Head of Commercial – Nuclear Fuels Programme

Job summary

This is a pivotal time to join the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE) within the Ministry of Defence. You will operate at the centre of national security, delivering one of the Department’s highest-priority defence programmes.

The DNE oversees all nuclear activity, working with partners including the Royal Navy, Submarine Delivery Agency, UK Strategic Command, AWE, and key industry suppliers such as BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock.

An opportunity has arisen in DNE Commercial following the expansion of our portfolio, with a focus on the Nuclear Fuels Programme (NFP). NFP’s purpose is to secure end-to-end nuclear fuel capability to meet the UK’s defence requirement, including the supply of both Low and Highly Enriched Uranium for the submarine programme. This work underpins the UK nuclear deterrent and represents one of the most complex and high-profile programmes within the DNE.

We are seeking a driven and highly capable Deputy Director to operate at pace in a demanding environment. The role requires strong stakeholder management and negotiation skills, alongside the ability to lead and motivate a small, expert commercial team delivering complex procurement and acquisition activity. The post offers significant access to commercial and professional development across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise.

The role is based in MOD Main Building (London) or MOD Abbey Wood (Bristol) at least four days per week, with travel between London, Bristol, Reading, and internationally as required. The position requires Developed Vetting (DV) clearance or a willingness to undergo the process prior to appointment.

Job description

• Own and drive the NFP industrial and commercial strategy, mobilising industry, public sector bodies, and allies to deliver programme outcomes.
• Act as a senior commercial lead for key relationships with industry, allied nations, and public bodies, and as a key interface between MoD and commercial partners.
• Lead the structuring and negotiation of major infrastructure and construction programmes, including the use of bespoke and non-traditional procurement, commercial acquisition, and corporate finance solutions.
• Oversee and contract-manage multi-billion-pound infrastructure and construction programmes, securing value for money and embedding secure-by-design principles.
• Develop the programme’s commercial R&D and intellectual property strategy as part of the wider industrial approach.
• Provide clear leadership to and drive culture in the programme’s commercial team, working closely with UK Government Investments’ corporate finance function and contributing to the leadership of the wider DNE commercial community.
• Act as the conduit between the programme and DNE’s wider industrial strategy and strategic engagement with industry.
• Serve as a member of the DNE Commercial Senior Leadership Team, reporting to the Commercial Director for Fuels and Warhead.

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 demonstrate:

• Exceptional resilience, operating effectively in a high-pressure national security environment and delivering against some of the UK’s most critical priorities.
• Proven capability to develop and execute industrial and commercial strategies, including non-traditional approaches such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and equity-based models.
• A strong track record leading complex, high-value commercial transactions, delivering to demanding timescales through the effective leadership of interdisciplinary teams.
• Significant experience providing strategic oversight of concurrent large-scale construction and infrastructure programmes, with the ability to identify issues early, take corrective action, and engage effectively with stakeholders across all tiers of the supply chain to ensure value for money and on-time delivery. Experience developing, placing, and managing contracts using industry best practice, including both bespoke and standard forms (e.g. NEC and JCT), is essential.
• An experienced and credible negotiator, with a demonstrable record of securing outstanding outcomes while maintaining strong senior-level customer and supplier relationships.
• Experience and/or a strong understanding of the defence sector, including relevant national security considerations.
• Excellent communication skills and presence, with the credibility to engage at Board, Permanent Secretary, Ministerial, and C-suite levels, and the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments to drive decisions and approvals.
• Strong leadership capability, with a clear record of building, motivating, and sustaining high-performing, resilient programme teams through clear direction and a defined culture.
• Experience operating in technically complex industries, working closely with subject-matter experts in areas including R&D, manufacturing, safety and security regulation, and environmental compliance.

Eligibility and requirements:

• This role is reserved for British nationalsand requires Developed Vetting (DV)and additional security clearances, including engagement with classified communities.
• Ability to attend the London or Bristol office at least four days per week to work on classified programmes.
• Willingness to travel internationally to engage with suppliers and visit industrial sites

Technical skills

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

• Analyses short and long-term commercial impacts to guide strategic decisions. Objectively weighs risks and benefits, taking accountability for results to consistently deliver efficient, confident outcomes.
• Ability to successfully lead multiple complex, high value commercial negotiations simultaneously and to demanding timescales. Transactions are likely to require bespoke, non-traditional procurement approaches and/or corporate finance solutions.
• Able to clearly identify and articulate key strategic commercial goals for the programme. Drives the delivery of these goals by ensuring buy-in from the programme team and senior departmental stakeholders to achieve successful outcomes.
• Expert at building senior-level relationships, including with Ministers and Permanent Secretaries. Skilled at presenting with authority to diverse audiences, engaging internal and external stakeholders to drive successful programme outcomes.
• Proactively identify commercial risks by analysing data across a range of sources. Adept at communicating mitigation strategies to stakeholders at all levels, ensuring value for money and alignment with commercial objectives.
• Ability to define the industrial and commercial strategy for the programme and to organise and galvanise industry, public bodies, and allies to deliver it.

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 12 August 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

Open to UK nationals only.

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

Guaranteed Interview Schemes (GIS) Opens in new window (pdf, 70kB)468367 - Head of Commercial – Nuclear Fuels Programme - Candidate Pack.docx Opens in new window (pdf, 443kB)