Commercial Category Manager

We offer great flexible working opportunities, and have offices in Belfast, Cardiff or York. Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas. Travel within the UK will be required on an occasional basis, possibly with overnight stays.

ABOUT THE JOB

Job summary

The FSA is a small government department with a big mission: to keep food safe, ensure that it is what it says it is, and that it’s increasingly healthy and more sustainable. In our work to deliver on this promise, our organisation undertakes many external contracts. These contracts support broad areas of our work, from inspections to scientific research.

We have an opportunity for a Commercial Category Manager who can help lead their team through the procurement cycle for their specific area of the business, ensuring that the FSA s supported with the people and contracts that we need to continue building upon the great work of the FSA.

Job description

You’ll develop strategies and plans for your category, lead on major tender exercises and develop and maintain key relationships with stakeholders. Managing tender processes from end to end, you’ll ensure that our contracts are as successful as possible. You will be part of a team effort to understand the changes and benefit from the opportunities offered by the new Procurement Act 2023.

This rich and varied role will see you building relationships with a wide range of individuals. You’ll work with contract managers, commercial business partners and our directorial community to ensure that the FSA is always in the best position to deliver its important work.

If you are a talented leader who can make the right decisions to support the FSA’s varied work, join us as a Commercial Category Manager, and help us make a real difference to food safety across the country.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

• MCIPS / Studying towards MCIPS 

https://www.cips.org/membership/grades/mcips

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Technical Criteria
• MCIPS/Studying towards MCIPS

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,611, Food Standards Agency contributes £11,475 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical

You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role. 

• MCIPS / Studying towards MCIPS

https://www.cips.org/membership/grades/mcips

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

Experience

• Lead criteria: Proven experience in implementing procurement processes and policies, including the management of sourcing and tendering exercises.
• Proven relevant commercial management experience including overseeing a pipeline of expenditure and demonstrable evidence-based decision making.
• Proven ability to develop stakeholder relationships, engaging in meaningful and constructive conversations in order to be able to challenge and influence when necessary.
• Proven experience of applying structured Continuous Improvement approaches to deliver service improvements and/or solutions to business issues.

Lead criteria

An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

In the event we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirement will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 3.

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing (Assessed via Seen presentation)
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Experience

• Proven experience in implementing procurement processes and policies, including the management of sourcing and tendering exercises.

Assessment exercise

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to prepare a seen presentation. Further information will be provided to you on the invitation to interview email.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application or used during interview, including your CV and any statements or examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 6 October 2024

Sift: Expected to take place 7 – 10 October 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place 22 – 24 October 2024

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

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.