National Crime Agency (NCA)
Commercial Manager
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Birmingham, Bristol, Normanton (Calder), London, Sunderland, Warrington
Job Summary
As part of the NCA’s Commercial Function, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the Agency’s mission to protect the public from serious and organised crime. Working at the centre of the organisation, you will partner with operational and corporate teams to provide high-quality commercial expertise across policy development, strategic planning, sourcing, and contract management.
These roles sit within the NCA’s multi-year commercial transformation programme, offering a rare opportunity to shape how the Agency procures critical goods and services that enable frontline operations. You will gain significant exposure to complex commercial activity, high-value portfolios, and senior stakeholders - experience that is difficult to match elsewhere in the Civil Service.
Please note that the role may involve occasional travel to other NCA sites and partner locations.
Job Description
As a Commercial Manager, you will play a key role in delivering effective, compliant and value-driven commercial activity across your category. This is a busy, hands-on role requiring you to manage multiple priorities, respond to a wide range of commercial challenges, and provide trusted support to colleagues and customers on a daily basis.
You will work closely with senior commercial leaders to oversee all stages of the procurement lifecycle, ensuring that commercial activity is well-planned, strategically aligned and delivered to the highest standards. This includes supporting customers with early commercial planning, developing a robust and forward-looking pipeline, and maintaining accurate commercial records, such as contract registers and category documentation.
In this role, you will have the opportunity to lead, influence and drive positive change within your category, across the wider commercial function and throughout the Agency. You will contribute to improving commercial capability, strengthening governance, and embedding best practice in procurement and contract management.
Typical activities may include advising customers on commercial strategy and routes to market, preparing and managing cases through governance and assurance boards, and supporting contract management - providing guidance on performance, risk, financial considerations and opportunities for optimisation.
Duties and Responsibilities
Category Management & Commercial Planning
- Lead commercial planning activities for your category, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and commercial strategy.
- Develop and maintain a robust commercial pipeline, identifying opportunities to improve value, efficiency and market engagement.
- Advise customers on commercial strategy, early-stage planning and appropriate routes to market.
Procurement Delivery & Governance
- Manage commercial activity through all stages of the procurement lifecycle, ensuring compliance with legislation, policy and best practice.
- Prepare, review and present commercial cases through governance and assurance boards, providing clear, evidence-based recommendations.
- Support senior commercial colleagues with complex procurements, ensuring risks, dependencies and commercial considerations are properly addressed.
Contract & Supplier Management
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date commercial records, including contract registers and category documentation.
- Provide guidance on contract management issues such as performance, financial monitoring, risk, change control and opportunities for optimisation.
- Work with customers and suppliers to resolve commercial issues and drive improved contract outcomes.
Stakeholder Engagement & Customer Support
- Build strong working relationships with internal customers, providing trusted commercial advice and ensuring commercial requirements are fully understood.
- Support stakeholders in defining needs, managing expectations, and understanding trade-offs within commercial, financial and legal constraints.
- Communicate commercial guidance clearly and confidently to non-commercial colleagues, supporting informed decision-making.
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Continuous Improvement & Best Practice
- Identify and drive opportunities to improve commercial processes, governance and category management.
- Contribute to raising commercial capability across the function through guidance, knowledge sharing and role modelling best practice.
- Influence positive change across the category and wider agency, contributing to a consistent, high-quality commercial service.
Person Specification
Commercial Expertise
- Demonstrable experience independently leading multiple high-value and/or high-risk complex procurements, applying sound commercial judgement throughout the full procurement lifecycle.
- Strong track record in managing and supporting large, complex contracts and key suppliers, ensuring effective performance, compliance and value for money.
- Proven ability to deliver commercial assurance - guiding stakeholders through governance and assurance processes, advising on risk, compliance standards and commercial strategy, and ensuring major initiatives are commercially robust and strategically aligned.
- Skilled in designing and running competitions using professional expertise to achieve optimal commercial outcomes.
- Proactive in identifying, recording, reporting and mitigating commercial risks, with the ability to secure strong return on investment across commercial projects.
- Confident negotiation skills, able to handle challenging supplier discussions and technical commercial points effectively.
Stakeholder Engagement & Influence
- Builds and maintains strong stakeholder relationships, communicating with clarity, credibility and impact across all levels.
- Able to articulate commercial motivations, constraints and expected behaviours for stakeholders, suppliers and wider delivery partners.
- Involves the right stakeholders early in the process and maintains strong engagement throughout commercial activity, especially across high-risk or high-value procurements.
- Promotes ethical commercial practice - ensuring compliance with standards, preventing fraud or unethical behaviour, and taking appropriate action when breaches are suspected.
- Trusted provider of commercial advice, translating complex technical and commercial considerations into plain, accessible language for non-specialists.
Decision Making
- Evaluates evidence objectively, weighing competing factors and presenting clear, balanced and well-reasoned conclusions.
- Able to influence internal decisions by providing strong commercial insight grounded in experience of high-value procurement and contract oversight.
- Leads supplier discussions confidently on contractual terms, performance, risk and technical issues, using judgement to achieve favourable and compliant outcomes.
Leadership
- Adapts quickly to changing environments and tailors communication style to suit different audiences and situations.
- Provides leadership across multi-functional teams, contributing to capability development within the commercial function through coaching, knowledge sharing and role modelling best practice.
- Demonstrates a collaborative and proactive approach, shaping positive commercial outcomes and supporting the successful delivery of major initiatives and category strategies.
Desirable Criteria
Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.
- CIPS/ MCIPS or relevant Commercial qualification and experience.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
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Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Evidence of influencing key stakeholders towards commercial solutions
- Evidence of leading and securing value for money.
Compensation and Benefits
- Salary of £57,687
- National Crime Agency contributes £16,711 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
- New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.
- Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
- Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
- Learning and Development opportunities
- Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
- Housing schemes - Key Worker status
- Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway, Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
- Staff support groups/networks
- Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)
Selection Process
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Application Stage
- Experience - This Will Be Assessed
- CV
Interview Stage
- Behaviours
- Managing a Quality Service
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Technical
- Evidence of influencing key stakeholders towards commercial solutions
- Evidence of leading and securing value for money.
Assessment Outcome
Outcomes will be communicated through Michael Page.
If successful but no role is immediately available, you may be placed on a reserve list for 12 months.
Reserve lists can be used to fill similar role types across the Agency where the assessment criteria is considered a match by the recruitment team and the business area.
Role
In the event of a tie at the assessment stage, available roles will be offered in merit order using the following order:
- Lead criteria (behaviours/technical/experience)
- If still tied, desirable criteria will be assessed (if advertised)
- If still tied, application sift scores will be used
Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.
You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.
Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.
We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.
Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance.
The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.
Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.
For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting
Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.
Occupational Health
Successful candidates will be expected to undertake an occupational health assessment. Depending on the role an in-person medical may be required in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.
Multi Location
Where multiple locations are advertised, appointments will be made in merit order per location.
Indicate your preferences clearly; you may be posted to any preferred location. If you decline a post at a location you selected, another offer may not be made.
Only advertised locations are available, any notes added to the application will not be considered.
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