Guidance

Category Management - Commercial Practitioner

Published 8 July 2024

Job Pillar
搁辞濒别听颁辞尘辫辞苍别苍迟
Cross Pillar
Category Management
Commercial Professional Level Commercial Practitioner
(Higher Executive Officer equivalent)
Role Summary In this role you will be expected to contribute to delivering commercial excellence for the department, providing a customer-focused service, understanding the business need and stakeholder drivers, with the aim of becoming a trusted commercial advisor. You will also develop relationships with the department鈥檚 key and strategic suppliers, driving value for money and risk management excellence across the category.

You will be expected to support across the overall commercial life cycle. You will contribute to strategy and policy development, analyse data and use market insight to support the sourcing options, and work across the procurement process.

You will work as part of a larger team, but will be expected to work independently by prioritising and managing your own workload to deliver to deadlines and to respond to changing operational demands.
Key Responsibilities Category Management roles are varied, and individual remit is subject to both size of category, and/or level of complexity, value and risk within a category. 听Typically, key responsibilities for a commercial professional in this role may include (but are not limited to):

鈼徧齋trategic delivery and management within a category:
听Supporting development of specifications to deliver requirements that are in line with business needs, and existing category strategy
听Engaging, where required, with the relevant lead ensuring that business requirements are in line with existing category strategies
听Contributing to the development of category strategies
听Carrying out analysis, research and requirements gathering to feed into demand forecasting and category strategies
Tracking progress against category plans and working to deliver key tasks

鈼徧齍nderstanding relevant sourcing options and analysis, delivering positive outcomes through the procurement process:
听Working independently across end-to-end strategic sourcing activities for the department
听In some cases, leading on low value/low complexity procurements, with support from senior commercial colleagues
听Engaging with key stakeholders across the department to support the team develop a clear and agreed view of business requirements
听Advising and providing professional guidance throughout the sourcing process, supporting the evaluation of a range of sourcing models
听Gathering inputs and at times leading development of commercial input into business cases, evaluating the benefits, value and risks of projects
听Providing a procurement service to the department which delivers demonstrable value for money and compliant goods and services contracts as part of a team of procurement professionals on larger procurement activities
Understanding, and being able to advise on, sourcing compliance and frameworks

鈼徧鼸nsuring effective commercial contract and supplier management within the category:
听Day-to-day management of one or more low to medium value/risk/ complexity contracts within the category, with support from senior commercial colleagues
听Managing one or more contracts/suppliers, ensuring effective stakeholder management, governance, performance management frameworks, escalation, risk management, issues resolution, financial management, change control and compliance
听Contributing to the management and administration of the whole supply chain portfolio, including the implementation of supply chain management and supplier relationship strategies
听Supporting the administration of change control notices, data/spend analysis, management information and reporting
听Tracking and owning risks relating to specific contracts, taking steps to mitigate commercial risks
Identifying perceived areas of risk, and supporting analysis of suppliers for risk and assurance purposes

鈼徧鼴uilding and maintaining key relationships across the department and with important external stakeholders:
听Developing effective working relationships with supplier organisations to establish appropriate governance and relationship arrangements, ensuring the effective management of clarifications and change requests
听Engaging and working closely with the relevant senior business lead, ensuring that business requirements are supported by category strategies
听Identifying key suppliers and articulating management and engagement level required to assure the supply chain
听Assisting with senior internal stakeholder management across the business, helping them be informed about business elements that aim to move forward critical decision making at the top level
Assisting with senior external stakeholder management, holding working level relationships with individuals at external stakeholder groups

鈼徧鼸nabling and developing the department:
听Contributing to the maintenance and updating of systems throughout the procurement lifecycle
Feeding into catalogue and content management for the department, owning key aspects and working with stakeholders to promote the use of catalogues

鈼徧齏orking within a secure environment on sensitive projects as required
Essential Criteria Category Management:
鈼徧鼿as some experience within a procurement, commercial or buying role
鈼徧鼿as a good understanding of the principles of end-to-end commercial lifecycle management

Commercial Focus:
鈼徧鼿as an understanding of elementary economics factors that may determine a market shape, dynamics and models, the changes in the business needs of an organisation and is familiar with key commercial tools

