Head of Commercial Sponsorship

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

The Strategic Road Network (SRN) is one of the most critical pieces of national infrastructure connecting people and places. Nearly all of us are users of the SRN. The government has invested £27bn in the second Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) and plans are underway for RIS3.

The Roads and Project Infrastructure Delivery (RAPID) directorate client and sponsor the work undertaken by National Highways (NH) on behalf of the Department for Transport, including:

• Specifying the outputs to be delivered,
  
  
• Overseeing efficient delivery,
  
  
• Monitoring safe operations and,
  
  
• Ensuring that wider government missions and goals are delivered through the investment.
  
  Job description
  
  This role covers an exciting range of commercial activity and will provide invaluable experience to apply and improve commercial and project delivery skills.
  
  Areas of responsibility include:
  
  Contract Management: Leading the team to provide oversight and commercial and contract management of the M25 DBFO and M6 Toll contracts, as well as overall responsibility for the procurement and management of consultancy and legal contracts. This includes strategic and tactical interventions to enable delivery and prevent breach of obligations by either the Department or its contracting counterparts. It also includes the preparation, review and clearance of ministerial submissions and correspondence responses.
  
  Tier 1 Projects: Providing scrutiny of the commercial aspects of projects in development and delivery stages and engaging with Project Sponsors in RAPID and NH as necessary and helpful. This will involve attendance at governance forums, and business case, commercial and procurement strategy reviews, to maintain positive collaboration between DfT and NH while maintaining appropriate check and challenge.
  
  Tier 1 Procurements: Engaging with NH and DfT commercial colleagues to provide check and challenge to NH procurement plans and provide support and engagement through DfT’s governance process plus cascading the NH pipeline of work within RAPID to ensure appropriate engagement. The activities and requirements are similar to Tier 1 projects related work but the governance pathway is slightly different. This involves drafting elements of investment papers and Cabinet Office and HMT engagement.
  
  RIS 3 planning: Input with a commercial lens to the wider RAPID team’s preparation for the next regulatory period and responsibility for appropriate delegations in the RIS plus inclusions in the NH Protocol, Licence and Framework Agreement documents, as applicable.
  
  Team: Lead, manage and nurture the commercial team, managing workload pressures and demands, creating a positive culture of continuous improvement and learning and development to enable team success.
  
  Capability: Support the upskilling of Commercial and Project Sponsors on sponsorship and commercial matters by knowledge sharing, development of commercial guidance, coaching and mentoring.
  
  Person specification
  
  The role is ideal for candidates who have experience and interest in the intersection between commercial issues and the delivery of infrastructure projects. Candidates may be from a project delivery or commercial background. If you are from the project delivery profession, you will have experience of delivering or sponsoring infrastructure projects and an understanding of how commercial matters are central to the delivery of successful outcomes. If you are from the commercial profession, you will have experience of providing commercial advice to infrastructure projects and understand how project delivery constraints interact with commercial strategies.
  
  The successful candidate will enjoy the opportunity to coach and mentor the team, as well as supporting improving wider capability with Project Sponsor colleagues. The Head of Commercial Sponsorship will play an important role supporting the Deputy Director’s management of risk and commercial scrutiny of Tier 1 projects.
  
  We are looking for the following experience:
  
  
• Ability to consider and influence project stakeholders ensuring compliance with commercial service standards and relevant governance frameworks.
  
  
• Experience working with the Green Book business case.
  
  
• Experience of Procurement, Contract Management and Project.
  
  
• Ability to identify and mitigate commercial and procurement risk, particularly in the context of corporate assurance activity.
  
  
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build strong.
  
  
• Ability to communicate clearly, succinctly and persuasively in writing, in meetings and in presentations.
  
  Benefits
  
  Alongside your salary of £67,313, Department for Transport contributes £19,500 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
  
  Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.
  
  Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport