Senior Commercial Officer - Air

Job summary

The Air Commercial Team is a Front-Line Commercial Branch, part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Commercial Function and Government Commercial Function (GCF), delivering innovative commercial solutions and maximum value for the RAF. Embedded within the Royal Air Force (RAF) operating out of Headquarters Air Command (based at RAF High Wycombe) with regional representation primarily situated at RAF Cosford, RAF Leeming and MOD Lyneham. Air Commercial work as part of a fast-tempo, strategic and progressive Military Headquarters, where the Air Commercial team deliver innovative commercial solutions and maximum value for the RAF.

Air Commercial handles a diverse portfolio of contracts from Space Command, Digital demand, helping aircraft take off and safely land, from trialling warfighting capabilities to training new recruits. The Commercial function collaborates with a wide stakeholder base including suppliers, project managers, finance, technical staff and our military colleagues to procure equipment and services and to manage contracts. Working with frontline commands across MOD, Cabinet Office and Government Departments we ensure our commercial strategies deliver the capabilities required and achieves the best possible Value for Money for Defence.

This role provides a genuine opportunity to make a significant difference to the capability, efficiency and effectiveness of the Royal Air Force and UK Defence. You will be joining a highly capable commercial team as well as being part of a wider network of professionals across MOD and Government. You will be supported to develop knowledge and experience of procurement and commercial processes, including contract management, supplier management and category management and sourcing to ensure our customer needs are met.

The advertised role sits within the Air Commercial, Contract Performance and Management (CP&M) team who manage contract delivery of Air Commercial's major contract portfolio, currently 24 contracts with a combined value of £3.2bn. The successful applicant will work within the CP&M team, however, those on the merit list may secure a role in another Air Commercial team in the future; Define and Procure or Major Projects. Each team covers elements of sourcing and contract management activities; so the successful candidate will need to demonstrate their skills and capability to develop through the commercial lifecycle.

This role is suitable for hybrid working. Job holders may work from home or another MOD site, with regular attendance at your regular duty station as required based on individual, team and business needs.

Job description

Air Commercial offers an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of developing best practice in across the commercial lifecycle. You will work alongside military and civilian colleagues as well as engaging collaboratively with contracted service providers. The role is challenging and extremely rewarding with the opportunity to develop core and functional skills and to support Air Commercial's Senior Leadership Team with cross team objectives and broader government initiatives.

CP&M is the focal point of all contract management activity for contracts that are high profile and complex in nature. We offer significant opportunities to work with stakeholders to ensure requirements remain taut and fit for purpose, deliver outputs effectively, control costs and hold suppliers to account.

The successful candidate will line manage a HEO (C2 Grade) and have experience in commercial management, an enthusiastic and proactive approach, excellent communication skills with the ability to brief up and down the civilian, military hierarchy and industry management chain.

Some travel will also be required to undertake site visits and engage with key stakeholders in managing performance and contract delivery. They will be expected to work on cross team initiatives with other parts of Air Commercial to improve overall performance and development of the wider Air Commercial Team.

The right candidate will be self-motivated, commercially astute and enthusiastic. They will develop and drive new initiatives to meet best practice requirements. There are significant opportunities and you will be encouraged to develop yourself as well as the staff you are responsible for.

Air Commercial is committed to increasing professionalism and to applying consistent standards across the function. The successful candidate will hold Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Level 4 Diploma or a commitment to work towards it. On successful completion of the required training and a licensing accreditation, the candidate may be eligible for a Market Skills Allowance.

The post holder must be willing to undertake travel to relevant MOD Locations and other sites or locations on occasion to fulfil these roles. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Part-time or Job-share will only be considered provided full time hours can be covered.

Responsibilities

This job description is a general outline of the position duties and responsibilities and may be amended as the team evolves. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties as may be reasonably required from time to time.

