Director of Commercial Delivery and Governance

As Director of Commercial Delivery & Governance Function the post holder will lead and work as part of a dynamic commercial team.
The NHS is one of the biggest commercial “organisations” in the country, buying on behalf of the fifth biggest employer in the world. Clinicians rely on NHS commercial teams to buy the goods and services they need, making them critical to the delivery of patient care.
Commercial activity covers all supplier-related activity, including procurement of products and services, income generation and supply chain management, and plays a central role in ensuring the financial stability of the NHS. The scale of NHS commercial activity is significant, with around £30 billion spent every year across approximately 80,000 suppliers.
The post holder will provide internal Commercial Governance and Assurance for all 3rd party spend by NHS England. This includes managing the governance and assurance processes including spend controls, and statutory compliance, commercial risk management assurance and operational commercial reporting. This includes internal NHS England operational management of the Atamis Commercial System.
This role is a key role as part of the Commercial Directorate, reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer of NHSE, responsible for delivering the significant ambition of the Central Commercial Function.
Reporting to and deputising for the Chief Commercial Officer you will join our leadership team in a new role as part of our new Commercial Directorate for NHSE.
As Director of Commercial Delivery and Governance the post hold will be responsible for all NHS England commercial activity for direct 3rd party spend and for national procurements on behalf of the NHS where it is agreed that this will be led nationally by NHS England taking responsibility for:
Managing the governance and assurance processes including spend controls, and statutory compliance, commercial risk management assurance & reporting.
Industry engagement and Strategic Supplier Relationship Management for NHSE.
Commercial policy development to promote and embed this across the commercial directorate and through the CCF, ensuring alignment with DHSC & central government strategic priorities, legislation & regulations.
NHSE Commercial continuous improvement and assure commercial continuous improvement across the system.
Further details can be found in the main job description.
In April 2023, NHS England, NHS Digital, and Health Education England merged to create a new, single organisation to lead the NHS in England. This new NHS England is designed to create a simpler, smaller, high performing, organisation that leads the NHS more effectively and is a better place to work. Speaking with one voice to the service.
The new NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose by:
Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
Delivering value for money.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/ .
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
To help us build a better picture of how you can help us meet our ambitions, we would like you to respond to the following questions in the Supporting Statement section in the job application form:
What values, behaviours and leadership expertise will you bring to our team and how will this help us in achieving our goals?
What expertise do you have of leading and coordinating specialist Commercial Delivery functions of scale?
What expertise do you have in working with senior, diverse stakeholder groups to effect positive change and influence decision making?
What expertise do you have of developing and delivering strategic plans & harnessing innovation at scale that you believe you can bring to the role?
What sets you apart from the other candidates?
People are central to what we do – both in terms of our patient-led care but just as importantly, our brilliant team. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and compassionate workforce supporting everyone to reach their full potential.
This means we care about your professional development and training as well as your personal health and wellbeing. You’ll be joining a supportive and friendly team where you can truly be yourself. You’ll also have access to fantastic benefits such as our pension scheme, great annual leave entitlement and flexible working opportunities to give you the work/life balance that suits your lifestyle and caring responsibilities.
If you are passionate about commercial and want to make a tangible difference to people’s lives, join us on this exciting journey.
You can find further details about the job, organisational structure, recruitment profile, expected outcomes and benefits information in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Please see the job description for further information about the role but for an informal discussion please contact Natasha Hughes, Chief of Staff for Chief Commercial Officer: Natasha.Hughes15@nhs.net .
We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups, especially disabled, female, and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, who are currently under-represented at this level within our workforce.