Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Norwich, Newport, Birmingham, London, Liverpool Occasional travel to CCS and customer/supplier locations. Full time and flexible working only. Relocation costs will not be reimbursed. About the job Job summary CCS is the largest provider of commercial agreements to Central Government and across the wider public sector, leveraging around £30bn per annum spend. As part of the Commercial Directorate you will be focused on our Technology category which delivers significant value across all aspects of IT procurement, products and services. As Head of Category your role will be pivotal to the development of our portfolio and value-added services which we provide to a huge range of public sector organisations. Your leadership and knowledge of technology procurement will help drive best practice in the delivery of our agreements as well as contribute to the development of category strategies, value add services, and procurement routes to market, working closely in strategic partnership with the CCS organisation and many central and wider public sector organisations. Your role will be varied with the opportunity to take on bigger challenges as the business continues to grow and we respond to our suppliers, customers and industry trends in technology procurement. Job description You will be joining a team of around 130 technology procurement professionals who have a wide range of knowledge across public procurement and IT. You will lead a part of this team in the delivery of CCSs objectives. You will lead key initiatives and strategies in conjunction with key central government departments and wider public sector organisations (local and devolved government, health, blue light, transport). Additionally, you will interface into several IT strategic suppliers to the public sector, many being global in size. 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 As a Head of Category, you will: Lead your teams to deliver against the business plan objectives (customer value, operational excellence, growing our capability) for the Commercial Directorate. Be part of the senior management and leadership team for Technology, collaborating, supporting, and driving our teams success. Lead the development of procurement strategies including the production of category strategies, joint planning with customers, and using market insight to drive innovative solutions for our customers. Drive operational excellence with our supplier base. Line manage a team of procurement professionals (typically around 8-10 people) Help our commercial capability grow and learn through sharing your experience and driving personal development actions Work with our CCS business partners and wider stakeholder to ensure we deliver compliantly and consistently Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Manages Complexity - Experience of supporting large scale enterprise IT solution delivery enabled through procurement and commercial supplier management Market Insight - Knowledge of the technology industry, current trends, strategic suppliers to the public sector. Areas of knowledge in one or more of the following; cloud, software, networks, services Commercial Focus - Expertise and leadership in the delivery of commercial benefits and value add through procurement and supplier management activities Builds Relationships - Ability to build relationships with senior managers to set, and influence, strategic direction and deliver on their business requirements Coaching Manager - Demonstrated leadership in managing and developing high performance procurement teams, directly managed and in a matrixed structure 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. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Technical skills. This vacancy is being managed by Berwick Partners, one of our Executive Search Partners. Once you register your application via the Apply Now option you will receive a communication directing you to send your CV and supporting statement at www.berwickpartners.co.uk/92051, our recruitment partners for this campaign. After submitting your application Richard Guest will make contact and offer you an opportunity to further discuss the role and finalise your application For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the explanation provided in the attached candidate pack. The closing date for this role is the 2 nd February 2025. If you register your details on the job advert on the close date, you will have 24 hours to then submit your CV and statement of suitability to Berwick Partners for your application to be progressed. Our recruitment partners, Berwick Partners, will advise you of the outcome of your application. If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to attend the Commercial Assessment and Development Centre (ADC) Please be advised that the Virtual ADC is taking place 6th March 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 commercialresourcinghubcabinetoffice.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. Details of schemes available are attached in the advert. For full details of our process, and a likely timeline, please read the explanation provided in 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 essential criteria for the role which are detailed in the attached Candidate Pack. 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. IMPORTANT: If you do not receive an acknowledgement of your application within 2 working days please contact: commercialresourcinghubcabinetoffice.gov.uk 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 the Civil 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 : Sean Kelly Email : commercialresourcinghubcabinetoffice.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : commercialresourcinghubcabinetoffice.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 commercialresourcinghubcabinetoffice.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-recruitment/complaints/ Attachments Guaranteed Interview Schemes Opens in new window (pdf, 70kB) 385126 - Candidate Pack - CCS - Head of Category for Technology.docx (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 550kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail