innovation through the Enterprise Category Workstreams.
• Drive innovation, alignment, and commercial improvement through governance structures, including the Steering Group and the Chief Technology Officer council in MOD and wider Government
• Modernise pan MOD ways of working and acquisition processes including Value for Money policies to align with industry best practice for procurement

Shape and Influence Software and Cloud Supplier Markets

• Lead market engagement activities with Suppliers and SMEs, holding Industry Round Tables to shape requirements, drive innovation, sustainability and resilience in the Software and Cloud Sectors.

In this role you will be responsible for delivering commercial excellence across digital and technology programmes as a trusted commercial advisor. You will lead the design and delivery of commercial approaches that enable digital transformation, innovation and best practice across the whole commercial lifecycle in order to encourage the Civil Service to respond to swiftly changing priorities, ensuring procurement and supplier decisions support modern, secure and interoperable services. You will be accountable for the delivery of future strategies that shape how your area of responsibility will contract in complex technology markets and will be responsible for the management of significant digital expenditure and high-value technology contracts.

You will lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, building their confidence and digital commercial capability as an influential leader who can shape and define deals in complex and uncertain technical contexts, delegating risks and issues to individuals in line with their experience and potential. The role will require you to use your specialist commercial and digital expertise to take measured, well-governed risks to deliver better approaches, services and technology outcomes.

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

Typically, the key responsibilities in this role may include (but are not limited to):

• Providing advice and using commercial expertise and digital-specific data and insights to inform judgements in markets, sectors, policy, delivery mechanisms, and suppliers.
• Leading a cross-government Enterprise Category and managing the benefits, risks and issues of a category management approach for digital and technology spend.
• Leading the development and stewardship of a Digital and Technology Pathway Playbook, providing practical guidance on Digital Categories, Digital Ways of Working and Category specific procurement routes.
• Developing and maintaining an Enterprise digital procurement pipeline, improving visibility of upcoming technology and digital requirements, reducing duplication and proactively shaping market engagement.
• Designing and delivering industry engagement and market-shaping activity (for example themed roundtables) to strengthen government–industry relationships and stimulate capability for digital services.
• Creating strategies and influencing departmental culture that values effective commercial input into digital delivery, procurement excellence, supply chain management/supplier ecosystem management and innovation adoption.
• Lead on the implementation of government commercial policy in digital contexts and articulating technical and procurement requirements to a wide range of stakeholders.
• Managing the development and execution of supplier management strategies tailored to digital suppliers to maximise commercial leverage and service resilience.
• Ensuring relevant issues are fed into Category strategy and big picture considerations.
• Establishing and implementing negotiation strategies and commercial models (e.g. outcome-based contracts, managed services) with clear parameters that reflect digital delivery risk and incentives.
• Researching, encouraging and applying new ideas, agile contracting approaches and ways of working to maximise value for money and speed of delivery.
• Applying robust programme and visual project management approaches, and developing commercial resource plans including people, systems and infrastructure to deliver effective digital commercial outcomes.
• Securing insight into customers, citizens, services and markets for digital products and services, and using that insight to inform sourcing and contract decisions.
• Providing commercial advice on major digital investment appraisals and decisions.
• Critically assessing digital supply chains to identify resilience risks, concentration issues and opportunities to strengthen the department’s position.

This role may require you to be a Process Owner for one or more Level 3 processes. If this occurs, it will form an integral part of your responsibilities and deliverables. As a Process Owner, you will be accountable for ensuring the process is designed and maintained to operate effectively, remains compliant, and is continuously improved in line with organisational objectives.

Management Responsibilities

• Provides leadership, management and direction to Commercial personnel from across the MOD who support Digital Software and Cloud programmes and capability delivery.
• Management of a Commercial Team 104 comprising of 94 Crown Civil Servants and 10 Contractors.

Internal Influence

• Works across MOD Digital, Communications, and Space Programmes and the wider Defence Commercial and Industry organisation, influencing senior leaders, portfolio directors, and policy teams to align Enterprise Category Strategies and Commercial Strategies with digital technology procurement, capability planning, and delivery priorities.
• Provides authoritative Commercial and Category Management advice and constructive challenge to senior governance bodies and ministers, shaping decisions on contracting approaches, supplier engagement, and investment in Digital, Communications, and Space capability to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery of operational objectives.

External Influence

• Engages with Global Digital and Software and Cloud Suppliers, including major primes, SMEs, and specialist service providers, to drive value for money, innovation, and resilience across Digital, Communication and Space supply chains.
• Collaboration with cross-government Departments through the leadership of Enterprise Categories to deliver innovative, value for money procurement strategies.
• Represents Defence in cross-government forums (e.g., Cabinet Office, Department for Business and Trade) to ensure coherence with national security, industrial policy, and digital transformation objectives.
• Maintains strategic relationships with international partners and alliances to support collaborative procurement initiatives, compliance with export control regimes, and secure access to critical technologies and global markets.

This role will require the following Commercial delegations:

Commercial Letter of Delegation

• Negotiation and signature of procurement contracts and amendments - £400m
• Authority to agree extra-contractual agreements - £1m
• Authority to make ex-gratia payments to Contractors - £0.25m
• Remission of claims against Contractors - £0.25m

This role has responsibility for 1.6bn annual Spend Under Management.

Lead Procurement of Complex Software and Cloud Capabilities

• Lead end-to-end commercial activity for major Software led programmes (including GMPP), ensuring compliance with commercial policy, procurement regulations, and the Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCR).
• Develop and execute commercial strategies, select routes to market, managing evaluation, negotiation, and contract award for high-value, technically complex procurements.
• Oversee contract performance, proactively managing risk, strengthening commercial leverage, and engaging with Cabinet Office Crown Representatives to support effective supplier relationship management

Qualifications

All successful candidates must be CIPS Level 6 accredited/hold MCIPS or must be willing to complete MCIPS via Management Entry Route within three months of taking up your post.

Technical skills

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

• Provides leadership aligned to digital transformation, with preference for software capabilities. Builds inclusive teams, strengthens decision-making through expert challenge, and enables delivery of large scale, high risk digital programmes.
• Leads digital and technology strategy and negotiation across the organisation, applying deep commercial and market insight to secure value for money, resilience and advantage. Shapes robust, compliant deals and strengthens evidence-based decisions.
• Delivery of complex, high-risk digital and technology portfolios with a software and cloud focus. Maintains clarity in ambiguity, adapts to risk and change, and ensures accountable, resilient delivery that protects value, security and effectiveness.
• Engages credibly with suppliers at CEO/CTO-level through collaboration across Defence, industry and partners. Aligns priorities, fosters open challenge and collaboration. Strengthens delivery and outcomes across digital and technology portfolios.
• Develops high-performing digital and commercial teams. Invests in talent, capability and growth by coaching and empowering individuals. Fosters inclusive cultures to build resilience and a sustainable pipeline of expertise in software, cloud and AI.
• Translates fast-moving Defence and cross-government digital and technology priorities into outcome-focused commercial goals aligned to software aims. Bringing clarity to complex environments and delivering robust value across a £1.6bn portfolio.

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 10 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 developed vetting (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 : Lynsey Munro
• 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

459812 - Deputy Director Commercial Software and Cloud Services - Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1919kB)Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS) Opens in new window (pdf, 70kB)