Commercial GEOINT Team Lead

Job summary

As an important part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Defence Intelligence (DI) provides intelligence analysis, specialist outputs and advice that supports decision making across government. At the heart of DI is the National Centre for Geospatial Intelligence (NCGI).

The GEOINT Capability Lead underpins and enables NCGI activity by providing professional leadership and cadre management for Defence’s Imagery Analysts and DI’s Geospatial Analysts, ensuring adherence to professional standards, quality management, and the delivery of tailored GEOINT tradecraft training.
We drive GEOINT capability delivery and evolution, integrating across the Defence Lines of Development (xDLOD) and acting as the intelligent customer for NCGI-facing elements of the PICASSO programme. We conduct imagery collection management, including UK sovereign space-based collection via UK Space Command; provide digital geospatial data and services across Defence networks at all classifications, including through NCGI Earth; and assure IT and information service delivery to NCGI by DI Digital and Defence Digital.

The GEOINT Cap Lead Commercial GEOINT Team Lead role will be responsible for overseeing the management and delivery of Geospatial contracts between NCGI and Service providers. They are to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of contracts in accordance with the contract terms and that stakeholders and Designated Officers are collaboratively engaged.

Liaising with commercial and financial teams, they will lead a small team ensuring the efficient processing of all commercial GEOINT activities and representing NCGI as the Subject Matter Experts on commercial activities relating to GEOINT acquisition.

This role is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Main Responsibilities:

The Commercial GEOINT Team Lead is responsible for leading and overseeing NCGI's commercial geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) acquisition activities, ensuring that data procurement, contracts, and supplier relationships deliver value, remain compliant, and meet operational requirements. The role combines team leadership, contract and supplier management, stakeholder engagement, financial oversight, governance, risk management, and performance monitoring. Acting as NCGI's principal point of contact for Commercial GEOINT, the post holder prioritises requirements, engages in contract management lifecycle from business cases and procurement through to delivery and review, maintains market awareness, and ensures adherence to MOD commercial policies. The role also involves building strong relationships with customers and suppliers, providing commercial guidance across NCGI, resolving risks and issues, monitoring contractual performance and compliance, and producing management information and reporting to support informed decision-making and effective delivery of GEOINT capabilities.

The enduring core role responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

GEOINT Acquisition and Contract Management:

Lead NCGI Commercial GEOINT activity by overseeing geospatial data acquisition, contracts, prioritisation and team delivery; maintaining effective processes, records and requirements tracking; managing risks, issues and dependencies; supporting procurement, business cases, tendering and contract lifecycle activity; and ensuring market awareness, policy compliance and appropriate support for the team and Designated Officers.

Relationship Management:

Build strong collaborative partnerships with key stakeholders, engage with customers across NCGI to understand requirements and support the development of technical solutions, while providing support, mentoring and tailored commercial guidance to improve awareness across the NCGI Commercial GEOINT Team.

Communication:

Ensure consistent communication is maintained with contractors and internal stakeholders and that all project information is captured, stored, shared, and disposed of in a consistent, secure, and compliant manner in order to reduce information risk.

Compliance and Financial Management:

Ensure contracts comply with relevant MOD policies, regulations and Commercial directives, oversee commercial governance and contract changes, manage payments where required, record lessons learned, and confirm services are delivered in accordance with contract terms and conditions before payment is authorised.

Risk Management:

Assess and monitor contract risks throughout delivery, maintain up-to-date risk registers, identify and resolve issues or blockers during contract execution in collaboration with Commercial and Finance, and manage any disputes with Commercial teams where required, including supporting supplier evaluation.

Reporting:

Develop and provide dashboard reports to senior management for situational awareness and informed decision making, ensuring contract administration and files are kept up to date to support accurate, current reporting, including confidence levels on contracted deliverables.

Performance Monitoring:

Monitor and assess performance, compliance and obligations by both the Ministry of Defence (MOD), suppliers and their supply chains across all contract provisions, including tracking performance against any KPIs, SLAs or outcome-based deliverables.

In Defence Intelligence (DI) our people solve problems, create understanding and give perspective to the diverse and complex Defence threats and challenges in a rapidly changing world. Together our civilians and military personnel inform decision making in Defence, manage complex finance programmes and develop new technology.
In DI we believe your unique experiences, view and understanding of the world could provide a vital perspective and contribution to our work. We recognise that great minds do not think alike and are striving to increase our diversity representation at all levels. As an equal opportunities employer we hire, train and promote people based on merit and inspire to create an inclusive workplace free of discrimination. We also offer flexible working arrangements such as flexi-time, job share and compressed hours.

All jobs advertised in DI are subject to fair and open competition.

Person specification

We are looking for a motivated, forward thinking, and capable individual to join the GEOINT Capability Lead team as the lead on Commercial GEOINT. Ideally, we are looking for an experienced contract manager with strong leadership capabilities and a sound understanding of Defence Commercial activities. The individual will have good communication skills, both verbal and written as well as strong organisational skills and experience working within a project team.

Essential criteria:

• Strong contract, supplier, and commercial management experience.
• Proven leadership and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build collaborative relationships.
• Experience producing business cases, requirements documentation, and governance submissions.
• Ability to engage with senior stakeholders and customers to understand and prioritise requirements.
• Experience producing management reports, dashboards, and performance metrics.
• Knowledge of managing risks, issues, dependencies, supplier performance, and contractual outcomes within complex programmes or contracts.
• Strong analytical, organisational, communication, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Awareness of project management methodologies and their application to contract, risk, and delivery management.
• Strong IT skills, particularly Microsoft Excel, W