Product & Distributor Manager

We are currently seeking a Product and Distributor Manager to join the Quality & Risk Assurance division in the Culture Collections team.

The Product and Distributor Manager will be responsible for providing scientific and technical support to Culture Collections international distributors and the end users.

This may require customer and distributor site visits, providing seminars, writing supporting literature, and delivering webinars and training courses where necessary.

The Product and Distributor Manager must review distributor performance against sales targets and respond to changes in sales by interacting with the distributors and will have a key role in new Culture Collection product launches.

• Develop relevant key relationships with all distribution partners
• Provide scientific and technical guidance on all Culture Collection products for distributors and end users
• Be responsible for working with distributors to develop sales of all Culture Collections products and services by providing written/verbal scientific and technical expertise in a range of formats
• Work with distribution partners to organise meetings, training events, conferences, seminars and webinars
• Liaise with Culture Collections External Communications team to write articles, brochures, technical notes and guidance for a range of formats including website articles and blogs to support distributors and to raise the profile of Culture Collections
• Represent Culture Collections at national and international trade exhibitions either through working with distribution partners or directly with Culture Collections external communications group
• Be aware of new business/product or service opportunities that are compatible with the Culture Collections business strategy and alert Head of Business Development and External Communications
• Support Lead Product and Distribution Manager in developing Culture Collections commercial licencing portfolio to maximise the commercial revenue potential of the Collections
• Project manage and coordinate the launch of new products ensuring all relevant Culture Collection groups are involved

General

• Provide scientific and technical support in many different formats to all relevant stakeholders from scientific experts to those with limited knowledge.
• Contribute to performance improvement, taking a lead for identified areas where agreed.
• Provide coordination of and participate in relevant internal and external working groups and provide advice, expertise and support where requested.
• Provide relevant and timely specialist advice and guidance on own portfolio of projects/functions.
• Management of a risk and issues tracking mechanism and its proactive resolution and escalation processes.

Financial and Physical Resources

• Produce monthly sales data for reporting and analysis of trends alongside budget expectations.

Planning and Organisation

• Contribute to the strategic planning of team projects, identifying interdependencies across projects/functions, potential impacts on wider organisation, resource requirements and building in contingency and adjustments as necessary.
• Contribute to the development of performance and governance strategies and the development and implementation of improvement programmes, in accordance with business priorities.

Policy and Service Development

• Contribute to the review and development of existing information management systems and contribute to the development of an integrated approach to, service or initiative management.
• Develop policies and procedures (standard operating procedures) in own work function with an impact on the wider organisation, as required.

Staff Management

• Provide line management support to direct reports in the team, including performance and appraisals and identification of training needs.

The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by your line manager.

The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles Success Profiles - GOV.UK and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical Skills.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

At sift stage you will be assessed against the 7 Essential Criteria listed in this job advert. You will be required to complete:

• An Application Form (‘Employer/Activity history’ section on the application)
• A 1000 word Supporting Statement - do not exceed 1000 words as we will not consider any words over this amount

Application Form & Supporting Statement

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the 7Essential Criteria listed in this job advert.

You will receive a joint score for your Application Form and Supporting Statement. The application form is the kind of information you would put into your CV – please note you will not be able to upload or email us your CV. Please complete the Application Form in as much detail as possible.

Shortlisting

In the event of a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift on the following Essential Criteria:

• BSc in a life science subject
• Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment
• Demonstrate experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging environments

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications/successful candidates.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment. Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

You will be invited to a single face-to-face interview at our Porton Down Scientific Campus. Interview date(s) to be confirmed.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

The Behaviours being tested at interview stage will be:

• Communicating and Influencing – Lead Behaviours
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Bigger Picture

You will be asked to prepare and present a 10-minute presentation as follows:

• A key international distributor has experienced a decline in sales performance.
• Prepare a 10-minute presentation outlining how you would analyse the issue, engage with the distributor, and develop an action plan to improve performance.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service as well as internal applicants. This role may also be available as a loan (for existing Civil Servants only) or secondment arrangement, subject to business need and agreement from the hiring manager and, where applicable, the employee's home organisation.

Reserve List

If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.

The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.

Incident Response Activity

From time to time, the role holder may be required to support UKHSA’s incident response activity by contributing their appropriate expertise within an Incident Cell; during such periods, supported by the line manager, this work will take priority over normal day-to-day responsibilities, commensurate with their grade, skills and experience.

Salary Information

Civil Service: Senior Executive Officer (SEO)

SEO (National): £41,983 - £48,128 per annum, pro-rata

If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Location

This role is being offered as office based at our Porton Down Scientific Campus, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP4 0JG.

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a basic disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Counter-Terrorist Check (CTC).

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years as the role requires Security CTC clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Resourcing Support Officer listed in the advert for further advice.

Qualifications and Registrations

For roles where specific qualifications or registrations are required, successful applicants will be asked to provide appropriate evidence. Employment cannot commence until satisfactory documentation has been received and verified.

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK. The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs. You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: Reasonable Adjustments , Civil Service Careers

International Police Check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Internal Fraud Check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub, and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for external candidates to the Civil Service.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.