Commercial Procurement Manager

About us

Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research organisations to achieve ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid by developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

About the job

Join UKAEA's Commercial team and play a key role in delivering major procurement activity that supports the UK's fusion energy programme. Working closely with senior stakeholders, you will lead complex IT procurements, provide commercial expertise across the organisation, and help ensure projects are delivered compliantly and efficiently. This is an excellent opportunity to apply your public sector procurement expertise while contributing to one of the UK's most ambitious scientific programmes.

What You'll be Doing

• Lead and manage complex procurement activities, with a particular focus on IT
• Deliver end-to-end commercial support for major projects, ensuring procurement activity aligns with project milestones and the Procurement Act 2023.
• Develop and implement procurement strategies that deliver value for money and support organisational objectives.
• Manage tendering activities, including supplier pre-qualification, tender evaluation, contract negotiation and award.
• Monitor supplier and contract performance, ensuring delivery against agreed cost, quality and timescale objectives.
• Provide commercial advice and guidance to managers and senior stakeholders across UKAEA.
• Identify opportunities to improve procurement processes and recommend practical solutions to enhance commercial performance.
• Mentor and support members of the Commercial team, contributing to their development and the delivery of a high-quality procurement service.
• Build effective relationships with internal customers and external suppliers to achieve successful commercial outcomes.
• Ensure procurement activity complies with relevant public sector legislation and governance requirements.

What You'll Bring

• MCIPS qualification or actively studying towards it.
• Significant experience in public sector procurement, including knowledge of UK public procurement legislation and frameworks.
• Experience leading complex, high-value procurement exercises from strategy through to contract award and management.
• Strong commercial and procurement strategy knowledge across a range of procurement categories.
• Experience negotiating complex commercial agreements, with knowledge of NEC contracts desirable.
• Ability to provide expert commercial advice to senior stakeholders and manage multiple procurement activities simultaneously.

UKAEA is an onsite organisation, and this role requires regular onsite presence (usually 3 days in any given week) in line with business needs. We actively support flexible working arrangements where this is compatible with the role.

Benefits

We have a generous range of benefits (see the full list here) and highlights include:

• A salary of up to £56,317 subject to MCIPS qualification
• Funding available to support your CIPS development journey
• Up to 7% corporate performance bonus
• Final salary defined benefits pension scheme with an equivalent of 21.5% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave, 2.5 privilege days and 8 Bank Holidays
• 3 days of site closure over Christmas break
• Onsite facilities including gym, restaurants, coffee shops and sports facilities
• Flexible working options plus family-friendly leave provisions

Our commitment to ED&I

UKAEA's mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce.

Please email talent@ukaea.uk if you have any questions or require adjustments to help you participate fairly in our recruitment process, for example changes to the way we interview or share information. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates.

We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. All appointments are made on merit and further information can be found here.