Guidance
Category Strategy - Associate Commercial Specialist
Published 8 July 2024
漏 Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected].
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at /government/publications/strategy-and-policy-development/category-strategy-associate-commercial-specialist
|
Job Pillar 搁辞濒别听颁辞尘辫辞苍别苍迟 |
STRATEGY AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT Commercial Category Strategy |
|---|---|
| Commercial Professional Level |
Associate Commercial Specialist (Grade 6 equivalent) |
| Role Summary | In this role you will promote the delivery of commercial excellence for your department by managing the development of category strategies and pipeline plans. You will be expected to lead on the management of the supply chain of critical products and services and application of knowledge of business requirements combined with strong negotiating skills to ensure 鈥榲alue for money鈥� is delivered. You will lead a team, building their confidence and commercial capability to drive performance and manage setbacks. The role will require you to use your commercial expertise to identify opportunities for improvement and implement these changes at a local level by working with affected parties to identify and overcome challenges. |
| Key Responsibilities | Typically, the key responsibilities in this role will include (but are not limited to): 鈼徧齈roducing and analysing data to inform category strategy and sector management, identify new markets and quantify risks 鈼徧齅anaging the benefits, risks and issues of a category management approach and taking the lead in developing solutions within an area of responsibility 鈼徧鼴uilding strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, in order to develop a clear and agreed view of the needs of the business and wider cross-government strategies which can then be built into the category strategy 鈼徧齃eading on the implementation of government commercial policy and articulating relevant requirements to stakeholders 鈼徧鼵onsidering the long-term resilience of supply chains and takes opportunities to mitigate the risks and develop opportunities 鈼徧齃eading on the development of a category strategy and sourcing plans 鈼徧齋eeking approval for and managing the implementation of a category strategy for the whole of the commercial lifecycle 鈼徧齅anaging the development of supplier management strategies in order to maximise commercial leverage 鈼徧鼴aselining costs in order to build expected benefits into category strategies 鈼徧鼶emonstrating the benefits specified in the business case and the impact on their own role 鈼徧鼸nsuring relevant issues are fed into strategy and big picture considerations 鈼徧齈roviding advice and challenge in the development of an overarching category strategy using a good understanding of business requirements and the marketplace 鈼徧鼸stablishing and implementing negotiation strategies with clear parameters 鈼徧齊esearching, encouraging and applying new ideas and ways of working to maximise 鈥榲alue for money鈥� 鈼徧鼳pplying a strong visual project management approach 鈼徧齋ecuring and acting on insight into customers, citizens, services, communities and markets relating to a specified set of contracts or projects |
| Essential Criteria |
听Strategy and Policy Development: 鈼徧鼿as practical experience in implementing government and department commercial policies across a range of different delivery models 鈼徧鼿as expertise in developing a category strategy for high value and complex procurements 鈼徧鼿as expertise in the development and implementation of business unit strategies through supply chain management and has the ability to challenge risk averse behaviours where appropriate 鈼徧鼿as experience in developing resource and implementation plans in line with policy objectives and has the ability to expertly apply relevant procurement rules Commercial Focus: 鈼徧鼿as a strong practical understanding of market and commercial drivers as well as contract law 鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to draw conclusions from a wide range of complex data from different sources 鈼徧鼿as a practical understanding of the concept of 鈥榲alue for money鈥� and can articulate what a successful return on investment looks like for a particular project/programme Risk and Assurance Management: 鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to take calculated risks in an area of responsibility in order to implement efficient and innovative solutions 鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to conduct analysis of options, risks and margins of error to provide assurance on decisions and manage subsequent trade-offs Commercial Ethics: 鈼徧鼳bility to influence stakeholders to take active steps to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards Team Management: 鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to manage a team, understands their commercial capability and where they have development gaps and can build their confidence to deal with setbacks 鈼徧鼿as an understanding of the cumulative impact of implementing change in their business area to include: culture, structure, service and morale Build Relationships: 鈼徧鼶emonstrates strong stakeholder engagement, with the ability to show resilience in interactions with suppliers in order to defend the department鈥檚 position 鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to present technical issues to senior stakeholders in order to help them arrive at decisions by acting in an advisory capacity |
| Civil Service Behaviours | Ability to show examples across all of the following behaviours for level 4 of the : Seeing the Big Picture: 鈼徧鼶evelop and maintain an understanding of economic, social, political, environmental and technological developments to ensure activity is relevant. Ensure plans and activities in your area of work reflect wider strategic priorities and communicate effectively with senior leaders to influence future strategies. Adopt a governmentwide perspective to ensure alignment of activity and policy. Bring together views, perspectives and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities Managing a Quality Service: 鈼徧鼶emonstrate positive customer service by understanding the complexity and diversity of customer needs and expectations. Deliver a high quality, efficient and cost effective service by considering a broad range of methods for delivery. Ensure full consideration of new technologies, accessibility and costings. Make clear, practical and manageable plans for service delivery. Ensure adherence to legal, regulatory and security requirements in service delivery. Proactively manage risks and identify solutions. Establish how the business area compares to industry best practice. Create regular opportunities for colleagues, stakeholders, delivery partners and customers to help improve the quality of service Developing Self and Others: 鈼徧齈rioritise and role-model continuous self-learning and development. Identify areas individuals and teams need to develop in order to achieve future objectives. Support colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning and development. Ensure that development opportunities are available for all individuals regardless of their background or desire to achieve promotion. Ensure individuals take full advantage of learning and development opportunities available to them, including workplace based learning. Encourage discussions within and between teams to learn from each other鈥檚 experiences and change organisational plans and processes accordingly Leadership: 鈼徧齈romote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience. Welcome and respond to views and challenges from others, despite any conflicting pressures to ignore or give in to them. Stand by, promote or defend own and team鈥檚 actions and decisions where needed. Seek out shared interests beyond own area of responsibility, understanding the extent of the impact actions have on the organisation. Inspire and motivate teams to be fully engaged in their work and dedicated to their role |
| 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: 鈼徧鼳n additional short paragraph in the role summary 鈼徧鼳dditional key responsibilities based on the department context 鈼徧鼴espoke essential skills/experience required for the role |