Commercial Risk, Compliance & Assurance Manager

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 30,000 employees, runs over 11,000 services a day and delivers over 930 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000 people joined the railway family in the last year

Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership – these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeast, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia, WM Trains, GTR. and Chiltern.

We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose of Job:

This job focuses on the design, management and tracking of commercial governance, risks, compliance, and issues and drives adherence to the latest commercial compliance, and assurance management process for all entities within DfT Operator DFTO(DFTO).

The role supports the Head of Commercial Governance and Assurance and works with Train Operators (TOC) Procurement Departments and Supplier Management staff across DFTO and TOCs to evaluate risk in each entity and assesses that mitigation plans are developed and progressed.

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

Key Responsibilities:

• Work with the Head of Commercial Governance and Assurance to develop & maintain appropriate, process, practice, and governance to manage Procurement activities across TOCs, this will include the continuous improvement and maintenance of quality policies and controls that support DFTOs compliance with core legislative needs, whilst working to develop processes and practices to support the delivery of rail reform and the changing commercial landscape pre GBR.
• Lead training and developing knowledge of Procurement and Commercial risks across TOCs and DFTO.
• Work in conjunction with TOC Supplier Management, DFTO Legal and others to support the process to assess overarching key supplier risks and issues, understanding gaps and developing and leading risk management and assurance processes as required.
• Act as a subject matter expert and advisor to maintain ongoing compliance with public sector regulations and changing legislation across TOCs and DFTO.
• Support and work in conjunction with the Resilience and Mobilisation team to assist the reorganisation of other GB rail operators into DFTO, as required, leading procurement ways of working and governance transition activities alongside the TOCs and other DFTO teams as part of the public ownership transfer program.
• Support the development of the DFTO Procurement Risk and Assurance management process and procedures for implementation across TOC Procurement Departments that align with the ‘three lines of defence’ of operational delivery, functional policy areas and internal audit.
• Lead & support procurement and commercial supply chain assurance reviews of strategic critical contracts for DFTO and all DFTO Train operators during the procurement lifecycle to identify risk and drive compliance with processes and procedures. Work across DFTO, Train Operators, and DFT to drive compliance with Services Agreement obligations, and mange risks. and strategic reserved matters and risk are managed.
• Oversee and review documents and processes within each procurement and contract award so they are aligned with DFTOs and the Department’s published objectives and procurement process.
• Lead and maintain appropriate legislative and regulatory compliance management, so that processes and policies are up to date and aligned to latest public policy updates or changes.
• Maintain a Risk and Assurance reporting methodology for review at TOC level, with relevant escalations to Senior Leadership Team and the Commercial and Contract Management Governance Board (CCGB);
• Support the delivery of a systems-based risk monitoring approach in conjunction with TOC Procurement, wider DFTO teams and where appropriate Central Government Policy teams.
• Liaise with the DFTO Risk team to support the risk reporting process for escalation of Procurement and Commercial risks.
• Support Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiates lead by DFTO, including the identification and delivery of social value and sustainability opportunities and targets within DFTO and TOC supply chains.
• Maintain good procurement records, databases and reporting information to support the Senior Leadership Team.
• Management of external legal support and budgets as required.
• Communicate priorities and new processes associated with commercial risk, compliance and assurance so that teams understand them and follow them.
• Promotes a culture that acknowledges the value of positive change and diversity and create strategies to involve those who will be affected by any key process changes that support them through the change.
• Provide expertise to support Procurement Managers in risk management so that all relevant programmes and projects deliver to time, cost, and quality requirements.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:

• Proven track record of success as a procurement manager in a public sector procurement environment
• Has considerable experience in translating the needs of the business into policy objectives
• Has practical experience in the development and implementation of business unit strategies and processes through procurement and has the ability to challenge risk averse behaviours where appropriate.
• Has a deep understanding of and the ability to practically apply the procurement rules & associated legislation and link them to the implementation of policy objectives.
• Has strong commercial knowledge, understands the need for trade-offs in an area of responsibility, can apply the commercial principles within the boundaries of contract law.
• Demonstrates the ability to lead on securing ‘value for money’ through achieving good return on investment on commercial projects.
• Demonstrates the ability to analyse risks and understand margins of error in developing recommendations and making effective decisions.
• Experience of successful working with a range of clients and stakeholders in an assurance capacity.
• Demonstrates the ability to communicate standards to eliminate corruption, fraud and unethical behaviour in supply chains, taking appropriate actions in the event of any alleged breach of standards.
• Has strong stakeholder engagement skills and can present technical advice successfully in order to influence internal and external decision making.
• Demonstrates the ability to articulate commercial motivations and expected behaviours of stakeholders, suppliers, and networks.

Vacancy Details:

Duration: Fixed Term up to 31st October 2027 contract/secondmentLocation: London Waterloo, York, Birmingham and LeedsSalary: up to £68,901Closing date: 18th November 2026

DFTO Locations:

DFTO currently have office locations in London, Birmingham, York and Leeds and individuals can be based from any of the these locations. Whilst we do offer hybrid working there are sometimes demands to travel to the other office locations.

DFTO Benefits:

• Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)
• DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution
• Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry

Additional Information…

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.

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.

Contact:

If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact Amra.Hurley@dftoperator.co.uk.

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