Commercial Adviser

Are you a team player who enjoys collaborating and partnering with both internal and external stakeholders to deliver innovative, commercial solutions achieving great outcomes and value for money?
Do you want to be part of a team supporting Category Management including the production of Category plans, providing key data that underpin effective commercial decisions?
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a Commercial Adviser - a great opportunity for someone interested in further developing their commercial career. You will continue to develop your skills and knowledge, as the role offers the opportunity to study towards your professional MCIPS qualification.
We are a relatively small government department, but we carry out a lot of important work. In order to deliver our vast remit, we engage with a wide range of partners, spending over £80m each year on external contracts. These contracts enable us to carry out vital research and scientific projects, bring in external support to help our teams across the organisation, and generally ensure that the FSA is always in the best position possible to keep the nation’s food safe.
The Commercial team prides itself on solid foundations of commercial experience and customer service. This is a great opportunity to join a small team committed to delivering excellent service, knowledge and expertise to both internal and external customers. You’ll have the opportunity to get an overview of many areas of work and categories; something that you wouldn’t get in a large government department.
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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy., This is a challenging and exciting chance to contribute to the future direction of the team and deliver a genuine change across the FSA. You will be a key member of the Commercial team and have full involvement in activities across the entire procurement cycle, including identifying and delivering opportunities to improve our working approach, developing our use of existing systems and delivering the Commercial Improvement Programme.
If you feel this could be the role for you we’d love to receive your application.
Please read before applying
This post is a temporary Fixed Term/Loan appointment until 23 June 2025 with the possibility, but no guarantee, of extension or permanency.
Candidates that are already established Civil Servants or from non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will come to the FSA on a Loan basis and will need to request permission from their Home Department for the Loan prior to applying for this vacancy.
Note for FSA employees
You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy, this includes applying for a new post during an existing temporary posting. Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion - you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent)., + MCIPS qualified
or
+ working towards MCIPS
or
+ willing to commence study to obtain MCIPS should the role become permanent.
Lead Criteria An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.
In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.
Interview
If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Experience requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours Level 3.
Behaviours
Working Together, + You will be asked up to four questions around the essential criteria in the ‘Application and Shortlisting’ section above
Expected Timeline
Advert closes: 9 June 2024 (23:55)
Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 10 June 2024
Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 24 June 2024
Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).
Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to the Food Standards Agency 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
Reserve List
A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.
Visa Sponsorship
Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
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.

+ Lead criteria: Experience of leading, sourcing, and tendering exercises; ensuring procurement processes and policies are adhered to.
+ Experience of drafting and negotiating contracts.
+ Experience of effectively developing and maintaining stakeholder relationships, involving meaningful and challenging conversations.
+ Excellent communication skills with the ability to challenge and relate complex information to a non-specialist audience.
+ Experience of working with customers to support them in drafting their specifications of requirements and supporting them as part of the contract management role.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Working Together

Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
+ MCIPS qualified or • working towards MCIPS or • willing to commence study to obtain MCIPS should the role become permanent., Alongside your salary of £32,505, Food Standards Agency contributes £9,417 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.