Commercial Support Officer

Job Introduction

Are you ready to kickstart your career in commercial and procurement, working at the heart of a dynamic public sector team? Working in the Commercial Excellence Team as a Commercial Support Officer at [Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk], you’ll gain hands-on experience across a variety of Commercial & Procurement projects, building your expertise and making a real difference to the services that support our communities. This is your opportunity to develop as a high-potential professional, learning from experts and taking the lead on meaningful work.

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Support Procurement Activities: Assist senior colleagues in preparing and managing procurement processes, drafting tender documents, evaluating bids, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Assisting Supplier Management: Build and maintain relationships with suppliers, monitor their performance, and help resolve issues to ensure high standards of service delivery.
• Supporting Contract Management: Help administer contracts, ensure terms and conditions are met, and manage contract variations or amendments.
• Market Research: Identify potential suppliers, analyse market trends, and gather intelligence to inform procurement decisions.
• Supply Chain Mapping: Develop a clear picture of supplier relationships and risks, providing insights to support business continuity.
• Financial Analysis: Support cost analysis, budget monitoring, and identify opportunities for savings.
• Compliance and Reporting: Ensure all procurement activities comply with laws and council policies, and help prepare reports and respond to FOI requests.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with internal stakeholders to understand their needs and ensure procurement aligns with council objectives.
• Training & Development: Help build and deliver commercial training programmes to develop capability across the service and wider community.
• Purchase to Pay: Support the Finance P2P team with supplier set-ups, approvals, and process optimisation.
• Wider Service Support: Support the Commercial & Procurement Service by raising shopping carts on behalf of the team, owning a Procurement card and transacting necessary purchases, and working to ensure the smooth and efficient operating of the service.

What You’ll Bring

• A passion for learning and a desire to develop expertise across commercial and procurement activities.
• Good communication skills—able to inform, instruct, persuade, and encourage feedback with credibility.
• Good persuasion and negotiation skills, able to influence outcomes and constructively challenge decisions.
• Proactive problem-solving skills, with the ability to spot opportunities and manage risk.
• Commercial awareness, with an understanding of basic cost drivers, value for money, and how to deliver greater value.
• Ability to connect the dots across the organisation and implement change to maximise value.
• Experience delivering commercial projects, understanding commercial policy, or designing capability development programmes (desirable, not essential).
• MCIPS / IACCM / WCC / NEC qualification or willingness to work towards one (desirable, not essential).
• Local Government experience is a plus, but not essential.