Guidance

Category Management - Associate Commercial Lead

Published 8 July 2024

Job Pillar
搁辞濒别听颁辞尘辫辞苍别苍迟
Cross Pillar
Category Management
Commercial Professional Level Associate Commercial Lead
(Senior Executive Officer equivalent)
Role Summary In this role you will contribute to delivering commercial excellence for the department, providing a customer-focused service, understanding the business need and stakeholder drivers, with the aim of becoming a trusted commercial advisor. You will also develop relationships with the department鈥檚 key and strategic suppliers, driving 鈥榲alue for money鈥� and risk management excellence across the category. You will lead and own elements of the overall commercial lifecycle, including strategy and policy development, understanding needs and sourcing options, contract and supplier management and the procurement process itself.

You will work both independently and part of a larger team by drawing on your commercial experience to drive performance and manage setbacks. You will be able to prioritise and manage your own workload to deliver to deadlines, mitigate and escalate any emerging risks and to respond swiftly to changing operational demands.
Key Responsibilities Category Management roles are varied, and individual remit is subject to both size of category, and/or level of complexity, value and risk within a category. 聽Typically, key responsibilities for a commercial professional in this role may include (but are not limited to):

鈼徛燬trategic delivery and management within a category:
Understanding the department鈥檚 commercial strategy and feeding into the planning process based on commercial approaches that deliver requirements in line with business needs, category strategies and market trends
Feeding into the development of category strategies and delivery of sourcing requirement within commercial, as part of the team supporting business as usual and project activities
Understanding demand by forecasting and planning requirements with internal stakeholders and suppliers
聽Developing and maintaining category plans for key spend areas

鈼徛燯nderstanding relevant sourcing options and analysis, delivering positive outcomes through the procurement process:
Leading on end-to-end strategic sourcing activities for the department and serving as a subject matter expert
Working with key stakeholders to develop a clear and agreed view of business requirements, and supporting business units in articulating their commercial requirements
Advising and providing professional guidance throughout the sourcing process, considering and evaluating a range of sourcing models
Leading development of commercial input into business cases, demonstrating a project's benefits, 鈥榲alue for money鈥� and risk
Influencing and shaping future procurement policy and standards across the department
Identifying opportunities to develop collaborative partnerships with suppliers
Providing a procurement service to the department which delivers demonstrable 鈥榲alue for money鈥� and compliant goods and services contracts as part of a team of procurement professionals on larger procurement activities, including driving productivity opportunities with existing supply base to deliver further savings
Negotiating with third parties where necessary, using knowledge and experience relating to commercial negotiation techniques
聽Understanding and being accountable for sourcing compliance and frameworks 聽

鈼徛燛nsuring effective Commercial Contract and Supplier Management within the category:
聽Evaluating the performance of suppliers against the specification and reporting regularly
聽Actively contributing to the management of the supply chain portfolio, including the development and implementation of supply chain and supplier relationship strategies
聽Acting as commercial lead, managing one or more medium to high complexity contracts, ensuring effective stakeholder management, governance, performance management frameworks, escalation, risk management, issues resolution, financial management, change control and compliance
聽Developing and maintaining positive commercial relationships with the supply chain to maintain and enhance performance, improve service delivery and create additional value
聽On an ongoing basis, tracking operation demand and patterns, introducing demand management mechanisms where applicable
聽Analysing and assessing supplier risk, understanding impact on contingency and business continuity, driving 鈥榲alue for money鈥� whilst protecting the department鈥檚 risk position
Tracking and owning risks relating to specific contracts, taking steps to mitigate commercial risks

鈼徛燘uilding and maintaining key relationships across the department and with important external stakeholders:
聽Developing effective working relationships with supplier organisations to establish appropriate governance and relationship arrangements, ensuring the effective management of clarifications and change requests
聽Provision of commercial advice to stakeholders on all aspects of commercial
聽Engaging, where required, with the relevant senior business lead, ensuring that business requirements are supported by category strategies

鈼徛燛nabling and developing the department:
聽Championing procurement best practice and working collaboratively with others to create a proactive and intelligent function
聽Contributing to the maintenance and updating of systems throughout the procurement lifecycle
聽Managing catalogues and commercial content, and maybe responsible for owning key aspects of this
聽Working with key stakeholders to promote the use of catalogues
聽Playing a role in building capability of new starters and those on development programmes聽

鈼徛燤entoring and providing guidance to junior members of the team

鈼徛燱orking within a secure environment on sensitive projects as required
Essential Criteria Category Management:
鈼徛燞as good experience within a procurement, commercial or buying role
鈼徛燞as a good understanding of the principles of end-to-end commercial lifecycle management, and sourcing and procurement methodologies
鈼徛燛vidence of leading and securing 鈥榲alue for money鈥� in a commercial environment

Commercial Focus:
鈼徛燞as strong commercial knowledge, understands commercial law and can use key commercial tools appropriately

Risk and Assurance Management:
鈼徛燚emonstrates the ability to manage cyber, personnel and physical risks within an area of responsibility

Commercial Ethics:
鈼徛燚emonstrates the ability to apply standards to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards

Team Focus:
鈼徛燚emonstrates the ability to work as part of a team to support their performance, manage setbacks and resolve issues internally

Build Relationships:
鈼徛燚emonstrates the ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels using different communication styles to articulate the benefits that have been achieved and to establish governance and relationship arrangements
Civil Service Behaviours Ability to show examples across the following behaviours for level 3 of the :

Seeing the Big Picture:
鈼徛�
Understand the strategic drivers for your area of work. Align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities. Remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area. Seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team鈥檚 business area. Understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders

Changing and Improving:
鈼徛�
Work with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources. Use technology where possible to increase efficiency. Encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources. Clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change. Encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely. Take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users

Making Effective Decisions:
鈼徛�
Understand own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate. Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions. Invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making. Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular. Consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered. Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks

Leadership:
鈼徛�
Ensure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames. Take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all. Consider the impacts of own and team鈥檚 activities on stakeholders and end users. Role-model commitment and satisfaction with role. Recognise and praise the achievements of others to drive positivity within the team. Effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour, raising with senior managers where appropriate

Communicating and Influencing:
鈼徛�
Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact. Encourage the use of different communication methods, including digital resources and highlight the benefits, including ensuring cost effectiveness. Ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people鈥檚 individual needs. Share information as appropriate and check understanding. Show positivity and enthusiasm towards work, encouraging others to do the same. Ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests

Working Together:
鈼徛�
Encourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups. Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders. Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another. Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs. Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives

Developing Self and Others:
鈼徛�
Identify capability gaps for self and team. Ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address any gaps and enable delivery of current and future work. Take time to coach, mentor and develop other colleagues to support succession planning. Promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and use these to develop others. Reflect on own work, continuously seek and act on feedback to improve own and team鈥檚 performance

Managing a Quality Service:
鈼徛�
Develop, implement, maintain and review systems and services to ensure delivery of professional excellence. Work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales. Successfully deliver high quality outcomes that meet the customers鈥� needs and gives 鈥榲alue for money鈥�. Identify risks and resolve issues efficiently. Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements. Establish ways to find and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided

Delivering at Pace:
鈼徛�
Show a positive approach to keeping the whole team鈥檚 efforts focused on the top priorities. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation. Ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively. Regularly monitor your own and team鈥檚 work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks. Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance. Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility
Department Context To enhance the generic commercial role profile, additional information can be added by a department to outline the specific nature of the role. This may include:

鈼徛燗n additional short paragraph in the role summary
鈼徛燗dditional key responsibilities based on the department context
鈼徛燘espoke essential skills/experience required for the role