Head of Debarment Review Service

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 432964

**Salary**:

- £82,600 - £100,938
- GCO Pension, GCO Terms. Up to 15% performance-related-pay available on accreditation.

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Grade 6
- Associate Commercial Specialist

**Contract type**:

- Permanent

**Business area**:

- GCF - Cabinet Office

**Type of role**:

- Commercial

**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed hours

**Number of jobs available**:

- 1

**Contents**:

- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know

**Location**:

- Assignment Location: London, Glasgow (G2 8HS), York, Norwich
Occasional travel required.
Relocation costs will not be reimbursed.

**About the job**:
**Job summary**:
This is a unique opportunity to lead and help shape the newly established service within the Cabinet Office that will safeguard £billions of public spending each year. As Head of the Debarment Review Service, you will implement the government's centralised debarment regime which is a new mechanism for investigating suppliers that pose risk. You will operate at the forefront of the most significant public procurement reforms in a generation. The Procurement Act 2023 introduces sweeping changes to how the public sector buys goods and services, giving the Cabinet Office powerful new oversight capabilities. Your service will be critical to realising the Act's benefits by protecting taxpayer money and raising commercial standards across the public sector.

In this high-profile role, you will engage regularly with ministers and the most senior civil servant leaders across the public sector. You will embed the debarment regime's operating model, guidance, processes and flexible resourcing pool, constantly improving and innovating our approach to Debarment as you go.

**Job description**:
As a dynamic and experienced leader, you will make a lasting impact by shaping procurement best practice and building a legacy that raises the bar for commercial excellence in government.

**Locations**:
Your time spent on official duties at workplace locations other than your contractual office such as supplier, customer or partner locations required to perform your role is included in the 60% attendance.

This requirement will however take into consideration any reasonable adjustments agreed upon appointment for people with a disability, flexibilities agreed for those with specific caring responsibilities, or other similar temporary flexibilities.

**Person specification**:

- Support the deputy Director of the Procurement Review Unit to lead the team and to effectively communicate commercial policy to drive continuous improvements, deliver key engagement and programme management activities in support of both Government Commercial Function and Cabinet Office priorities.
- Lead the operational management and continuous evolution of the new centralised debarment system for screening suppliers across all public procurement.
- Develop and embed standardised operating model, guidance and governance processes to support robust and fair assessments.
- Manage the triage of cases, allocation of investigation resources and scrutiny of investigation findings.
- Engage with ministers to secure decisions on adding suppliers to the debarment list based on the investigation team's evidence and recommendations.
- Utilise and matrix manage a flexible, cross-government resourcing pool to conduct debarment investigations.
- Collaborate with senior commercial leaders, the National Security Unit and serious fraud experts to protect the public sector supply chain.

With the creation of this brand-new service, you will revisit and continually improve the initial robust procedures and instill best practices. You will play a central role in the successful implementation of this critical piece of legislation, helping to reset commercial standards and public trust in procurement processes.

**Technical skills**:
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

- Experience of a leading role in complex commercial activities, with experience across the commercial lifecycle. Experience of managing multiple cross-functional teams on complex programmatic activity within pressured timelines
- Analyse commercial risks and understand margins of error in developing recommendations for key stakeholders, including political. Make clear, considered recommendations to stakeholders on complex issues
- Support and challenge senior stakeholder decisions, work under pressure, and deliver multiple projects within agreed timescales. Be agile and flexible, assess challenges and opportunities to define and plan the path ahead
- Build, maintain and optimise a well-considered stakeholder ecosystem. Build highly effective relationships with the most senior stakeholders, their teams and operational relationships with expert SMEs (e.g., legal, policy)
- A deep understanding and interpretation of the Procurement Act and legal fr