Risk and Assurance Management:
鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to identify and communicate cyber, personnel and physical risks and gain agreement on how they should be managed/mitigated

Commercial Ethics:
鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to apply standards to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards

Team Focus:
鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to work as part of a team to support their performance, manage setbacks and resolve issues internally

Build Relationships:
鈼徧鼶emonstrates the ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels using different communication styles to articulate the benefits that have been achieved and to establish governance and relationship arrangements
Civil Service Behaviours Ability to show examples across the following behaviours for level 3 of the :

Seeing the Big Picture:
鈼徧齍nderstand the strategic drivers for your area of work. Align activities to contribute to wider organisational priorities. Remain alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact your work area. Seek out and share experiences to develop knowledge of the team鈥檚 business area. Understand how the strategies and activities of the team create value and meet the diverse needs of all stakeholders

Changing and Improving:
鈼徧齏ork with others to identify areas for improvement and simplify processes to use fewer resources. Use technology where possible to increase efficiency. Encourage ideas for change from a wide range of sources. Clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change. Encourage an environment where colleagues know that they can challenge decisions and issues safely. Take managed risks by fully considering the varied impacts changes could have on the diverse range of end users

Making Effective Decisions:
鈼徧齍nderstand own level of responsibility and empower others to make decisions where appropriate. Analyse and use a range of relevant, credible information from internal and external sources to support decisions. Invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making. Display confidence when making difficult decisions, even if they prove to be unpopular. Consult with others to ensure the potential impacts on end users have been considered. Present strong recommendations in a timely manner outlining the consideration of other options, costs, benefits and risks

Leadership:
鈼徧鼸nsure colleagues and stakeholders have a clear understanding of objectives, activities and time-frames. Take into account different individual needs, views, and ideas, championing inclusion and equality of opportunity for all. Consider the impacts of own and team鈥檚 activities on stakeholders and end users. Role-model commitment and satisfaction with role. Recognise and praise the achievements of others to drive positivity within the team. Effectively manage conflict, misconduct and non-inclusive behaviour, raising with senior managers where appropriate

Communicating and Influencing:
鈼徧鼵ommunicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate styles to maximise understanding and impact. Encourage the use of different communication methods, including digital resources and highlight the benefits, including ensuring cost effectiveness. Ensure communication has a clear purpose and takes into account people鈥檚 individual needs. Share information as appropriate and check understanding. Show positivity and enthusiasm towards work, encouraging others to do the same. Ensure that important messages are communicated with colleagues and stakeholders respectfully, taking into consideration the diversity of interests

Working Together:
鈼徧鼸ncourage joined up team work within own team and across other groups. Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders. Collaborate with these to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another. Put in place support for the wellbeing of individuals within the team, including consideration of your own needs. Make it clear to all team members that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable. Actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives

Developing Self and Others:
鈼徧齀dentify capability gaps for self and team. Ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address any gaps and enable delivery of current and future work. Take time to coach, mentor and develop other colleagues to support succession planning. Promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and use these to develop others. Reflect on own work, continuously seek and act on feedback to improve own and team鈥檚 performance

Managing a Quality Service:
鈼徧鼶evelop, implement, maintain and review systems and services to ensure delivery of professional excellence. Work with stakeholders to set priorities, objectives and timescales. Successfully deliver high quality outcomes that meet the customers鈥 needs and gives 鈥榲alue for money鈥. Identify risks and resolve issues efficiently. Involve a diverse range of colleagues, stakeholders and delivery partners in developing suggestions for improvements. Establish ways to find and respond to feedback from customers about the services provided

Delivering at Pace:
鈼徧齋how a positive approach to keeping the whole team鈥檚 efforts focused on the top priorities. Promote a culture of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time whilst still enabling innovation. Ensure the most appropriate resources are available for colleagues to use to do their job effectively. Regularly monitor your own and team鈥檚 work against milestones ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks. Act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to maintain performance. Allow individuals the space and authority to meet objectives, providing additional support where necessary, whilst keeping overall responsibility
Department Context To enhance the generic commercial role profile, additional information can be added by a department to outline the specific nature of the role. This may include:

鈼徧鼳n additional short paragraph in the role summary
鈼徧鼳dditional key responsibilities based on the department context
鈼徧鼴espoke essential skills/experience required for the role