Commercial Manager (Finance)

Vacancy Details

• Duration: 2 Year FTC
• Location : Waterloo Office
• Salary up to:£68,000 to £95,000 depending on skills, experience and internal alignment. Most fully experienced candidates are expected to be appointed in the range of £75,000 to £90,000.
• Reporting to: Head of Commercial

About DFT Operator:

Join Our Team at DFTO

DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.

DFTO has over 23,000 employees, runs over 6,000 services a day and delivers over 450 million customer journeys across its networks every year. This accounts for 26% of total UK passenger journeys and 30% of passenger miles. Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern and South Western Railway (SWR).

This is an incredibly exciting time to join DFTO as we transition previously privately owned train operators into public ownership and onward into Great British Railway , bringing track and train brought closer together .

Our this journey our ambition is to deliver safe, secure and sustainable transport to everyone, everywhere. At the heart of this promise is improving journeys and providing customers with an excellent service, while supporting the industry to build a more passenger-focused railway.

Our vision is to unify and strengthen train operators under the DFTO banner. By working collaboratively, we aim to become industry-leading in safety, customer service, financial sustainability and operational performance.

Primary Purpose of Job:

This role will implement the commercial strategy for DfT Operator Limited (DFTO), with a focus on rolling stock and non passenger revenue generation.

The role supports the Head of Commercial within the Rolling Stock and universal contracts portfolio; and works with Train Operators (TOC) Procurement Departments and supplier management staff across DFTO and TOCs to source group wide rolling stock, maintenance contracts and services, ancillary revenue contracts and global portfolio contracts.

This role underpins both DFTO’s and the Procurement Directorate’s Business Plan. In addition to TOCs, the role will be required to work with suppliers such as ROSCOs, DfT, RNP, external stakeholders such as Network Rail, Crown Commercial Services, and other Government bodies.

Key Competencies:

Making Effective Decisions:

• Analyse and accurately interpret data from various sources to support decisions.
• Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications.
• Present reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence.
• Make decisions confidently even when details are unclear or if they prove to be unpopular.
• Encourage both innovative suggestions and challenge from others, to inform decision making.

Communicate & Influence:

• Communicate with others in a clear, honest, and enthusiastic way in order to build trust with TOCs, external stakeholders including suppliers, DfT, GBR and other government bodies.
• Explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand, considering people’s individual needs. Deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required.
• Consider the impact of the language used. Remain open-minded and impartial in discussions, whilst respecting the diverse interests and opinions of others.
• Introduce different methods for communication, including making the most of digital resources whilst getting value for money.

Seeing the Big Picture:

• Develop and maintain an understanding of economic, social, political, environmental, and technological developments to ensure activity is relevant.
• Ensure plans and activities in your area of work reflect wider strategic priorities and communicate effectively with senior leaders to influence future strategies.
• Bring together views, perspectives, and diverse needs of stakeholders to gain a broader understanding of the issues surrounding policies and activities.

Key Responsibilities:

Typically, the key responsibilities in this role will include (but are not limited to):

• Implementation of the DFTO rolling stock commercial strategy through executing rolling stock procurements. Operator spend on the rolling stock portfolio each year is £4.5bn, with this role responsible for contracts worth £2.25bn per annum, in conjunction with the Commercial Manager (procurement);
• Lead on development and deployment of financial elements of new template contractual documents for new build procurements, existing fleet procurements, lease extensions and direct awards, maintenance procurement and refurbishment procurements, along with a modification process. This will also include template financing agreements associated with leases to reduce price escalation over time, in line with the future funding model to be proposed by the national strategy. Use of template documents to negotiate cost savings with financing companies including ROSCOs, manufacturing and maintenance companies.
• Lead on development and deployment of template whole life cost and maintenance models and/or should cost models on live rolling stock transactions. Use of financial models to undertake cost reduction exercises through benchmarking costs through existing contracts and using this information to negotiate with suppliers.
• Lead on completion of detailed financial models for individual rolling stock procurement exercises undertaken by DFTO as well as preparation of associated financial business cases at strategic outline business case, outline business case and full business case for submission to DFTO, DfT and Cabinet Office governance bodies as required.
• Line management of two DFTO Commercial Analysts. Project management of operator staff as part of teams delivering individual procurements. Indirect line management of external advisor staff from legal, technical and financial consultancy firms.
• Draft financial elements of tender documentation and participation in financial evaluation and commercial negotiations on individual rolling stock procurement exercises including leading on analysis of financing options;
• Deliver better value for money across the rolling stock portfolio by working in collaboration with other Commercial Managers to identify and propose efficiencies and innovations to reduce cost;
• Undertake analysis on portfolio level universal contracts as required;
• Identification and development of commercial opportunities to secure additional, non passenger related revenue across the DFTO and TOC supply chain to drive and add value, engaging with all internal and external group functions and stakeholders, including Network Rail where appropriate to contribute to the £150m 3 year savings target.
• Lead on preparation and publication of guidance on the financial elements of transactions, including procurement documentation and invitations to tender to operators and suppliers as may be required.
• Undertake various projects as requested by the Group Procurement Director and/or Head of Commercial.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:

The post holder must have a proven track-record of success as a senior financial manager in a public sector environment:

• At least 5 years’ experience and successful track record in financial analysis, including some experience of commercial and financial elements of rail transactions.
• Proven data analysis and Excel skills with experience of developing financial models.
• A proven self-starter who can identify opportunities and requirements and work on their own initiative.
• Able to present complex information clearly to decision makers in support of commercial agreements and contract terms.
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills, able to work with stakeholders across different organisations.
• A strong team player, able to operate across multiple levels and drive engagement and demonstrate leadership when delivering projects.
• Flexible and able to manage and prioritise changing business needs and workloads.
• Accountancy qualification and educated to degree level is desirablebut not essential

Some of our benefits:

Flexible/hybrid working arrangements considered.

Annual Leave 25 days

Opportunities to learn across the wider industry

10 % pension contribution

Plus more….

Additional Information…

Contact: If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact Jason Blakemore.

About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.

Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.