The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.
We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.
Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern, cost-effective real estate service solutions.
Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. And we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.
Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.
The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.
To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Government Property Agency (GPA) Commercial Team sits within the Chief Operating Officer’s (COO) Group and is responsible for procurements and contracts delivered across GPA. The COO and Finance Commercial Team are at the heart of the commercial function GPA. We are driving transformational change that underpins and supports the GPA wide Commercial Teams. The GPA commercial activity is growing in confidence and maturity as it develops and strengthens its commercial remit. This team offers the opportunity to drive and make change often implementing processes and systems where they have not previously existed. You will need to be self-motivated, have an enquiring mind set and understand a range of commercial activity to apply that knowledge practically and pragmatically. You will need to be a team player and work with a range of stakeholders both internally and externally to drive change and innovation. The remit of the team is both transformative and operationally critical, providing support to a range of GPA teams including HR, Legal, Marketing & Comms, Strategic Performance and Corporate Security. This strategic position within the GPA Corporate environment provides opportunities to build close relationships with teams and gain insight to the strategic direction of GPA.
The team is responsible for the systems that underpin the commercial end to end lifecycle for procurements and contracts delivered across GPA. This role also links into governance, compliance and reporting commercial activity in GPA.
The new Procurement Act 2023 creates many opportunities for the Government Property Agency to evaluate how we operate and provide new flexible procurement routes in the future. To build GPA’s resilience and capitalise on the opportunity presented by the new act, the Commercial Systems Lead will have the scope and freedom to develop our systems and ensure we achieve full value from them, and ensure compliance with the act while also improving outcomes for GPA.
This role will report to the Commercial Systems Lead and ultimately to the Head of COO & Finance Commercial.
Key Responsibilities:
* Support the implementation and stabilisation of the Proactis E Sourcing tool, a new addition to our suite of E-commercial products. The tool will support GPA to meet the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 and the broader Transforming Public Procurement initiative into all of GPA Commercial Policy, ensuring alignment with the Act and Cabinet Office guidance.
* Support the expansion and development of the range of E commercial assets GPA owns; maximising these products and driving compliance, and use across GPA Commercial, drive best practice and consistency across GPA. This will require working with commercial colleagues, legal support, stakeholder groups, and suppliers and may include links to Cabinet Office E-Sender and digital platforms and forums underpinning the role out of the new Procurement Act. This role will support the Commercial Systems lead to shape and influence how GPA uses E-commerce tools across all stages of the procurement lifecycle and to cover the range of scenarios that may occur across different procurement routes.
* Work with suppliers in a supporting contract management role of our E-commerce tools, which will include incident or issue resolution to ensure GPA has well managed E-commerce tools. This will include working with internal GPA digital teams and ensure we meet prevailing digital and data best practice and standards.
* Contribute and develop a range of supporting “how do I” guides and videos to show users how to self manage tasks and offer training where appropriate.
* Ensure there are clear links between E-Commerce products and GPA Commercial Policy in addition to those related to the Procurement Act and other emerging commercial policies.
* Generate rich data sets and MI of commercial activity to support confidence and inform GPA Senior Leaders of commercial activity and compliance. Use evidence to support GPA teams and generate knowledge from evidence and data. This may extend to how contract managers in the business interact with E commerce and comply with transparency requirements throughout the procurement cycle.
* Support the Commercial Systems Lead as they represent the GPA at relevant cross-government forums and functions and act as the single point of contact for the E-Sourcing, E-Sender communications and the broader Transforming Public Procurement programme.
* Act as an E commerce expert for the commercial team and provide clear direction when possible.
* Support the team on procurements and contractual matters, as they arise, providing guidance and advice to colleagues. This may include hand holding or upskilling Single Points of Contact in each of the commercial teams
* Provide flexible support to other projects delivered across the wider team which may include governance chambers.
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About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .