Commercial and Assurance Lead - Local Government

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement a commercial governance framework aligned to the procurement and contract management operating model.
• Define decision rights, approval thresholds, stage gates, escalation routes and accountabilities.
• Align governance with the Council's Constitution, corporate requirements and relevant legislation, including the Procurement Act.
• Develop proportionate, risk based assurance covering compliance, performance and value for money.
• Streamline governance forums, approval processes and reporting to remove duplication and delay.
• Produce decision matrices, RACI models, templates, assurance checklists and practical guidance.
• Establish reporting covering savings, commercial risk and delivery confidence.
• Test and embed arrangements through pilots, training, adoption monitoring and handover.

Essential Experience

• Significant governance, assurance or commercial transformation experience within the public sector or a similarly complex organisation.
• Proven experience designing procurement and contract management governance frameworks.
• Strong understanding of public sector procurement legislation and formal decision making requirements.
• Experience translating operating models into practical processes, controls and guidance.
• Demonstrable delivery of risk based assurance and implementation into business as usual.
• Strong stakeholder management across procurement, legal, finance, audit, corporate governance and operational teams.