Commercial Officer

Commercial Officer

Reporting to: Head of Category

Dept/Pillar: Commercial

Hours: 37 (full-time)

Grade/Salary: From £38,598 (dependent on experience etc)

Contract Type: Permanent

Vetting Level: NPPV 3 & SC

Role overview

As a Commercial Officer you will be responsible for contributing to the delivery of cost savings and operational performance improvements across multiple categories. Supporting the wider BlueLight Commercial team with procurement and contract management activities across all pillars as required to support fluctuations in workload. Contributing to the BlueLight team every day.

Working with blue light services to help strategically analyse current spend and financial data (working analyst teams), understanding current approaches and operational requirements, undertaking detailed market analysis helping to determine the appropriate strategy (including the optimal contracting approach, social value opportunities and risk management). Supporting the management of multiple contracts and helping the wider team in the development of new opportunities for BlueLight Commercial to achieve targets, including savings.

Undertaking this role, you will be gaining a breadth of experience across commercial services and procurement. We can offer support in obtaining relevant CIPS qualification for future career development.

My team and the BlueLight team

You will be an integral part of the wider BlueLight commercial team supporting work across multiple categories, contributing to equitable team workload and delivery.

We are passionate about being a high performing team who look after each other. We are intent on optimising technology to plan and deliver work visibly, collaboratively, and efficiently. We are fully remote and agile and being a team here is exciting and still a bit unique!

You will receive regular feedback on your contribution to our commercial journey in 1-2-1’s and thanked for a job well done with success celebrated. We care about your wellbeing, and you will have opportunities to gain experience and progress your career with us.

My responsibilities and accountabilities

• Supporting the creation, delivery, and ongoing development of category strategies throughout the commercial lifecycle

• Supporting commercial and contractual negotiations and consulting with legal teams to deliver contracts on time
• Contributing (or leading where appropriate) to successful contract management of low-risk contracts. Managing the performance of appropriate contracts in collaboration with key stakeholders including making recommendations to mitigate risks
• Liaising cross-functionally, supporting engagement, gathering information, and sharing best-practice,
• Undertaking research into regional and national best practice, maintaining wider subject awareness to ensure and maintain an elevated level of knowledge of the latest trends to apply to procurement activities and promoted accordingly
• Helping to develop and manage the implementation of category strategies and associated sourcing or tactical procurement strategies, whether undertaken nationally or through local commercial teams, leading on low-risk sourcing activities
• Producing business cases with support, for small level spend using formal frameworks. Supporting the appraisal of risks and benefits of different options for business cases.
• Conducting supplier analysis, monitoring and market research to identify risks and trends to put forward suggestions for improvement.
• Completing relevant documentation to support the decision making on the best route to market for specific procurements.
• Supporting activities within the tendering process
• Building effective relationships with suppliers, stakeholders and internally. Supporting stakeholders with understanding and adhering to policies and procedures, and effectively managing stakeholders through commercial projects
• Gathering and analysing data to support financial planning and forecasting, supporting cost estimation where required.
• Working collaboratively as a high performing team, equally effective working autonomously
• Undertaking any other work as directed by your line manager in connection with your job as may be requested.

Qualifications & Accreditations

You are someone who has attained:

• A level qualification (or equivalent level)
• CIPS Level 3 qualified or minimum 2 years’ experience within a commercial environment

• Experience & Knowledge

You are someone who has:

• Experience of supporting minimal risk project(s) through the full commercial lifecycle

• Experience of supporting commercial and contractual negotiation(s)
• Experience of undertaking spend analysis trends and contributing towards recommendations

• Experience of gathering and analysing data to support financial planning, forecasting, risks, and business cases
• Experience of effective stakeholder management
• Working knowledge of EU regulations around the commercial lifecycle
• Working knowledge of the social value tool and ability to use it in commercial activities / contracts
• Knowledge of selection and award criteria in a RFQ or tender process.

Skills

You are someone who is:

• Good written skills able to demonstrate producing a varied range of documents
• Highly effective communication and relationship management skills, able to maintain and develop relationships with a variety of stakeholders
• Project management including using MS project or project management software
• Good IT skills including Microsoft/Office 365: MS Teams, Excel, PowerPoint etc.
• Excellent organisational and prioritising skills, examples of delivering high quality work on time

Personal Qualities

You are/have:

• Collaborative and team focussed, equally conscientious and effective working autonomously
• Committed to professional development and willingness to complete supported training
• Accurate and diligent
• Agile and flexible, delegates upwards with confidence when needed

Our Values

Our values guide our behaviour. They inform how we act, the decisions we make and how we collaborate with each other and the organisations we work with. They were shaped by our team, purposefully designed to ‘inter-connect’. They remind us of ‘how to be’ in all we do and strive to achieve as a diverse and agile company.

• Be the best
• Be responsible
• Be a team
• Be open
• Be the difference

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We foster a work environment that is inclusive as well as diverse, where our people can be themselves. We value every idea and perspective towards helping us to evolve and innovate.

What We Offer - Total Rewards Package

• Starting salary £38,598 p.a. (DOE dependent on experience)
• Quality equipment for successful remote working, laptop, mobile phone, monitor, chair & desk and a Welcome ‘kit box’
• 12% employer pension contribution
• Support for your development for your Role and future career development (a framework to achieve this)
• Pension salary sacrifice scheme
• Life insurance 4 x salary
• 28 days annual leave (rising on service) plus paid bank holiday leave
• Birthday Leave (1 x extra day per year to be used in birthday month)
• Occupational sick pay
• Wellness – free vouchers for eye test and flu jab
• Employee Assistance Programme for health and wellbeing
• 1 x annual professional subscription
• Learning Management System – access to free training & e-learning (more than 80,000 learning resources)

CLOSING DATE: Tuesday 10th December 2024

POTENTIAL INTERVIEWS: Week commencing 6th January 2025

Please let us know confidentially if you require any adjustments in order to participate fully in our recruitment experience, this can be prior to applying or when you apply.

“The legal bit”

The successful applicant will be subject to pre-employment checks including medical screening and vetting (carried out externally NPPV3 ) due to the nature of our business this is important. As standard you will need to satisfy:

• Employment eligibility check (right to work in the UK)

• Residency qualification (meaning you must have a 5 year 'checkable history' in the UK, ideally you have been and you are a resident in England or Wales for the last 5 years).

• Employment references (last 3 years or educational / personal reference where applicable)

NPPV3: Vetting process | Warwickshire Police

This level of vetting grants the applicant to have unsupervised, unrestricted access to police premises and systems and could include those working in areas where the police roles have been identified as designated posts. NPPV3 allows access to classified police material or information up to SECRET and occasional access to TOP SECRET

Clearance at SC level, sits alongside NPPV3 allows applicants access to a higher level of secure information and systems.