Responsibilities include: Lead the development and implementation of the Independent Football Regulators commercial strategy, ensuring alignment with commercial policies. Oversee and lead complex procurement processes and contract negotiations to secure best value for money. Provide expert commercial advice to senior stakeholders, including executive leaders. Ensure compliance with UK public procurement regulations and best practice standards. Develop and manage key supplier relationships, ensuring high-performance contract delivery. Identify and mitigate commercial risks across procurement and supply chain operations. Drive innovation and efficiency within commercial operations to improve outcomes. Being able to shape a robust governance and assurance processes for commercial activity. Person specification R esponsibilities include: Enthusiastic professional with an ability to handle and lead multiple procurement strands and commercial activities with multiple, varied stakeholders concurrently; Evidence of confidence in providing clear and concise commercial advice to senior teams and external stakeholders; Significant experience of delivery at pace; Exceptional knowledge of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Procurement Act 2023 and understanding of their application; Practical experience of managing varied procurement operations working in a corporate procurement environment; Sophisticated understanding and experience of government frameworks, including sourcing routes; Ability to adhere to the DCMS commercial governance/assurance protocols for procurements Demonstrable experience in forming and implementing governance/assurance commercial protocols. Have or working toward MCIPS/MRICS professional qualification or equivalent Desirable Skills Demonstrable Contract Management experience Ability to challenge and hold stakeholders, create an environment that acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by James Rhodes and will take place on: Tuesday 26th August at 12.45pm The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions. Please register your interest by filling out this form and you will be sent an invitation. The invites will be sent the night before the session. Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process - please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Leadership Changing and Improving Benefits Please note that this role is due to start when the Independent Football Regulator is fully operational, not before October 2025, all pre employment checks must be carried out in advance of a start date being agreed upon. If successful you will join a Non Departmental Public Body and will be employed as a Public Servant. If you are an existing Civil Servant or a DCMS employee you will no longer have access to Civil Service benefits including the Civil Service pension. The terms and conditions of employment include: Pension 12% An employee contribution of 5%, with an employer contribution of 7%. Flexible Benefit 8% Employees can choose to invest 8% of their base salary into their pension, or take as cash (post tax) Reward we will have a performance based reward programme. 31.5 days annual leave Flexible and hybrid working, 40% in office attendance Occupational sick pay 9 months paid Maternity Leave generous paternity and adoption leave. A bespoke L&D programme to help you achieve your personal CPD, including paid membership fees Cycle-to-work scheme and much more! Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 on 8th September 2025 via the CS Jobs portal: To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will be assessed against the experience success profile : A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form. A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates. For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application. In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application. For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the Application and Interview Guidance document attached to the job advert. The interview process will assess behaviours and potentially include a presentation which will be provided ahead of interview. The behaviours to be tested at interview are: Communicating and Influencing Managing a quality service Leadership Changing and Improving Prior to the interview you will be sent the behaviour questions in advance. For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack. In most cases interviews will take place remotely via Google Meet video call. However please refer to the Candidate Information Pack to confirm the interview approach. Further Information A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the Candidate Information Pack attached. If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicants details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting Reasonable Adjustment We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment, please: Complete the Assistance required section on the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or a verbal test rather than a written one. Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Accessibility If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert. Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Joe Alford Email : joseph.alford@dcms.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/ Attachments DCMS Information for Applicants Dec 2023 Opens in new window (pdf, 440kB) DCMS Application & Interview Guidance for Candidates Aug 23 (1) (1) (1) (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 180kB) Head of Commercial.pptx Opens in new window (pdf, 4186kB)