Associate Commercial Lead

Location Cheltenham
Job Type Contract
Salary Negotiable
Reference ACL1_1674561809

Role description

Commercial is an inspiring, inclusive and fulfilling place to contribute your professional skills and develop your career. It enables the missions today and tomorrow and has overall responsibility for all commercial interactions between the agencies and external commercial organisations, ensuring we procure appropriately, ethically, legally and achieve best value for money. We are looking for Associate Commercial Leads who will relish the opportunity to have accountability for leading challenging procurement projects in a major category area, Technology. As an Associate Commercial Lead, you will work closely with and support the Commercial Lead and have responsibility for managing an existing portfolio of contract and framework agreements, ensuring the timely delivery of procurement projects in-line with customer requirements. You will ensure to apply best practice procurement principles when working closely with our customers in highly sensitive operational areas and support them through the delivery of goods and services. There is also a requirement for the Associate Commercial Lead to resolve contractual issues in collaboration with experts when necessary. Occasional travel to our sites will be required for this role on an intermittent basis.

Key responsibilities

  • Deliver a highly professional and valued service, taking responsibility for the whole lifecycle of a range of complex and demanding procurement projects;
  • Lead procurement projects drafting specifications, and inputting into the invitation to tender and evaluation process. Creativity and innovation will be required when developing and implementing service requirements for complex procurements to ensure value for money is achieved;
  • Support the development and implementation of Sub-Category Strategies for the Category Area of Technology;
  • Provide a responsive, timely, efficient, sustainable and professional procurement and supply chain service that aligns with customer requirements;
  • Analyse commercial risk and identify trade-offs in a commercial area of work;
  • Support the Commercial Lead in developing collaborative teams working across our agencies;
  • Provide effective task management for a team of Commercial Practitioners, Associate Commercial Practitioners and Commercial Support Officers to deliver against a large portfolio of agreements and to support new procurement activity within its field.

Essential skills

As an Associate Commercial Lead you will have had experience in a number of roles in which you will be able to demonstrate skills and experience in some of the activities across the Commercial Function. You will have practical experience for the delivery of complex procurement projects in line with best practice procurement processes, methodologies and practices. Experience in category management approaches, that have delivered cash releasing savings and sustainable total cost reductions. A strong customer focus, commercial acumen, a pro-active approach and evidence of effectively stimulating and embedding change within a team, is crucial. You will have strong communication and interpersonal skills in building rapport and enhancing working relationships with customers, suppliers and sponsors at both operational and senior levels. You will have the ability to work with others collaboratively across functional-teams, managing and supporting organisational change, resolving across functional-team issues and supporting others to overcome setbacks. Experience of being a role model in supporting and energising teams to encourage confidence in their ability to deliver outcomes, through coaching, mentoring & sharing expertise/knowledge, is essential.

Guidant Global is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.