Buying.  Contracts.  Supplier management.  National security.  This isn’t your average Procurement Manager role.  As a Procurement Manager/Specialist at MI5 you will play a vital role in helping us protect the country from threats to our national security.

This is a unique opportunity to work in a complex, dynamic and sensitive commercial environment within our commercial function.  You will be part of a collaborative and professional procurement team that drives supply chain performance and improvements in savings and other derived benefits across MI5 and MI6.

It goes without saying that you will have access to a broad range of spend categories and projects, some you might be familiar with, others that are unique to our organisation.

We have a number of roles at this grade delivering a commercial service.

The Role

The successful candidate will be responsible for the full life cycle of a wide range of procurement projects across MI5 predominantly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) category of spend.

Engaging with customers at all levels will be key.  Dealing with project managers up to director level you will provide a responsive, timely, efficient, sustainable and professional procurement service to meet their needs in accordance with the Central Commercial Teams Policy, SLAs and commercial strategies.

Working with other senior procurement managers, you will take full responsibility for agreed procurement activities, which may include requirements gathering, implementation or licensing.  

You will lead the development of central category strategies and supplier engagement approaches and drive procurement and commercial activity through engagement with the supply chain ensuring that it complies and is managed in line with commercial policies and practices and security requirements.

Working across the intelligence community you will support the development and delivery of shared procurement services including supporting the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM).

Line management of junior staff may be required.

Skills and experience

The drive to succeed in a challenging and maturing commercial environment is vital.  You should be confident and possess strong communication and influencing skills as you will be liaising with a wide range of customers and suppliers.  Proven experience in a commercial background where you have demonstrated best practice procurement is a must.  Working on a range of projects means you must be able to lead, prioritise and work to tight deadlines so resilience is key.  Although responsible for your own projects you will also be assisting with more complex and major procurement projects across the organisations.

You will also need to be flexible with the ability to adapt to manage multiple projects that could involve the wider intelligence community.  This is a challenging role in which the successful candidate will have to think practically and innovatively to overcome commercial obstacles.  Strong analytical skills and close attention to detail are essential as you will be involved in post-tender negotiations, contract management and ongoing supplier relationship management.
The successful candidate will have demonstrable practical experience of leading commercial procurement projects and managing commercial services for several years in a complex, demanding commercial environment.

You will also have a good understanding/knowledge of best practice procurement processes, methodologies and practices including a thorough understanding of IT service and supply markets is required, and knowledge of the latest ICT technology developments and key supply chains.

You will be able to show demonstrable experience of managing significant ICT based category spend within best practice procurement function as well as experience of working on complex and major procurement projects, particularly in ICT and outsourcing markets.

You will need to be a fully qualified MCIPS procurement professional or hold equivalent professional qualifications equivalent and relevant to this role (e.g. ITIL, RICS etc).  Prince 2 project management or relevant category management qualification is desirable but not essential.

Before You Apply

Honesty and integrity are crucial if you want to work at MI5.  You should read about the vetting process and satisfy yourself that you meet the criteria outlined in the vetting pages of the How to Apply section prior to submitting an application.

Giving misleading information or omitting or concealing information during the recruitment and vetting process is viewed very seriously.  You should ensure that you follow our guidance from when you apply.

As there are opportunities across the agencies (GCHQ, MI5 and MI6)  in the procurement field, it is at this stage that you should choose a role that best fits your skills.  Please be advised that candidates will only be able to apply for one role across the agencies.

Recruitment Process

The first thing we will ask you to do is complete our pre-screening questions to find out if you meet our initial criteria.  If you do meet these criteria we will then ask you to begin an application.  You will need to create a login and provide your full name, email address and a memorable password.  Once you have successfully created a personal account, you will be required to complete an initial registration form, providing contact details and equal opportunities monitoring information.  You will also need to upload your CV to the system.

You will then be invited to complete an online application form.  The selection process is competitive at all stages and involves a series of interviews and assessments, starting with an initial application sift to check you have the potential skills and motivation to work for MI5.

If you are successful at this stage you will be invited to an Assessment Centre (that will take place in late August/early September) at our head offices in Central London.  This will focus on the key skills and competencies essential for effective performance in the role.  Should you be successful in this Assessment Centre you will be invited to a final selection board interview (likely to be in September/October) and then a security interview with a vetting officer.  Please be aware that the recruitment and vetting process may take around 6 months.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to the “Positive About Disabled People” scheme we offer an interview to all candidates with a disability who meet our minimum criteria for the job vacancy that they are applying for.  This is known as the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS).

To secure an interview for this vacancy, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

-    Vacancy Eligibility Questions
You will be asked a series of questions relating to this vacancy.  If you meet the criteria here you will be directed to the initial application form.

-    Application Form Sift
Along with the standard eligibility requirements for this post, your application will be assessed on how far you meet the job specifications and the motivational fit/competency questions you answer.  Each answer will be scored.  Your application must score the minimum amount of points set.

On successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to interview.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply you must be a British citizen (either born here or naturalised) and one of your parents must be a British citizen or have substantial ties to the UK.  Due to vetting requirements you also need to be 18 years old or above.

Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for nine out of the last 10 years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. We will still consider you if you have, for example, served overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of Her Majesty’s Government, studied abroad, or lived overseas with your parents.

Discretion

Owing to the sensitivity of our work, we do not publicly disclose the identities of our staff. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.  You should not post on social media sites about your application or discuss it with anyone else at this stage.  You will receive further guidance during the recruitment process.

You should not launch an application from outside of the UK as it will impact on our ability to progress your application.

All applications will be considered on merit. The Security Service is committed to reflecting both equal opportunities and the society we protect.