Defence Infrastructure Organisation - Chief Commercial Officer

Client Profile
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is a civilian body of the MOD with
responsibility for the delivery and management of the physical estate of the ministry. This
includes armed forces bases, naval dockyards, barracks, training facilities, tracts of land for
exercises and overseas bases and installations. The organisation was embracing the
challenging of rationalising the estate, reducing the footprint, including overseas, and
modernising the remaining estate. This involved significant redress of the supplier
landscape, including the special joint vehicle in place which accounted for the majority of the
headcount within the organisation.

Client Requirement
DIO was exiting the SJV arrangement and the commercial lead for the organisation was a
role that would be brought back in house into DIO headcount. The role of Chief Commercial
Officer DIO was to lead the transition out of the SJV and to put in place the commercial
infrastructure, arrangements and supply chain necessary to deliver the rationalisation and
modernisation strategy. The individual needed to be a procurement and supply chain
professional with experience of delivering estate/property commercial transformation in a
complex, large scale, high value and ideally regulated environment.

Our Approach & Methodology
We were recruiting this role in tandem with the Government Commercial Function
recruitment team, and therefore the accreditation was an integral part of the assessment
and candidate experience. Careful definition of the criteria identified a number of suitable
target individuals and our focus was on meaningful engagement with a few rather than light
touch with a larger number of candidates. Close communication at all stages with the hiring
team was key to handling candidates though the onerous process and candidate care was a
major factor in the successful outcome.

Outcome
The successful appointee came from a global bank, where she had experience of major
procurement process transformation, including high value complex outsourcing
arrangements and oversight of the property portfolio commercial agenda. She has since
gone on to make a significant and positive impact in the role, and is recognised as one of the
most successful hires in the function in recent years.