JOB SUMMARY

We’re currently recruiting sales-side commercial contract professionals to join a team providing commercial support for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), a Research Council and one of Europe’s largest science research organisations. STFC owns and operates a number of large facilities and national laboratories focused on particular areas of research. Although we work across the whole of UKRI, this role mainly supports RAL Space, the UK’s national laboratory for Space science. RAL Space operate the National Satellite Test Facility and provide a rage of design, manufacturing and test facilities for satellites and space instrumentation. This role supports these activities and involves dealings with the European Space Agency, NASA, and UK Space companies of all sizes. Project values range from a few thousand pounds to several millions.
This is not a sales role: you will be providing pre- and post- contract commercial approval, management, and advice for a wide range of projects. You will help draft bids and ensure that they are legally and commercially sound. You will review and challenge bids and proposals to ensure that they meet Government financial rules and good commercial practice. You will provide sound commercial advice to stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
The work is challenging, varied and interesting. You’ll need to quickly adapt to a wide range of different technologies, negotiating on behalf of UKRI with public and private sector clients ranging from SMEs to multinationals, while meeting the requirements of our internal stakeholders.
The commercial function is relatively new to UKRI and has quickly earned itself a reputation for being effective, professional, helpful and responsive. You will work as part of a close-knit and very supportive team, and also work closely and collaboratively with our legal, financial and technical colleagues in the wider organisation. But the role also has an unusually high degree of autonomy, and you will get pretty much cradle-to-grave responsibility for a number of contracts. Support is there if you need it, but you will often be the sole commercial officer in the room. You’ll need to be able to think on your feet, balancing risks and priorities, determining what is in the best interests of the taxpayer, and have the charisma to challenge and persuade senior staff in both our clients and the internal organisation to do what’s needed.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Typical activities you will perform include:

• Supporting business development managers and working as part of bid and project teams within your area of responsibility
• Assessing bids for risk, attending bid reviews, and approving or rejecting potential bids
• Advising on commercial and financial risk in RFQs, ITTs and client contracts and suggesting mitigation measures; engaging with specialist Legal and Intellectual Property teams where required
• Helping to draft the commercial and contractual wording of bids.
• Providing commercial advice to senior management
• ensuring alignment of pricing and scope with contract terms in bids and contracts and resolving complex commercial issues and queries
• Negotiating with clients, collaborators, and subcontractors
• Drafting, reviewing, and amending contract documents
• Approving and signing agreements within delegated scope of authority
• Managing post-contractual changes and CCNs, working with project teams to address revenue leakage and “scope creep”
• Managing and resolving contractual disputes, referring to the UKRI legal team where necessary
• Acting as a role model of commercial professionalism within your area of responsibility and the wider community
• Providing commercial training as required
• Helping to develop UKRI commercial policies and procedures
• Working with our stakeholder community to improve UKRI’s commercial processes.

If you want to know more about what the role involves, get in touch: incomecontracts@ukri.org. But please DON’T use this email to send a CV or application letter – they will be deleted without being read.

EDUCATION, QUALIFICATION AND TRAINING:

• Degree level in a business, commercial, legal, technical or engineering discipline or similar, or equivalent experience. (S)

TECHNICAL SKILLS, EXPERIENCE:

• High degree of commercial knowledge and awareness (S/I)
• A strong technical understanding of commercial and contract management from a sales perspective; (S/I)
• Strong knowledge of English contract law; (I/PT)
• Experience of drafting, monitoring and managing sales agreements; (S/I)
• Experience of monitoring contract implementation and taking action to ensure that contract margins are maintained and opportunities for improvement taken, engaging directly with customers as required. (S/I)
• Experiencing of interacting with and influencing senior management; (S/I)
• Good grasp of intellectual property – what it is, and how it is monetised;(S/I)
• Experience in a high technology, project driven, business environment (S/I)
• Experience of successfully negotiating substantial and complex agreements; (S/I)

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)
• 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

Commercial