Contracting Officer
| Posting date: | 11 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £34,765 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National £34,765 - £37,080, London: £38,795 - £41,375 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’. |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 25 May 2026 |
| Location: | Warrington |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 460742/10 |
Summary
This role will sit in the Land Use and Biodiversity Services team. The team is responsible for category management for the following areas of spend: Expert advice in land use and clear up, biodiversity and ecology expertise, environmental services, land management and environmental advice and audits. This role is quite unique in that the post holder will provide a mentoring role for our dedicated team of pipeline managers across the category. The role includes end‑to‑end administration of one of the largest contracts in the category, directly supporting a broad range of Defra customers.
The Higher Category Officer roles will report to Senior Category Officer. See Job Description for full responsibilities
Defra Group Commercial (DGC) is part of Defra, the central Government Department responsible for growing the rural economy; improving the environment; and safeguarding animal and plant health. DGC is responsible for providing a commercial service to organisations within the Defra Network.
This role requires the post-holder to provide support to their customers to deliver value effectively and innovatively so that the customer organisation outcomes and objectives can be met alongside the achievement of key corporate targets.
The post-holder will be required to award and monitor high value, medium risk contracts in accordance with Defra’s commercial policies and procedures. They will be expected to deliver propriety and value for money whilst applying commercial life-cycle principles.
The work will involve promoting commercial policies and procedures whilst influencing the final outcomes. It includes the provision of expert advice to the business on commercial issues and governance and operational support to the team.
The post holder will be expected to engage with colleagues across the country, building the Commercial network both internally and through the wider Defra network and Government Bodies.
The work that you will be doing
The Category Officer will report to a Senior Category Officer (SEO) and will undertake activities at the agreed level. This job description is generic and may apply to all Category Officer posts. The post-holder may be asked to work (at an agreed level) across several different commercial areas within DGC.
You will
- Deliver and support in the delivery of projects, procurements and contract / supplier management across the full commercial life cycle providing functional / specialist input to improve ways of working and business change and efficiency.
- Be responsible for explaining specialist commercial guidance to operational teams to influence compliance with Defra policy / legislation / best practice ways of working and contribute to the delivery of business plans.
- Keep up to date on changing legislation / best practice externally, to inform internal priorities and appropriate alignment.
- Contribute to the development of Defra policy / process at national / local level and monitor and advise on effective implementation in the business, in line with environmental targets.
- Build and sustain effective relationships with operational customers to understand issues and provide effective response / steer for operational needs.
- Train and help others on policies, procedures, practices and techniques equipping them with the knowledge and skills to deliver their work in an effective and efficient manner.
- Support team members to deliver results on time, to required quality standards and cost to fulfil the business plan and achieve / support environmental goals.
- Support the delivery of contracts such that sustainable impacts and opportunities are identified and managed throughout the commercial lifecycle.
- Manage your own resources to meet business needs, including electronic sourcing and contract management applications, to maximise the efficient and effective use of finances and people to ensure that all activities are completed to time, cost and quality targets.
- Support the development of Defra sub-category and category plans and develop your own market category knowledge and expertise.
The post-holder will be accountable for:
- End‑to‑end administration of one of the largest contracts in the category, directly supporting a broad range of Defra customers.
- Mentoring a team of pipeline managers, providing guidance and support to ensure effective delivery
- The provision of day-to-day advice on commercial issues and governance, taking full account of risk, exploiting commercial opportunities and maximising value of money and savings
- The provision of support and the delivery of medium risk procurements utlilising the following core commercial processes:
- The preparation of initial sourcing strategies and contributing towards business plans.
- Supporting and helping to deliver market engagement exercises.
- Preparing pre-tender and tender documents in conjunction with customers.
- Running tenders in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, including all requests for information documentation and the management of evaluations.
- Preparing recommendations for tender outcome.
- Preparing contract management documentation in conjunction with stakeholders.
- The use of leading practice commercial tools to develop and implement commercial strategies.
- Supporting the management of more complex contracts including:
- The acceptance/signing of the contract including the resolution of assumptions before signing.
- Leading the engagement/initial transition plan, including the development of exit/service transfer arrangements.
- Engaging and training any customer stakeholders in the contract content, risk assumptions and KPI.
- Preparing initial documentation such as risk register, report requirements, innovation report, and advice to supplier on invoice submission etc.
- Supporting contract meetings and escalate supplier and commercial issues.
- Supporting negotiations for contract change and implementing these in accordance with change governance procedures.
- Supporting the management and development of key supplier relationships to deliver exceptional performance in cost service and quality.
- Supporting the establishment and maintenance of excellent relationships within customer organisation and wider government with key stakeholders, raising the profile of commercial activity within customer organisations.
- Participating in the production of National/European Commercial standards and guidance to inform the business and improve commercial implementation, promoting commercial principles and applying policy where appropriate.
- Representing the Commercial team at meetings with internal stakeholders and deputising for the Senior Category Officer as required.
- Supporting colleagues, training them as appropriate to help support them with the knowledge and skills to deliver their work in an effective and efficient manner.
- The appropriate use of commercial and contract management IT systems and applications.
- Your own continuous professional development by keeping up to date on legislation, best practice and developing industry knowledge and commercial understanding within a commercial category and using this knowledge to support development of the Category and Sub-category plans.
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