• Develop and deliver a high standard of contract management including, but not limited to; contract administration, negotiations, performance management, variations, stakeholder management and contract exit management.
• Develop and maintain robust contract management plans, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, that are proportionate to the scale and complexity of the requirement.
• Undertake deep dives of existing contracts as appropriate, to ensure VfM is realised with savings and benefits optimised.
• Supplier and stakeholder management, provide guidance, challenge service delivery to drive better performance and work collaboratively with stakeholders and suppliers to drive out inefficiencies and promote continuous improvement.
• Challenging key stakeholder direction and decisions where appropriate is a key attribute of this role but always, crucially, by working collaboratively.
• Work closely with the Major Projects and Plan, Define and Procure teams to transfer contracts across to CP&M in an efficient and timely manner.
• Share best practice within the Air Commercial team and the wider commercial function.
• Seek out opportunities to promote and to pro-actively engage with stakeholders to undertake further commercial awareness/upskilling and non-commercial training to support them in their roles.
• Administer internal Management Information’s Systems and ensure records and data are up to date and correct and that policy is adopted and applied accordingly.
• Prepare contract management briefs and statistical data for management purposes and ensure management of contract files is compliant with policy.
• Identification, analysis and management of commercial risks working closely with suppliers and contract monitoring teams to mitigate risk; escalating when appropriate.
• Placement of service contracts from £12K to £100M+, working closely with stakeholder and contractors and resolving any contentious or problematic issues.
• Undertake procurement activity from pre-sourcing stage to contract award, including market engagement, pre-qualifying and tender activities, evaluation of bids.
• Build and maintain, appropriate effective working relationships within the Delivery Team, and with internal and external stakeholders including Military and non-Military customers and Defence Suppliers.
• The successful candidate will have Line Management responsibility for at least 1 HEO (C2 Grade) and potential oversight of 1 EO (E1 grade) team members. 2

Person specification

Essential:

• CIPS level 4 or above or must be willing to complete CIPS Level 4 within 18 months of joining Air Commercial.
• Enthusiasm, proactiveness and a willingness to learn with the ability and confidence to engage.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in establishing and maintaining effective relationships.
• Public sector commercial experience and or previous experience within a commercial function.
• Strong problem-solving skills, an ability to prioritise tasks along with experience of balancing multiple requirements.
• Experience of understanding the requirement, the marketplace and potential solutions. Can provide advice and is able to challenge where necessary.
• Experience of engaging and working with key stakeholders to develop a clear and agreed view of business requirements and target outcomes.
• Experience of working with pre-existing arrangements either within the Department or across Government that could be exploited to meet the requirement negating the need to set up an alternative sourced arrangement.
• Able to successfully implement policy objectives in all commercial projects and is able to challenge risk averse behaviours where appropriate.

Desirable:

• Previous experience of Project Management would be useful in adapting to this role
• Experience of working with the Microsoft Office 365 Suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word etc.).
• Experience of leading/managing (if appropriate) any Controls and Internal/Department Approvals process. Engagement with these bodies and gaining the necessary approvals.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Flexible working
• Training and personal development opportunities
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• 25 days paid annual leave rising to 30 days on completion of 5 years’ service
• In addition to 8 public holidays per year you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday
• A highly competitive Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Subsidised membership to a fitness suite and lunchtime/evening Military led fitness classes
• Café and shop on site

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access 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/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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 Behaviours and Experience.

Please present your evidence using the S.T.A.R. format (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

Applicants are strongly advised to ensure that their submission uses the STAR format and demonstrates the behaviours detailed at SEO level in the Civil Service Success Profiles – Civil Service Behaviours booklet. Comprehensive coverage on Success Profiles can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

At Sift:

A 500 word statement of suitability, and CV, will be required for this position; this cannot be uploaded to the advert. You will submit using the CV template provided on the CS Jobs dashboard, detailing job history, full qualifications, previous experience and skills

In your application you only need to provide evidence of the following behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

In the event of a large number of applications, we will only use the following Civil Service Success Profile Behaviours to assess your application during the sift stage:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions

At Interview:

If you are successful at the sift stage, you will be invited to a video interview using MS Teams, where you will be assessed on the essential criteria as well as the following –

Evidence-based examples of the following Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

The initial candidate sift is expected to be completed by mid-June 2026.

Interviews are expected to take place late June 2026.

The timeline above is provisional and is subject to change depending on the volume of applications received.

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

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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.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 : Richard Harry
• Email : Richard.Harry100@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

Defence Civil Servant Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)20230201 - Air Command's Applicant Guide Opens in new window (pdf, 499kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)Terms and Conditions of Service Opens in new window (docx, 24kB)