Commercial Lead - Corporate Services
Job Title: Commercial Lead - Corporate Services
Salary: The starting salary is £74,680, which includes allowances totalling £2,928.
The salary is broken down as £71,752 basic salary, which will increase annually until you reach the top of the scale £79,042. Plus, a location allowance of £1,928 and a non-pensionable allowance of £1,000.
Location: London (Kilburn)
Background
As the challenge of protecting London evolves, so must the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Thanks to large-scale transformation, we are developing so we can make life safer for over 9 million Londoners. As a Commercial Lead, your professional expertise will contribute towards improving our policing activities, our capability to reduce crime, ensuring we deliver on our pledge to Londoners: More Trust, Less Crime & High Standards.
This is an exciting time to be working in MPS’s Commercial Services, which supports the delivery of the Commissioner’s vision for a New Met for London. Commercial Services is also responsible for delivering end-to-end commercial lifecycle management (supporting the wider business in working with third parties) across a spend portfolio of £1bn each year.
Commercial Services includes five category teams/pillars – Corporate & Professional Services (CaPS); Covert and Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP); Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT); Operational and Property – as well as an Enablement and Performance (E&P) team. There is a unique and ever-evolving challenge of policing London, which means that there are more opportunities for you to get involved with making London the safest global city in a time of unprecedented change within the UK's largest police service.
The Team
The Corporate & Professional Services pillar is responsible for the end-to-end commercial activity across a range of categories which are essential, in all organisations (big or small), to ensure they can deliver on their core mission. We are a team of 15, managing spend of c. £200m/per annum (£1.5bn/term) across a range of service contracts (as well as a small set of goods contracts). For this role, you will lead a small team which manages the commercial aspects of the MPS Shared Services and Occupational Health contracts (annual values of c.£45m and £11m respectively).
Role Description
This role is an integral part of Commercial Services.
In this role you be part of the team that lead on commercial contract management for two of the MPS’s most high-profile, complex, and strategic contracts; The MPS-SSCL (Shared Services) contract, which provides essential HR, Finance and commercial business functions for the organisation; and the MPS-Optima (Occupational Health) contract which is critical for the mental and physical health & wellbeing of the UK’s largest police force. The category team additionally oversees the contract pipeline for Comms & Engagement requirements, Employee benefits, travel and other crucial corporate functions such as GPC cards, insurances, stationary to name but a few.
You will contribute to delivering Commercial Excellence for the Met, providing a customer-focused service, understanding business needs and stakeholder drivers, becoming a trusted commercial advisor. You will also work closely with colleagues within the commercial function to improve commercial capability and offer & best practice across the wider team.
You will build close commercial business partnership relationships with colleagues in our HR and ‘Met Business Services’ functions. You will demonstrate leadership across the commercial lifecycle, but particularly feeding in learnings and improvements from contract management in to ‘next generation’ sourcing activity. You will be a trusted expert on all aspects of these key contracts, with an emphasis on commercial scrutiny of business change to secure improved service outcomes and value for money. You will develop and execute category management strategies, leading supplier negotiations where needed, and deliver timely and effective support, guidance and expertise to the business, including advice to more junior commercial managers. As a leader in the Commercial function, you will support rolling out commercial standards across the organisation, including on the new public procurement regulations.
In return, you will have the opportunity to make the role your own: increasing innovation, delivering social value to communities in London, lead category strategies, influencing commercial strategy and delivering commercial outcomes from contracts. Your experience in developing commercial improvements will directly benefit front line policing in London. No two days are the same and you will gain invaluable commercial experience, helping to deliver commercial solutions in a complex environment.
The MPS can offer you a competitive salary, flexible working, and benefits, with excellent career and professional development.
Key Responsibilities
Core duties will include (but are not limited to):
- Ensuring effective Commercial Contract and Supplier Management within the pillar:
- Strategic contract improvement and category management:
- Understanding business requirements and delivering positive outcomes through commercial contract management:
- Building and maintaining key relationships across the MPS and with important external stakeholders:
- Enabling and developing the MPS:
- Performance and day-to-day line management of small team.
- Deputise for Head of Commercial if required.
- Working within a secure environment upon sensitive projects as required.
Additional Information
Hybrid working: average of 3 days per week office-based (across the MPS estate)
The role may require the successful candidate to travel across the Met estate as per requirement of the role.
Application Process
Note: Internal and external candidates who have secured an A at the ADC will be eligible for a permanent appointment. External candidates who have secured a B at the ADC are eligible for appointment on a 2-year fixed term contract, until such time they re-sit the ADC and secure an A, at which point they can be offered a permanent contract at the same level without having to re-apply.
How to apply
To begin your career at the Met, please click the "apply now" button below. The application process requires a comprehensive CV, a Personal Statement (no more than 3 pages - font size 11), and an online application form. In your Personal Statement, you should demonstrate how you/your experience meet the role as well as the essential/desirable criteria. Please note that you should not submit two copies of your CV and ensure that your documents are saved in either PDF or Word format, clearly labelled as CV and/or Personal Statement.
Following the closing date, applications will be sifted (based on the personal statement of suitability against the role/essential criteria). If successful at the sift stage, candidates will be invited to the Government Commercial Function Assessment and Development Centre (ADC) where your skills and experience will be assessed against the Commercial People Standards for the Profession at Commercial Lead level. The ADC date will be 15th July.
Please note:
- Candidates will need to secure at least a B at ADC to be considered for an interview. Any candidate, who secures an A, is guaranteed to be offered an interview.
- Interviews will take place following the ADC results.
Completed applications must be submitted by 23:55 on 25th June 2025.
Once received, your application will be reviewed against eligibility criteria, following this, your application will be reviewed by the hiring manager. The application review for this vacancy will commence 2-3 weeks after closing date.
Following application review, successful candidates will be invited to interview. Interview dates will commence mid-July.